Do women in business need personal development to succeed?

July 2, 2008

If you are like me, you would have asked this question and perhaps come up with answers that are convincing or not so convincing. Hey, I have a strong confession to make right away, I am a personal development fanatic- I sleep, dream, live and eat the subject of personal development. I am wholeheartedly committed to it and you will soon find out why.

In truth, I will take the view that every one needs personal development to succeed but from my experience of working with women in business and black businesses, there appears to be a greater need for personal development skills and leadership skills by these groups. There is a whole range of reasons for this some of which are rooted in our cultural upbringing and the expectations of women in society.

It is my view that the human potential can never be tapped to its maximum until all the tools we were born with are fully and appropriately utilised . Some people think that what they learn in school, college or university is sufficient to help them achieve their goals. How wrong they are. For one thing, our academic education only focuses on developing some aspects of our lives- the intellect. But we are more than our intellect, which is where personal development plays a greater role in moulding us to become a rounded person.

Some of you may be wondering just what is personal development? Well let me give you my own simple definition of personal development. I am sure someone may come up with a better definition and that is ok. Personal development is concerned with developing the whole person which includes the emotional management, intellectual management and mindset. Statistics show that 85% of our success is down to our attitude as opposed to our technical skills. Wow!! This means that only 15% of our success is down to technical competencies. So if you make the mistake of focussing on technical competencies at the expense of your attitude you are doomed- so to speak. When I discovered this lesson some years back, I was so stunned and I started thinking why do our schools spend hard earned cash grooming us for less than 15% of what we will need to succeed in life? Why do they spend time teaching us to count as opposed to teaching us what counts in life? The truth is, the answers to these questions, are less clear to me. However, one thing is certain, personal development is critical for success in business and other aspects of our lives. These are some of the benefits of personal development:

• You learn how to set clear goals and manage activities to achieve them
• You learn how to develop your inner tools to manifest what you want to see on the outside.
• You learn how to manage you thoughts and emotions
• You learn how to build & manage relationships through effective listening and communications skills
• You learn how to motivate yourself and others and more…..

As a business coach and mentor, I get to teach women in business and black business owners personal development and leadership skills all the time. By the time I take clients through the first session, the response is normally “Wow”. I use tools that are appropriate to the clients needs and one thing you can be sure of is confidentiality and respect.

Do women in business need personal development to succeed?

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