Gender differences in work success
An award-winning startup aimed at helping women break glass ceilings in a unconventional way has garnered international attention.
She Prosperity founder Kimberley Sumner said men and women needed different tools to manifest their potential in the workplace.
Sumner said the alpha male characteristics of ‘‘beating your chest till you get noticed’’ that were linked with leadership had become normalised in workplaces, discouraging many women from taking up promotions or a new challenge in their career.
‘‘Everyone is being shown the way to be is confident and resilient and stepping forward and promoting themselves, and this approach is quite a masculine one that works for men and but only a few women,’’ Sumner said.
‘‘Your career progression does not simply come down to performance. Seventy per cent of it is how you communicate, how you present yourself and network and build connections.’’
Sumner’s business won start-up of the year in New York last month, beating businesses from around the world at the 14th annual Stevie Awards.
The awards honoured women executives, entrepreneurs, employees and the companies they run. More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year.
She Prosperity was recognised for empowering women to find their own way of becoming a leader. It also won three bronzes.