Women alone have power; collectively we have impact. Many women feel that they have been taught to be competitive with one another. But over time, we can see that being competitive clearly doesn’t work. The truth is that raising each other up and channeling the power of collaboration is truly how we’ll have success - and have a lot more fun along the way.
A few years ago, a group of ladies and I started a group - to build each other up and to help each other obtain success. What we learned is this:
There is power in the pack.
You realize your strengths make the group better.
Women really do love each other.
Today we’ve connected many women from all areas of our community: corporate, stay-at-home moms and entrepreneurs. Our goal is to change how women feel about themselves and each other. We want women who have passion - to turn that into profits. Women who want purpose - to support other women.
There is research that shows women in particular benefit from collaboration over competition. Study after study shows women who support women are more successful in business.
New research in the Harvard Business Review finds that while both men and women benefit from having a network of well-connected peers across different groups, women who also have an inner circle of close female contacts are more likely to land executive positions with greater authority and higher pay, while there was no link found for the success of men in terms of the gender composition of their inner circles.
The reason? Women trying to rise up into leadership face cultural and systemic hurdles that make it harder for them to advance. The research suggests that a way to overcome some of these hurdles is to form close connections with other women, who can share experiences from women who have been there, done that—from how to ask for what you’re worth to bringing your unique talents to leadership.
“There’s a new girls’ club that we didn’t have before, we’re building circles of trust with one another because we may be experiencing similar hurdles, and have each other’s backs.” said Karin Murphy, Founder of Wine & Wealth For Women.
“We see access to networks as one of the key barriers preventing women from advancing. We know that women have some setbacks and may not feel confident so they may feel the need to compensate by developing strong professional relationships with other women. When speaking to women in our group, I’ve learned that women are effectively acting as mentors and sponsors for one another.” said Karin.
We’re better together. As Madeleine Albright said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women." As we say from personal experience, “There is a special place in heaven for women who support other women.”
