Defining Your Own Authentic Success as a Woman in Business

Do you consider yourself a successful professional? As a woman in business, it’s important to define your own success by standards you determine - not by external measurements that most likely originated long ago for the purpose of gauging male performance. Although we’ve made strides toward being accepted and appreciated in the highest levels of the professional world, a couple of truisms apply to women in the workplace:

We are not men, and as such, should be encouraged to measure our success according to our own aims, goals and priorities. For instance, men’s traditional standards for success often include exterior markers like title, prestige, influence or income, whereas women’s metrics for measuring success may include their ability to exercise positive influence, break down barriers, empower other women and/or achieve a viable work-life balance.

Although we are as capable, intelligent, ambitious and hardworking as our male counterparts, we bring different sensibilities to the workplace which should be considered in any assessment of our performance. Those differences include a facility for collaboration, strong instincts and a desire for our work to align with our personal values.

Simply put, women see and perform differently in leadership roles than do men. This fact, however, is often overlooked, even by the woman herself as she attempts to judge her own success. It’s crucial to take these differences into consideration so that you are measuring your success by standards that apply to you - not someone who had a vastly different experience in getting where they are now.

When we neglect to look at ourselves through the lens of being a woman entrepreneur and we apply the same measuring devices used for men, we will invariably fall short. We as women naturally tend to take on burdens that aren’t ours to carry - which means we will end up trying to excel at all the things successful men do in addition to the things successful women do well - a sure recipe for a poor performance review! No one can be everything to everyone and you should not try; bringing your own strengths to the table is quite enough. No man ever had to carry the burden of succeeding by two different criterias on his way to being considered a success.

To ensure that you are giving yourself a fair shake when it comes to evaluating your own success, think about your priorities and how you measure up to those - that’s the key to gaining a sense of how you are performing professionally. Take into consideration:

Your professional goals (e.g., making a meaningful professional impact, being empowered to progress professionally; feeling fulfilled and purposeful in your professional role; exercising graceful, empowering leadership; building a support network)

Your personal goals (e.g., feeling a sense of passion for your work; having a positive impact on others and your community; inspiring others’ success and fulfillment; aligning personal values and your work; continuous learning and personal development)

When you measure your own performance against what you value, you get the most accurate picture of how you’re doing professionally. Remember, there’s no glory in succeeding in things that are irrelevant to you; nor in neglecting things that hold meaning just to rank high on an inconsequential metric. Stay true to yourself and you’ll discover your authentic value - and I’ll bet you will see you’re crushing it harder than you think!

How do you define and measure your own success as a businesswoman?