Collaborative Competition - Women's Secret to Thriving in a Rotten Economy

Every time I present to a predominately female audience, one brave woman raises her hand and says,” People call me the "B" word. How else am I supposed to get my job done?” The dictionary defines bitch as: “malicious, spiteful, and domineering woman.” But generally, these women are neither malicious nor spiteful. Many are ambitious, competitive, aggressive, and focused on doing their jobs well—just like their male colleagues. And that’s the rub. Women in business, especially in leadership, are judged more harshly, more quickly, and more permanently than men in similar roles. What is a girl to do?

In my opinion, the bitch syndrome is a perception problem more than a behavioral problem. It’s a strategy issue: how you manage the way others perceive you—the disconnect between your intention and how you are being received.

Women tend to approach work with a perfectionist strategy—and develop a small, closely-knit group of supporters. This combination is noble and innocent in its intent. But the way it blinds women from seeing others’ agendas while blocking them from learning about potential perception problems can be toxic.

So here's the challenge: Rather than subordinate your own personality, or demand unreachable perfection, channel your natural intimacy to validate coworkers, while organizing all the internal and external accomplishment markers that will bring success both to yourself and your team.

A winning strategy to meet that challenge is Collaborative Competition™: the strategic mindset that even as you're competing, you're also collaborating. Yes, get noticed for your accomplishments on the team—but also for the entire team’s accomplishments. Aim to equal or excel against your competitor's performance, without undermining that competitor.

My new book Collaborative Competition: A Woman's Guide to Succeeding by Competing is now available on Amazon.com. I am very excited to be presenting two programs based on the book at the Forte conference this June! You will learn how to adopt this new strategy for competing in business while still being your authentic personality and enjoying yourself. I look forward to seeing everyone! And, order my book today and get started on developing a positive approach to help you thrive in today's tough economy!