Is drive, ambition and hard work enough to make you a successful business women?
Women who are successful entrepreneurs and leaders have often had the right role models to inspire them to go above and beyond. One of the biggest challenges that women may face today when starting a new business venture is not having the right support network and inspiration guiding them through and helping them to break past barriers.
To help being inspired, here are 19 thought provoking quotes from successful women entrepreneurs who reveal how they climbed their way to the top.
Secrets of women entrepreneurs…
“Strategic leaders must not get consumed by the operational and tactical side of their work. They have a duty to find time to shape the future.” – Stephanie S. Mead, CMOE
“My best successes came on the heels of failures.” – Barbara Corcoran, businesswoman
“Don’t let being a woman hold you back from the leader that you’re destined to be.” – Jamie Farsnel, Due
“Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.” – Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post
“The next time someone asks for your opinion, and you know it’s contrary to that person’s viewpoint, take the risk of putting your perspective on the table rather than taking the path of least resistance by agreeing or saying you have no opinion.” – Lois P. Frankel, PhD, President of Corporate Coaching International
“Good leaders organize and align people around what the team needs to do. Great leaders motivate and inspire people with why they’re doing it. That’s purpose. And that’s the key to achieving something truly transformational.” – Marilyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin
“Say the first word. Set the tone for the conversation. Be poised, prepared, and ready to say the first word in any debate or meeting.” – Gloria Feldt, Co-founder and President of Take The Lead
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all–in which case, you fail by default.” – J.K. Rowling, Author
“When we embrace the power of our feminine skills, we are redefining leadership where feminine is as strong and powerful as the masculine.” – Birute Regine, EdD, Founder of Iron Butterfly Power Circles
“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.” – Sara Blakely Founder of Spanx
“I think it is going to be hard to trace a specific event that made me want to be an entrepreneur. I like independence. I like to build things. Being an entrepreneur allows me to do both.” – Rashmi Sinha, Founder of SlideShare
“Poise comes when we recognize lessons from our experiences and understand the importance of acceptance and growth from them.” – Linda Rendleman, Cofounder of the Women Like Us Foundation
“Presenting leadership as a list of carefully defined qualities (like strategic, analytical and performance-oriented) no longer holds. Instead, true leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed… Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection.” – Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook
“The courageous leader asks for the tough project that no one wants and stays focused daily on the results.” – Sandra Ford Walston, The Courage Expert
“I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.” – Ginni Rometty, IBM
“When you are living your passion and achieving your purpose, you will feel more alive and energized than you thought possible.” – Nancy D. O’Relly, PsyD, Clinical psychologist, philanthropist, founder of WomenSpeak.com
“Talk [to your daughter] about what is needed to become successful and independent. Talk about how you value education. Expect her to have skills and marketability.” – Janet Rose Wojtalik, EdD, Author, motivational speaker, and school administrator
“As women, we must reject that idea that only a man can provide for our security. We must find the will and the comfort level to use our money and resources for choices that have meaning for us.” – Joanna L. Krotz, Journalist and entrepreneur
“It is up to women, then, as we advance in the power structures and economic institutions of the world, no matter how we acquire that advancement, to reach back, reach down, reach out, and embrace other women, pull them in, give them a hand up.” – Shirley Osborne, CEO of Posh Affairs, Inc.
Which quotes inspired you?
Keep these quotes by these powerful women entrepreneurs visible! Place them on your desk, bedside, fridge or wherever when you need that extra drive to put your business wheels in motion!
