Why Women Make Better CEOs
Lessons in Leadership you can adopt to accelerate your own situation 

By Jodie Nolan

Economist, Financial Adviser & founder of RICHMum Program

When it comes to managing money, women sometimes leave the financial decisions to their partner without giving it further thought, but the fact is women earn less money, take more time out of the workforce and live longer lives. According to USB Global Wealth Management, 58% of women leave crucial choices up to their male partners.

Those factors alone mean it’s important to not leave the fate of your financial future to others, regardless of how much you love or trust them.

For many women; separation, divorce or bankruptcy has left them shattered wondering where things went wrong. Splitting assets or starting over, especially with children can be frightening and overwhelming, worse too if they need to earn an income to support their family.

It’s important to recognise that life and situations change, and that there isn’t a ‘Prince Charming’ coming along to rescue you if you don’t work hard to make your success your own. How you define that personal success is unique to you, but the focus really must be on your own quest to live the best life you possible can – that includes becoming financially savvy and self-sufficient!

Can I share a secret? Being financially capable, happy and secure isn’t a pipedream; it’s a measurable method and an achievable reality. A few points towards this wisdom can be gleaned from our female CEOs:

·         Trust yourself to be capable of what is in front of you – whether that is striving for the next promotion, investing your savings or paying off monster credit cards. You’ve got this.

·         What you can measure you can manage – take an honest ‘stocktake’ of your current income/outgoings. Where can you improve the margins of what dollars are leaving your possession. Every dollar matters.

·         More money or successful business can be made in a downturn. We are potentially headed into a recessionary environment. How can you mitigate this risk and profit from the downturn and subsequent upswing?

We can learn a lot from female CEOs – how they lead successful, multimillion-dollar empires whilst still raising a family and managing their own financial success. Broadly speaking, women CEO’s have the following qualities to their leadership role and you can apply these lessons to your own financial life to accelerate your results.

Successful Female CEOs have a broad Social Conscience

They won’t blow out another person’s light, just to let their shine – they embrace mentoring, encourage other women and institutionalise female-friendly environments. They often put their team ahead of themselves and handle crisis situations well.

Do you know someone who you admire and trust that you could learn financial strategies and tips from? A ‘mentor in money’ is an ideal way to help you manage any money crisis, focus on your own race and not worry about what other people are doing or achieving.

In addition, foster co-operation and excellence with people in your work and home life. How can you encourage those around you to live their best life financially too, build those tricky questions into ordinary discussions with your partner. family or work colleagues. It helps in communicating to them that you want them to shine too.

They own their POWER

Women have an innate sense of wisdom and insight, but we are often taught to dull that gift which gives rise to a feeling of powerlessness in our lives.

If you find yourself in this position, work hard to get your power back. Be as open to sharing your situation as you can – with your partner, with family and trusted friends. You don’t need to fully disclose or divulge your situation, but by sharing the metrics that drive your decisions, others will appreciate the communication and understand where you are coming from.

This might be explaining you can’t attend a certain event because you are focussed on a different financial goal at the moment or suggesting a catch-up that doesn’t involve costly dinners because you are working to commit to a particular outcome, people are more likely to understand and appreciate you are taking control of your financial future in the process.

Women in leadership positions know their numbers, they stay on top of them and work to consistently improve them. In your daily life, you need to know your financials – your cashflow, asset/liability position and forecasts or projections.

Run your personal financial life like a business. It is your business – the business of making you ‘financially independent’.

Understand where you are starting from and set measurable, quarterly goals – even little ones – so you can celebrate the success in taking your power back. Even baby steps in the right direction can yield huge results (such as the brilliance of compound interest over time!)

They lead by example and walk their talk

Integrity and honesty are two values that hold true with those who walk their talk. In leadership positions it is sometimes difficult for women to tolerate being seen as ‘conciliatory or nice-but-ineffectual’ – but the balance in power, their leadership by example and getting the job done is their superpower. What is your superpower? Are you walking your talk?

We are all CEOs of our own financial situation, so what are you doing to propel your money matters to next level?

About Jodie Nolan
Economist, Financial Adviser & founder of RICHMum Program

Jodie Nolan has been called one of Australia’s most admired and respected financial advisers. With a Master’s Degree in Applied Finance, Jodie is a best-selling author, corporate presenter and the mastermind behind the new RICHMum Program – Inspiring women to real financial success!