To get more insights on the topic, International Finance got in touch with Dr Albena Pergelova, a professor at MacEwan University School of Business. Albena’s research is interdisciplinary (entrepreneurship and marketing) with a focus on social and emancipatory aspects in entrepreneurship, consumer well-being, and digital technologies. Her research has been published in leading international journals across different fields, and earned numerous international awards.

In an exclusive interview, Dr Albena Pergelova discussed the factors motivating women to pursue entrepreneurship, the systemic barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, and the social changes they contribute to society.

What factors most commonly inspire women to pursue entrepreneurship, and how do these motivations differ from those of men?

Along with the autonomy and financial motivation factors that are common to many entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs are more likely than men to have social or community-related objectives for their businesses as well. Women are also more likely to have the goal of balancing multiple responsibilities, such as taking care of children or other family members, while building a business.

How does the entrepreneurial journey contribute to self-discovery and identity-building among women entrepreneurs?

In my interviews with women entrepreneurs, I oftentimes hear how women take on new tasks or projects that they did not initially anticipate and the strength and resilience they build along the way. Identity aspects are very salient as well. Women entrepreneurs wear many hats and, therefore, have intertwined identities as business owners, mothers, community members, and change-makers. Unfortunately, many stereotypes persist about the fit women have in certain industries, and this can affect the entrepreneurial identity of women.

What patterns have you observed in how women approach risk and decision-making when starting or scaling their businesses?

Women tend to have a more holistic approach to decision-making that is grounded in their multiple roles in their family, community, and society in general.

What systemic barriers do women entrepreneurs face in accessing funding, mentorship, and networks, and how can institutions better address these gaps?

Men dominate many networks (including VCs and mentorship groups). This leads to fewer opportunities to be exposed to role models and mentors who understand women’s reality. The persistent funding gap for women entrepreneurs is also critical. In my research, I hear stories about women being asked to take a male co-founder for legitimacy and funding purposes, as well as how the goals of investors can interfere with the mission of the businesses women have started. Addressing those barriers would require systemic change and a shift in mindset, along with institutional support.

How do women-led enterprises contribute to community development and social change differently, or uniquely?

Women often have a clear motivation to contribute to community development with their businesses, and I have seen many examples of social change as a result of women’s businesses. Those can range from education and training for other women in the community, fair wages and consumer education to systemic changes at the meso or macro level, such as addressing poverty alleviation and changing government policies.

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The success of an organisation depends on the manager’s ability to effectively use resources to achieve business goals. Rapid changes occur in areas such as technology, production methods, marketing techniques, and financial structures. A competent manager should be able to adapt to these changes and implement them into the company’s operations to keep the business ahead in the market competition.

In this article, we will talk about the abilities which a manager needs to possess in order to become an asset for the company he or she is working in. It will deal more with the behavioural/mentoring side of the individual, as a good manager can keep his/her company ahead of the curve by keeping the team members motivated and well-trained to meet the business goals.

Inspiring The Employees

Dominique Harroch, Chief of Staff at AllBusiness, said, “Managers can inspire their teams to excel by setting a compelling vision and leading by example. By clearly articulating a shared purpose and demonstrating commitment through their own actions, managers motivate employees to align their efforts with the team’s goals.”

A good manager should always encourage personal growth and recognise individual achievements, which will, in turn, foster a culture of continuous improvement, thereby boosting team morale.

When managers actively support and celebrate progress, they end up cultivating an environment where employees are driven to surpass expectations and contribute their best efforts.

Provide Clear Communication And Expectations

A good (or great) manager carries the quality of clearly communicating the company’s business goals to his/her team members and how the latter can achieve those targets. The mid-level leaders need to inculcate the habit of setting precise expectations and deliverables paired with clear timelines, apart from letting the employees know what role they exactly should play to fulfil the team goals. Such clarity reduces anxiety and allows everyone on the team to focus on their tasks without unnecessary confusion.

Managers also need to set high but reasonable expectations, to strike a balance between motivating employees and ensuring achievable goals. High expectations inspire team members to strive for excellence, fostering a culture of ambition and continuous improvement, while promoting healthy collaboration between the manager and employee.

Integrity is another cornerstone. Managers need to stick to their word and be honest about the professional challenges the teams are about to face.

Show Empathy And Flexibility

A good manager considers his/her team members humans first and employees second. If as a team leader, you want your team to work hard, then you must lead from the front as well. If you preach work-life balance, ensure that everyone in your team gets to enjoy the perk as well. If you want your employees to work at weekends or late nights, do the same as well.

Great managers understand that a team’s success often hinges on their ability to lead with clarity and decisiveness. Leadership is about more than just managing tasks. It’s about motivating people to achieve their best work.

“Confident leaders don’t shy away from making tough decisions, and their self-assurance instils confidence in their teams. They are willing to take calculated risks, trust their instincts, and stand by their decisions,” Harroch commented.

The ability to understand and manage emotions, both the manager’s and those of his/her teammates, is essential for fostering a positive workplace. Managers, apart from being empathetic and self-aware, should be adept at navigating interpersonal dynamics. They should be able to read the room (judging the workplace atmosphere), diffuse tension, and respond to challenges with calm and composure. This will make them more approachable, apart from strengthening their relationships with their team.

Provide Regular Feedback And Organised Follow-up

The best leaders are the ones who not only proactively monitor the progress of projects but also provide regular, constructive feedback. Regular and consistent check-in meetings not only contribute to employees’ continuous career growth but also demonstrate that a manager cares about the company’s progress and is invested in the success of their employees.

“The best leaders know how to keep their tasks, projects, and teams organised. This means setting priorities, managing time efficiently, and keeping track of deadlines. An organised manager can maintain control over their work environment, which in turn helps the team stay focused and productive. Disorganisation, on the other hand, leads to missed deadlines, confusion, and unnecessary stress,” Harroch said.

Mentorship: A Crucial Trait

A great manager should always be hands-on, when it comes to training and developing his/her employees. The best managers don’t just assign tasks and hope for the best. Instead, they invest in their team’s growth by providing necessary opportunities and resources for learning. Training, just like knowledge, is not a one-time event but an ongoing process.

By prioritising continuous learning, a good manager only empowers his/her team members to take on more responsibilities, grow their skills, and feel confident in their roles. Good managers praise their employees privately, in front of their peers and even their superiors when deserved. They also give credit where it’s due, rather than taking it for themselves. This simple act of recognition fosters a sense of accomplishment and motivates the entire team.

Through continuous training, a brilliant manager puts his/her focus on addressing the employees’ weaknesses, apart from expanding their strengths and skills, seeing strong performers as valuable assets and investing in their professional well-being further. By prioritising mentorship, a good manager creates an environment where individuals are empowered to reach their full potential, ultimately enhancing the team’s collective performance and success.

“Managers can foster a productive work environment by allowing employees to fail safely, which is essential for growth, creativity, and innovation. To do this effectively, they should create a supportive atmosphere where mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities, rather than failures,” Harroch concluded.

The post Want to be a good manager? Here are the tips appeared first on International Finance.

The tips given by a business mentor are based on his/her own knowledge and experience, which is extremely valuable in the sense that they share the wayouts to conquer the challenges they themselves have faced in their lifetime.

Business mentoring often results in fruitful conversations between the mentor and the mentee, where both persons exchange their perspectives and tactics. And mentees are not mandatorily the newbies in the world of business. Sometimes they can be even experienced entrepreneurs seeking out advice and guidance from their industry peers.

Mentoring can either take the form of a one-on-one relationship or a mentoring circle within an organisation. Whatever the form is, a mentoring session can only be considered successful if it involves two-way learning and reciprocation.

Mentors help professionals feel more engaged, derive more meaning from their careers, and grow their businesses. According to one survey, 70% of small business owners who receive mentoring make it through the first five years of business, a rate twice as high as those who do not receive mentoring.

How To Find Mentors?

The first option is to check your industry circle. Make a list of successful business owners, do a detailed study of their success recipes and see if you are looking for similar approaches to ensure the growth of your business. A good medium to find such personalities is LinkedIn.

Investigate contacts within your specific industry. This suggestion may seem counterintuitive for competitive reasons. However, experienced professionals passionate about their field often offer mentorship services to other small business owners in the same industry.

For women entrepreneurs, there is a very good example in the United States in the form of the Pink Mentor Network, a mentorship community-based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Make a short list of potential mentor candidates and see to what extent your personalities and viewpoints align. You can even arrange informal meetings with them to discuss your goals and business trajectory, before officially asking one of them to be your mentor.

Still wondering why you need a business mentor? This article will clear the air.

Showing The Mirror

You might be too confident about taking a business call, which you believe if implemented properly, will fetch you success, but in reality, may be the worst call you are about to take (in others’ opinion). Maybe you don’t have this habit of listening to others.

That’s where a business mentor will come in handy, in terms of showing the mirror and telling what is going wrong with you. A great mentor will challenge your preconceived notions and encourage you to have a flexible approach towards things. He/she will listen to your business ideas, while at the same time, the person will question some or most of the points associated with your idea. The person will even use data, case studies and stats to prove his/her points right. You will be forced to think differently. In the end, it will only help your ability to make “Informed Decisions.”

Providing Access To ‘Sphere Of Influence’

A mentor can guide you towards a large network of industry connections, which can later come in handy for you, in terms of expanding your business footprint and prospects. There are high chances that you will find more distributors, potential customers and new vendors. The bigger your sphere of influence gets, the better things become for your business’ growth.

Helps You To Understand The Value Of Time

The mentor-mentee relationship at the end of the day is a formal one. Remember, your mentor is also having a successful venture of his/her own. For the person, every meeting with you has to be a productive one. So the mentor-mentee relationship also helps you to understand the fact: time is money. Every meeting that happens between you and your mentor, in order to be successful, must have a pre-decided set of parameters like times, dates, and agenda items, so they can be efficiently conducted.

Remember, the mentor-mentee meeting is just like any other client/board meeting, in a less formal way.

Will Be With You Throughout The Journey

It’s important to have a cheerleader in our corner, especially when running a successful small business. The right mentor genuinely wants you to succeed, encourages you during your lows, and celebrates your highs.

Also, the presence of a business mentor won’t ensure magical solutions to all the problems overnight. A brilliant mentor will make sure that the mentee is putting in the required efforts to make sure that the business is becoming a lucrative one.

The mentor will also discuss with the mentee regarding the progress on the business goals, while setting the accountability.

“Having someone hold you accountable for your own success is important because it motivates you, even on the days you don’t want to face the world,” AllBusiness continued further.

Will Share Their Own Experiences

Every successful business mentor is a treasure trove of learning, learning about successes and failures. How it helps a mentee? Well, the chances of the person landing in similar situations (mostly tough ones) that the mentor faced during his/her early years in the industry are always high. In that scenario, a business mentor will step in as a guide to help the mentee sail through those tough moments by sharing survival tips.

Learning from others’ mistakes can be invaluable. Who wouldn’t want to shorten the learning curve when it comes to building a small business? In most cases, a mentor is older, wiser, and has years of business experience. With this experience comes stories of both great success and tough failures. Having honest and vulnerable conversations with your mentor will help guide your future business decisions.

The post All you need to know about ‘Business Mentors’ appeared first on International Finance.