On today’s episode, my guest is personal stylist Maegan Watson. Maegan is a dear friend and colleague of mine and the founder of Watson Style Group – a group dedicated to creating wardrobes that help people feel the way they want and love the way they look. She has over 10 years of experience helping women transform their wardrobes and put an end to the seemingly unending question: “What should I wear today?” Maegan shares her thoughts on how style is different from fashion and the insights she has learned from conducting hundreds of in-depth conversations and interviews with women about their style and how it affects their overall view of themselves and how they feel.

“When we have a wardrobe or an outfit that reminds us of what we want, they become an anchor.” – Maegan Watson

Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:

• Style is creating the image that is going to make you know yourself on a deeper level.
• All women want the same things when it comes to style – they all want to be able to reflect something about themselves.
• Reflecting your personal and professional mission through your style and wardrobe.
• Addressing the idea that style is frivolous or meaningless and why it’s important.
• The process Maegan uses to personalize wardrobes for her clients.
• The dynamic approach her team uses to support her clients wardrobe transformations.

Maegan’s Tips for Enhancing Your Style:

• Stop focusing on how you look. Focus on how you feel in outfits.

Connect with Maegan Watson:

• Watson Style Group

Love the show? Let us know!    

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know! Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!     

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave a review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!     

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…     

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!     

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible. Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover.     

A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors    

This episode was made possible by our wonderful sponsors, BMO – Bank of Montreal – The Bank for Women.  

Sue’s company, Bennett Design, started with a vision to build a better design firm; one that focused on delivering “detail-driven design.” Today, it is one of the largest interior design firms in Toronto with over 40 people on staff. Her company has developed proprietary software for workplace strategy and project management to provide her clients with the absolute best service available.

On today’s episode, she shares her story of how she got started in business and her journey to success, her secrets of scaling – not one, but two – highly successful businesses, and what she identified as the turning point in her career that helped her on her journey to success.

“Every time you grow, you need to make sure you are considering the people working, what’s working for them, and what’s not.” – Sue Bennett

Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:

• Being curious and how following your curiosity can be a huge success factor for your business.
• The critical nature of having self-belief an its role in achieving success.
• Evolving your business to keep pace with the modern workforce.
• Strategies to improve your workplace and work environment.

How to Scale Successfully & Thoughtfully:

• Create a business plan and write it down.
• Don’t scale just for the sake of scaling. Have intentional growth.
• Hire slow, fire fast.

Connect with Sue Bennett:

• bennettdesign.ca

Love the show? Let us know! 

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know! Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!   

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave a review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!   

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…   

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!   

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible. Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover.     

A Special Thank You to Our Sponsors  

This episode was made possible by our wonderful sponsors, BMO – Bank of Montreal.  

From the onset of BikiniLuxe, Candice realized she needed to leverage her wealth of knowledge about the swimsuit industry as well as the connections she had made during her modeling career to get BikiniLuxe off the ground. That coupled with her strong skillset in sales and customer relations laid the foundation for her success.

More about BikiniLuxe

• They sell over 4000 swimwear products for women and men through the site.
• Most of the brands represented on the site have demonstrated a corporate social responsibility in which they give back to the community.
• Entering into their third year they’ll hit $5 million in sales.

Candice’s Advice to Entrepreneurs...

• Be open to new ideas and push the boundaries
• Leverage your connections to gain legitimate information and to gain new connections
• When making connections make the highest connection you can possibly reach.
• Don’t spend too much time on one thing.- pitch 20 people rather than spending a lot of time on one person
• Look to large scale businesses to see what they are doing wrong and try and do it better
• Be persistent
• “Don’t spend your time or money on being boring.”

Candice on embracing controversy and being galvanizing in expressing your views.

• Attention spans are short- people are one click away from scrolling by you and your content. Controversy can help keep people focused on you and your message. 
• Controversy can be leveraged into massive social media reach.

Connect with Candice

www.Bikiniluxe.com

Serious in taking your own career to the next level?

Go to www.eleanorbeaton.com/successpack to download our Success Pack.  You’ll get access to my Ee-book  Success Secrets of Bold Women in Business as well as 4 interview recordings with powerhouse women in business who will help you advance your career.

Her focus is on helping entrepreneurs turn online lookers into online buyers with persuasive writing. Today Sarah will demonstrate to us the wealth of opportunity inherent in the world of online business for women entrepreneurs.

More about Sarah Grear….

• Sarah has been a speaker at many events, including social media week in Los Angeles
• Her DIY online writing class has over 1000 students
• She was previously a travel blogger
• After doing several online videos, Sarah was offered many speaking opportunities. People saw her confidence and authority shine through the camera and realized her potential. 

The online world helps you close the income gap for earning online, and changes the possibilities from what you were told could not be possible to reality. There is no ceiling for how much you can earn within the online world.  

According to Sarah, many of her female clients have closed the income gap and been successful in their online businesses by leaning into their strengths. Being clear on what you are good at and building a strong team to fill in the gaps where you have weaknesses is crucial.

3 power moves that Sarah implements to help her be more successful:

1. Celebration- Sarah celebrates every step of her business. All the little things need to be celebrated. No matter the results you have got out of your launch or event, you should still celebrate.
2. Learn how to upgrade your thoughts-You need to learn how to look at things in a positive light, and look at them as upgrades.
3. Learn how to be playful. Learn to be playful, even when there are a lot of moving parts around you. This will allow you to stay grounded and focus on your goals.

Mentioned this episode

The Well Fed Writer

Connect with Sarah Grear

 https://www.sarahgrear.com/

Carol has been feature on TEDx, The Steve Harvey Show, Bounce TV, The Society for Diversity, and the Huffington Post.

We are going to talk about why confidence is like a beautiful piece of jewelry, and some insights Carol has gained on the differences between how men and women step into leadership to build and scale their businesses.

Building your confidence is the single most significant asset that you can cultivate if you want to smash the glass ceiling, take your seat at the table where the big deals and decisions are made, and have a voice!

Takeaways

• You must wear confidence as a beautiful accessory that only you know how special you feel when you have it on.
• You must work to develop confidence. You have to have an open and honest discussion with yourself to stop playing small, stop minimizing your accomplishments and to stop discounting yourself.
• Carol learned that she needed to build up people’s confidence before anything else. People had too much self sabotaging behaviour to move forward in their business. Everything came down to them not believing in themselves.

Connect with Carol Sankar:

http://www.carolsankar.com/

Sign up for my Free Video Training Series…

In “3 Critical Mistakes Women Entrepreneurs Make That Prevent Them From Replacing Their Corporate Salaries” you’ll discover:

• Why your addiction to being efficient will keep you in under-earning jail.
• The critical mindset shift you MUST make if you want to separate yourself from the millions of women entrepreneurs who are never able to replace their corporate salary.
• 3 internal shifts you must make to join the top 2% of women entrepreneurs.

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

 5 Great Reasons Why Adversity Is Your Friend

1. It deepens your ability to empathize with people. It gives you a much broader range of experience that you can then use to connect more effectively with your staff, colleagues, stake holders and customers.
2. It gives you great stories. You must learn how to use these stories provide examples and illuminate your meaning. The three most important types of stories to note are: “to hell and back”, “reversal”, and “hero saga” stories.
3. It deepens your grit and your resilience. Anybody can have a dream. Anybody can have a goal. It takes a woman with true grit and resilience to see it through. You build up that grit and resilience through experiencing adversity.
4. It helps you attract better people into your life. Game recognizes game meaning if you’ve experienced adversity, you’ll connect with others who have as well.
5. It helps you appreciate what you have. Sometimes it takes getting down on your luck or experiencing a health wake up call to help you appreciate what you already have.

Final Thoughts…...

If you are a fierce woman in business, adversity is your middle name. Understand that you can lean into adversity, see it for the gift that it is and embrace it. Make friends with adversity, because as long as you are trying, adversity is absolutely going to be a part of the journey and a part of the destination.

Calling all Coaches, Consultants and Thought Leaders…

If you are starting a business or have just launched a business and you are in the thought leader, coach, consultant, or expert space, I want to share with you a fabulous new video training series that I’ve just launched.

In this 4 video training series you’ll learn:

• The biggest mistakes that I see coaches, consultants and thought leader based people making when they are building their businesses.
• Tips and strategies that you can put in place in your business right now in order to build a healthy thriving business

Head over to http://www.eleanorbeaton.com/training to learn more.

3 Tips To Try When You Are Caught Off Guard……

Tip #1 Remember, this is not a “speak when you are spoken too” situation. You get to chose if you keep your power, or if you give it away. Yes, someone has asked you a question but that doesn’t mean you need to answer them right away, and it doesn’t mean that you need to come up with a brilliant answer. You have every right to take some time, to think it through before offering a response.

Tip #2 Watch your thoughts. Take a moment to acknowledge the thing that has surprised you with a simple comment. This allows you to engage but has still given you a little bit of breathing space in that moment. If you are in a situation where someone is expecting a quick response, simply say “thank you so much, can you give me about 30 minutes to gather my thoughts and get back to you?”.

Tip #3 PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE being caught off guard. It will make you so much more comfortable in the moment, and will actually make you less likely to be caught off guard.

What does it take to build your career as an entrepreneur?

Discovery. Courage. Risk Taking. Sacrifice.

“Create a vision and make it so absolutely attractive that people want to kill to achieve that particular vision.” – Ipelang Mkhari

Moving Your Business from Version 1.0 – 2.0

• Realize that you cannot do everything.
  • Be willing to let go.
• Surround yourself with great people, hopefully people much smarter than you. That is critical.
  • Ensure the business has a corporate structure and foundation from HR, to IT, to finance.
• Allow others to become strong leaders in your business or organization.
  • Make the people who work with you central to your business.
• Create a culture of performance.
  • Treat individuals as individuals, while urging them on the journey of your vision.

Core to leadership is understanding what it is that you care for and being confident in pursuing that.

“It's a continual process to understand what it means to lead. Because you're not leading robots, you're leading individuals, you're leading human beings. They are feeling, thinking people. They have aspirations and goals. And so being able to impart or at least articulate and represent that which they want to become is critical.”

Top Three Pieces of Insight

• Recognize Your Confidence.
• Recognize the Importance of Training.
• Recognize the Need for Sacrifice.

“We tend to believe that the people that we see on the cover of these magazines or women we see on television have not gone through difficulties, although we continue to go through difficulties … It couldn't be further from the truth. The reality is all of those women have had to really go through huge obstacles, they had to face their own fears, and they’ve had to take on challenges that are far larger than they are and with possibly a lot of trepidation.” – Ipelang Mkhari

Practices to Cultivate Courage

• Establish a spiritual connection and tap into that source.
• Surround yourself with advisors.
• Find people travelling a similar journey and communicate openly and regularly with them.

“It's good to celebrate our successes but it's more important to celebrate the difficulties that we've encountered along the way because they're the ones that we learn from.” – Ipelang Mkhari

Two Most Important Steps to “Go Big” with Your Business

• Get Great Consultants.
• Get Great Sponsors – both financially and people who understand your industry.

5 alternative facts I’d like to share with you.

1. An alternative fact to Imposter Syndrome: No dear, you actually ARE qualified to do this thing that you’ve worked so hard for. Your hard work, your dedication and the depth of your desire to do it well are what qualify you. It is only your quest for perfection that disqualifies you. So get over it. #Sorrynotsorry.
2. An alternative fact to being confused: Sorry Fierce One, I won’t take that one lying down. You are in fact VERY clear on your vision and mission and you know exactly the right next step to take. But you have trained yourself to stop trusting YOU. So for a moment, trust in me and hear that after coaching many, many wonderful women I can tell you this: the wisdom and clarity you seek are inside you. But that wise creature? She’s a Queen, OK? And she never raises her voice. So listen hard.
3. An alternative fact to waiting to have things perfect before you make a move: Good luck with that. When you’re over it ping me. We have a WHOLE HOST of fierce, action taking women who can’t wait to meet you.
4. An alternative fact to thinking that if you don’t do it yourself then you’re incompetent/unqualified/weak: The very best work comes from teams of people working together. Please refer to the movie Hidden Figures for further evidence.
5. An alternative fact to the desolate feeling dogging so many that this is a troubling time for women: Pink hats. January 21, 2017.

Interesting Facts

• Black women are doing an incredible job on moving barriers and rising to the top.
• Studies show that black women are 3 times more likely to aspire to positions of power and a prestigious title than white women or other races.
• However, white women are twice as likely to attain said position of power and prestigious title.

What is Happening in the World?

• Currently there are 20 women at the helm of those fortune 500 companies. (about 4%).
• Once Ursula Burns, the CEO of Xerox leaves, there will be NO black women as leaders in the fortune 500 companies.

What We Can Do to Help

Even though black women have networks and support, they lack sponsors! One of the things that is critical is that if you want to reach the upper echelons of your ambition and reach the top levels in your business, you are going to need sponsors. The problem we are seeing in the world of business is that black women lack sponsors.

Sponsors are powerful well connected people, who talk about you and circulate your name, they unlock their networks to help you be more successful.

“Sponsors are like steroids for your growth trajectory”

My Challenge To You….

I would like to be a sponsor to aspiring black women in business. I am currently an advisor for the Visiting Women Executive Exchange Program at the Yale School of Management.

This program focuses on supporting diverse, especially African American, African Canadian women, into positions of senior leadership, in both the non-profit sector, the private sector, and in government.

We are running another cohort, and are looking for up and coming ambitious black women who would like to participate in this powerhouse program at the Yale School of Management. You will have access to the networks, the skills the resources that will help you reach the top.

If you know of a woman in your network who could benefit from a program like this and benefit from studying at the Yale School of Management, I invite you to have this person reach out to me personally at eleanor@eleanorbeaton.com. Please put “Yale” in the subject line, and I will respond to you as soon as I can with more information about the program.

But – what is a sales funnel? How many funnels does your business need? How do you create these powerhouse funnels that will put your business on auto-pilot so you can focus less on generating sale and more on spending time with your family?

Stephanie Nickolich is recognized as “The Millionista Mentor”. She’s a successful business mentor and expert in building and scaling online businesses using sales funnels. Stephanie has been featured and recognized by the Huffington Post as one of the Top 50 Online Women Entrepreneurs to Watch by the Huffington Post, and has helped countless online entrepreneurs grow their businesses to the 6-figure income level by helping them identify and create the sales funnels they need to continually scale their businesses. She joins us today to share her insight on what the term “sales funnel” really means, how they can help you automate your business, and grow your income on auto-pilot.

“You cannot have a business beyond yourself without having a sales funnel in place.” – Stephanie Nickolich

Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:

• Stephanie shares her “Come to Jesus” moment and how it impacted her decision to pivot her career.
• She explains how she helps entrepreneurs create businesses around the life they want to live instead of around the goals they want to achieve.
• She explains what sales funnels are as well as how each funnel type differs depending on the products or services you want to launch.
• We discuss the importance of implementing systems in your business to push your business to the next level without sacrificing your freedom.
• She explains the difference between “cold leads,” “warm leads,” and “hot leads,” and why entrepreneurs should have funnels in place for each type of lead.
• We discuss when you should consider outsourcing certain tasks or whether you should do them yourself.
• She explains why she believes that if you’re doing something more than once within your business – you should create systems to automate the process.

3 Core Things New Entrepreneurs Need to Find Success Online:

1. Patience
2. Testing
3. Paying attention to your numbers.

Connect with Stephanie Nickolich:

• Join Stephanie in Miami, Florida on May 5 to 7 for her 3-day Success Without Sacrifice Summit Live Conference!
• com
• Stephanie on Facebook

Claim Your Free Success Pack Today!

Are you looking for a way to gain even more insight from other highly ambitious, successful entrepreneurs? Head over to EleanorBeaton.com/SuccessPack to claim your free resource pack!

The Fierce Feminine Leadership Success Pack is filled with interviews with highly successful women entrepreneurs as well as transcripts, worksheets, workbooks, and an e-book that highlights and outlines some of the biggest mistakes women make while building thought-leader-based businesses!

Claim your Success Pack today!

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/SuccessPack

Love the show? Let us know!               

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!               

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!               

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!               

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…               

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!               

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible.               

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover               

One of our podcast subscribers reached out to me recently with this very dilemma. She wanted to know why the people whom we love hate what we do and most importantly, what to do when you find yourself in this situation.

In today’s episode, I'm going to share 5 coping strategies you can use when your biggest love doesn’t love your biggest idea. Stick around to the end of the podcast and I’ll even throw in 1 extra tip that is sure to help you develop a stronger relationship with your partner and boost your confidence to persevere with your dream.

The biggest problems happen when we run away from pain.

Key Points from today’s Fierce Feminine Podcast:

• Don’t run away from the pain. Take the time to sit down and really feel your emotions. This is the first step to mastering your emotions.
• Your partner cannot and will not be 100% supportive of you through everything that you do. The sooner you wrap your mind around this, the easier it is to deal with the hurt that come with being rejected by your loved one.
• Your partner’s feedback is a subjective expression of his/her feelings and not necessarily an objective view of your plan. Listen to your partner’s opinion and learn to take the feedback constructively.
• It is important to surround yourself with other people who can support you and help you grow.

5 Strategies to Cope when Your Biggest Love Doesn’t Love Your Biggest Idea

1. Feel the pain.
2. Examine your thoughts.
3. Respect your partner’s feedback.
4. Continue to explore and nurture your idea without the need for external approval.
5. Talk to your partner.

Love the show? Let us know!

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!           

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible.

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover.

Does this situation seem familiar to you? You’re not alone. The request for free brain picks is rampant among successful women. Many women-in-business have expressed mixed feelings about these types of requests. Almost everyone I have talked to want to genuinely help by sharing their time, encouragement, and expertise, but are unable to do so because they are already maxed out.

In today’s episode, I will be sharing 5 tried and tested strategies on how you can handle requests for free brain picks with respect and care towards the person, while also protecting yourself in the process.

“Remember that NO is a complete sentence. No explanation, no apology required.”

Key Points from today’s Fierce Feminine Podcast:

• While most women-in-business want to be helpful, they are unable to do so because they are maxed out. They want to use the spare time that they have, outside their business or careers, with family, friends, and for themselves.
• Many women find it difficult to say no to brain picking meetings, because they know that it’s dangerous for a woman-in-business to be perceived as “not nice” or “unhelpful”.
• Free “pick your brain” sessions are different from connection calls or networking meetings, because with the latter there is a clear win-win for both parties. With “pick your brain” sessions, the help is clearly going in one direction alone.
• Networking is critical for your business. You need to spend enough time networking and this means that sometimes you will need to say no to requests, such as “pick your brain sessions”, to prioritize meetings that are crucial for your business.

5 Strategies to Say No to Free Brain Picks

1. Send them to your free content.
2. Thank them and connect them to the next step of your sales process.
3. Tell them the next networking event that you will be attending and meet them there.
4. Allot a specific time per month for “pick your brain meetings”.
5. Just say NO.

Love the show? Let us know!

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!           

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible.

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover.

That’s why I created the Impact & Influence Leadership Lab for Women. This 6-week signature group coaching program was inspired out of my own frustration. A frustration of watching so many highly-ambitious, fierce feminine leaders working within large organizations or growing their own businesses, but lacking the confidence, influence, and presence they needed to really step into their power and advance their careers.

On today’s episode, I’m going to share with you why it is so important for women in business or corporate leadership roles to show up as confident, influential leaders. I’ll share how demonstrating your confidence and your ability to influence others can lead to career advancements, business growth, and opportunities you may have otherwise overlooked.

Influence, confidence, and the ability to stand out as an expert in your space is the best insurance you can have for growing your business or advancing your career.

Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:

• Showing up as a confident competitor helps you gain the respect and credibility you deserve.
• Women leaders need to be strategic in their networking skills to advance their careers and grow their businesses.
• When you lack confidence, influence, and presence – you miss opportunities to grow as a female leader.
• Why it’s important to engage in politics and how a lack of willingness to engage in politics can derail your career.
• What you’ll get by registering for my Signature 6-week group coaching program.
• How this program has helped other Fierce Feminine Leaders advance their careers, grow their businesses, and expand their network.

Dial Up Your Impact, Influence, and Income in 2017         

Are you ready to take your leadership and influence to the next level in 2017? Join the Impact & Influence Leadership Lab for Women with Eleanor Beaton – the world’s premier leadership training and implementation program designed specifically for female leaders! This is a 6-week mentoring program for professional, ambitious women in business who are ready to take their leadership skills to the next level and truly step into their power. Visit the Leadership Lab for Women website to see all of the amazing content, tools, and services you will receive by registering today to claim your seat at the table!   

Enrollment ends January 22, 2017.  

Love the show? Let us know!             

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!             

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!             

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!             

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…             

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!             

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible.             

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover             

Despite whether you agree with her politics, or the politics of President Barak Obama, Michelle Obama’s career is filled with valuable leadership lessons for women in business. Today, I’m going to share with you some of the important lessons I have learned from simply observing how she has lead initiatives – from her work in combatting childhood obesity and supporting veterans to her powerful speeches during the 2011 election. By simply observing her career, we can learn many valuable lessons that can help us be more effective in any negotiation, in any boardroom, or in any speech we give throughout 2017.

When you have the room – allow yourself to own it.

Today on the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast:

• Resist the urge to play small to gain the acceptance of others.
• Remember: your career is a marathon – not a sprint.
• When you are ready to step back into the game after a career hiatus – or are faced with a big, bold opportunity – leverage it for all it’s worth!
• Fun and lightheartedness is a powerful tool to unite your team, drive great results, and ultimately create a knockout culture.
• Authenticity, integrity, and hope are what characterized Michelle Obama’s tenure. Her values are what people will remember her for.

Top 5 Leadership Lessons from Michelle Obama:

1. Don’t apologize for being confident.
2. Embrace the times when your career must take a back seat.
3. Know how to own the room.
4. Fun is a powerful leadership skill.
5. Know your values.

My Challenge to You:

• Sort out your relationship with your own personal power.
• Decide when you need to allow your professional life to take a back seat to meet the needs of your family.
• Know when to leverage great opportunities and allow yourself to own the room.
• Create a fun, light-hearted working atmosphere.
• Know your sense of certainty (and uncertainty).

Dial Up Your Impact, Influence, and Income in 2017        

Are you ready to take your leadership and influence to the next level in 2017? Join the Impact & Influence Leadership Lab for Women with Eleanor Beaton – the world’s premier leadership training and implementation program designed specifically for female leaders! This is a 6-week mentoring program for professional, ambitious women in business who are ready to take their leadership skills to the next level and truly step into their power. Visit the Leadership Lab for Women website to see all of the amazing content, tools, and services you will receive by registering today to claim your seat at the table!  

Enrollment ends January 22, 2017. 

Love the show? Let us know!            

Are you a fan of the Fierce Feminine Leadership Podcast? If the tips and interviews we share in each episode have helped you gain the confidence and inspiration to become a better, more powerful leader, head on over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave your honest review to let us know!            

Each month, one lucky podcast reviewer will be selected to receive a free coaching session with me – Eleanor Beaton!            

What are you waiting for? Head on over to iTunes, subscribe and leave your review to enter your name into this month’s drawing!            

And, if you really want to ramp up your fierceness…            

Reach out to us for a free 30-minute Bold Women in Business Makeover Session with me or one of the fabulous coaches on my team!            

Explore your path and discover how you can be the fiercest lady-boss possible.            

Visit EleanorBeaton.com/Discover