Women Leading U P (Under Pressure)

With the financial scandals, terrorism, natural catastrophes and numerous notable organizational disasters, including the BP oil spill and the Toyota recall, that have rocked the country during the past decade, you may be starting to wonder whether crises, generally defined as rare and extreme occurrences, are the new normal.
It is undeniable that the state of business has become increasingly complex. With that complexity comes a greater likelihood that things will go wrong, and sometimes in catastrophic ways. More often, however, organizations are simply experiencing a heightened level of pressure to compete globally, manage diverse stakeholder needs, and produce more with fewer resources.
There are several hallmarks that characterize an organization under pressure.
•    Expectation of immediate decision-making and action. Do your clients demand immediate response to questions? Do you feel a need to shortcut analytic rigor in order to produce a response or deliverable? Do you feel your deadlines are unduly short?
•    Time pressure. Do you find that there is inadequate time in the day, week or month to achieve your work objectives? Are you multitasking in ways that are likely to generate costly errors?
•    Public and stakeholder scrutiny. Is your work subject to public scrutiny? Do you have multiple internal or external stakeholders who depend on you and your work, or who have considerable influence over your work and career?
•    Inadequate information. Are you constantly making decisions with inadequate information, or do you find yourself inundated with so much information that you struggle to make sense of it all?
•    Limited resources. Do you have insufficient resources (people and financial) to deliver quality output?
The more you answer “yes” to any of these questions, the more you are operating under intense pressure, and the more likely it is that problems, or a crisis, will occur. In fact, according to the research conducted by the Institute for Crisis Management, in 2009 more than half of all crises were due to mismanagement, not an external event.
The challenge is to develop a leadership orientation that will allow you to go from merely surviving under pressure to thriving in it. People who skillfully lead under pressure have certain character traits that allow them to think differently, and more positively, about organizational problems and threatening situations.
Reflect, learn and adapt. People who are able to adjust to the rapidly increasing pace of change, and to learn from the failures and successes, are positioned to lead effectively under pressure.
Scan the environment and see possibilities. People with this leadership trait can identify new patterns, see ways to do things differently, and spot a potential trend long before others can.
Recognize the potential for opportunity. Pressure-laden and threatening situations can present amazing opportunities. People who can see the light during dark times can lead their teams to success.
Expect mutual trust and respect. No one functions alone in times of peril, and cooperation only comes when you have proven yourself to be a trustworthy leader. Such trust is earned by extending trust to others.
The timing is right for women to step into the challenges of leading under pressure. Interestingly, research shows that firms with a higher proportion of women in executive positions perform better in recessionary times than firms with fewer women at such levels. Although it would be inappropriate to conclude from this research that women are naturally skilled in leading under pressure, there is no doubt that the perspective and experiences of operating under pressure that women bring to organizations can add tremendous value.
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IFC's Women in Business Program

IFC's Women in Business Program

Women in the private sector represent a powerful source of economic growth and opportunity. By strengthening women's roles as leaders, entrepreneurs, employees, consumers, and economic stakeholders, we can reinforce and transform the economy itself.

This is exactly what IFC is setting out to do. IFC's Women in Business (WIN) program promotes business opportunities by assisting our organization and clients to take a gender view across all areas of business. A suite of IFC investment products and advisory services has also been developed to focus on: Increasing access to finance and access to markets for women entrepreneurs. Reducing gender-based barriers in the business environment.

Creating business opportunities for IFC clients built around improved working conditions for female employees, woman-focused market segmentation, and the inclusion of both men and women in community relationships. WIN is housed within the Advisory Services in Sustainable Business department of IFC. To learn more, contact the WIN team of specialists.

Women make some of the best entrepreneurs

According to a recent survey carried out by one of our partners, women business owners have overtaken their male counterparts for ‘growth ambition’, with 88% of women predicting business growth over next five years (read full report ) With female entrepreneurs predicting a £12 billion growth in turnover over the next five years, there are plenty of reasons to join in the optimism.

India best place for women entrepreneurs: Study

New Delhi: India has emerged as the best place for women entrepreneurs to start business with high level of optimism on various factors that are important to judge business growth, says a study by PC maker Dell.
"According to the study commissioned by Dell, we have found the ideal country for a woman starting a business in 2012 could well be India," Dell Chairman (Global Emerging Markets) and President (Asia Pacific) Amit Midha said.
In Dell Women's Global Entrepreneurship Study conducted across 450 women entrepreneur across India, the US and the UK by research firm Penn Schoen Berland found that Indian women entrepreneur are confident on their business growth compared to counterparts in the US and the UK.

The study found Women Entrepreneur in India expect 90 per cent growth in their business over period of five years compared to 24 per cent and 50 per cent growth in business expected by entrepreneur in the UK and the US respectively.
In terms of technology usage to promote their business, 74 per cent Indian women entrepreneur said that their technology need is getting more complex compared to 45 per cent in the US and 51 per cent in the UK.
Around 90 per cent of women entrepreneurs in India said they are using technology to support day-to-day operations. However, this trend was low in women entrepreneur in the US and the UK at 80 per cent and 70 per cent respectively.
The study found that getting fund for business has been biggest challenge for business across geographies.
"Women across geographies struggle to get fund for their business. The difference between funding issue between them and male entrepreneur is that they have issues even in approaching for fund," Dell's Chief Marketing Officer Karen Quintos said.
Women entrepreneurs in India needs an average of $9,376 in start-up capital for business, compared to $8,060 required in the UK and $19,985 in the US, the study said.
Women entrepreneurs in India and the US find banks or credit unions as most difficult source for obtaining funds.
Easiest source for getting funds for women entrepreneur in the US is family members, the UK is friends and for Indian women entrepreneur it is Angel investors.
You can find the article on http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-best-place-for-women-entrepreneurs-study/266689-7.html

Women make some of the best entrepreneurs

According to a recent survey carried out by one of our partners, Everywoman, women business owners have overtaken their male counterparts for ‘growth ambition’, with 88% of women predicting business growth over next five years (read full report )

With female entrepreneurs predicting a £12 billion growth in turnover over the next five years, there are plenty of reasons to join in the optimism. And plenty of inspiration, help and support to get you there.
In Everywoman and Prowess, we’ve got some great partners who specialise in supporting women to start and grow businesses. And through horsesmouth mentors, you can also get in touch with some of the most successful and inspirational women in the UK to advise you – whatever stage you’re at.

On horsesmouth you’ll find advice on starting out from mentors like OutSec Ltd, aged 50, who set up business quite literally from the kitchen table and now provides transcription services to in excess of 2,000 corporate clients, many of whom are household names.

There’s also inspiration on overcoming barriers from young mentors like NatashaB, aged 27. Being a young mother at the age of 17 was no barrier to success as she went on to become a volunteer business mentor for Shell LiveWIRE and also won a ‘Services to Enterprise’ award in 2006.

There are many successful business women mentoring on horsesmouth who are willing to share their experiences to help your business grow, like ‘EMpwr’. EMpwr grew her business from a £1million turnover, to a turnover approaching £4million after just three years, before going on to sell it successfully.

Everyone has their own motivations for setting up or growing a business, be they financial or personal. On horsesmouth we find it’s usually a bit of both. A healthier work-life balance, a millionaire bank balance, or simply because you know you can do it better: now’s the time to get growing.

Reference:

 http://www.horsesmouth.co.uk/publisha.content/spotlight/topics.publisha?topic=Women%20make%20some%20of%20the%20best%20entrepreneurs&gclid=CO6SmJT_8rACFUcKfAod8G1oPg

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