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Top 10 Rules for Women in Business
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Rule #5: Be Yourself, But Be the Best Self You Can Be

This advice is given by Jessica Miller, co-author of A Woman's Guide to Successful Negotiating, about flexing your negotiation style: “You must be authentic or you'll lose all credibility.” The same holds true for being a successful businesswoman or leader. Know your unique strengths and leverage these to support your success.

Tom Peters has said, "The lessons I learned in business all point to one broad truth: Success follows when you use what you've got. You will succeed because of, not in spite of, your personal traits. The trick is to make your aptitude and flair work for you in a style that is uniquely yours." I find many women trying to emulate a masculine style—which is not their authentic way of leading. Be courageous enough to be yourself.

Rule #6: A Good Idea Alone Is Not Enough

Research has proven that women are either the primary buyer, or influence the majority of purchases, for the home and business. Yet, ideas presented by female managers and executives sometimes still get treated with less respect than men’s ideas.

Why? Because there are a lot of great ideas out there! A good idea is not enough. You must know how to brand, market and sell the idea to others. Often, when we fail to get our idea heard, we assume it must be a faulty idea. It isn’t that the idea is bad (it is often spot on!) but that we don’t do an effective job of pitching our idea to our stakeholders. Women often offer the justification, “It’s the right thing to do,” when what stakeholders want to hear is, “It will work!” One of the key skills I believe a woman needs in order to survive and thrive in business is the ability to sell. Everyone sells. Some people sell ideas, some sell services, and some sell products. Some sell within an organization, others sell to external clients.

"I'm a salesperson," Larissa Herda, chairman and chief executive officer of Time Warner Telecom Inc., says. "I personally think sales skills are some of the best skills an executive can have because at the end of the day you're selling to everyone: You're selling your vision to your employees, you're selling to your board, to your investors, to customers."