How Playing Chess Can Give Women a Strategic Advantage with Their Career
Chess is a classic two-player strategy game that has been in existence for centuries and is enjoyed by millions of men and women all over the world today. The rules governing the game of chess, the amount of thinking involved and every strategy employed that lead up to a successful checkmate are unlike any other strategy game ever conceived.
Women who are familiar with this fascinating sport, no doubt have been inspired by how exciting, invigorating and challenging it is. Many have discovered that playing chess is capable of teaching valuable lessons in forethought, planning, awareness, and defense tactics which can also be applied in real life.
How these lessons can help stimulate growth and possibly set women up by giving them a strategic advantage in their respective careers is what this article is all about, so take some time to read through each paragraph and feel free to join in the conversation, let’s hear your thoughts.
Just as in playing the game of Chess if we visualize where you want to be you can take the steps to get there – Create Win-Win Situations
Life like chess, often times create series of patterns which to the enterprising can be identified as clearly defined lines of success. Learning how to spot these patterns, knowing when they occur and taking full advantage of them will most certainly yield success.
Women who are making strides in their careers today are those who are able to spot significant trends and patterns as they occur and using it as a guide to enable them accurately envision where they want to be in their respective careers at a particular point in time and detailing out the necessary steps needed to be taken to get there.
Why it is important to act like a leader and speak up
Many women today don’t know how to behave like a leader when it is needed. A majority of them find it very difficult to comply when asked to take up roles where they are expected to lead others because they intrinsically do not feel entitled to do so.
However, as a woman, it is very important for you to know when to act like a leader and speak up. For example, when in a meeting, don’t allow yourself to be boxed-in, free things up and don’t be too polite by allowing people interrupt you easily, because that would be a clear sign to everyone else that what the other person has to say is more meaningful than whatever it is you have to say.
It takes courage to be able to do this but once you’re able to pull it off the first time, it gets easier and you ultimately set yourself up as a leader.
Make waves yet have a hard skin to receive feedback and adjust
In business as in chess, sometimes you’re going to lose material, there will be disappointments and negative feedbacks from customers and co-workers alike, it is an inevitable fact that must be accepted. As a woman, knowing how to respond to these criticisms and negative feedbacks effectively, without getting emotional is very important and when all else fails, it is important that you try to minimize your losses and move on.
Welcoming criticisms, being open to suggestions, learning from your mistakes and adjusting accordingly are all part of the growth process, and when you are able to perform all four effectively, you’re guaranteed of success in your chosen career.
Keep the gas pedal floored.
Avoid any small talk that does not help you with your vision and surround yourself with good mentors / leaders
Like in the game of chess where you need to remove a trivial piece from the way so a more cherished piece can be brought into play, so also it is in life and the people you surround yourself with. You have to be firm in your decision to avoid people who may want to engage you in unimportant and unnecessary small talks that does not support your vision.
The goal here is to make every effort to get into the game and not allow people who don’t share your vision pin you down. Instead, it is important that you try as much as possible to have good mentors and leaders in your inner circle, people who are brilliant and can support you with your vision. This would help your stay focused on your goals and enable you get to your desired destination faster.
Why continuously Investing in yourself is the key to growth
Making conscious efforts to improve on yourself – character, skills and personality, is very important in your quest of achieving success. You can do this by figuring out what your core values are, traveling and meeting people of different cultures, reading challenging books, exploring the different varieties of religions, figuring out what you want from life and committing to a large community that benefits someone or something else.
It takes time and patience and a willingness to change to be able to grow in this regard, however, learning from the examples of others who have been there before would certainly make the job much easier for you. Some examples of women whose self-investment choices are worth studying include: Click on the name to see related article.
· Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo! Graduated from Stanford University
· Hillary Clinton, the First Female US Presidential Nominee. Graduated from Yale Law School
· Michelle Obama, the US First Lady. Graduated from Harvard University
· Amy Gutmann, the 8th president of the University of Pennsylvania. Graduated from Radcliff College
· Diane Greene, senior vice president of Google’s cloud businesses. Earned her second master’s degree from UC Berkeley.
These are only a small part of the several hundred names of women who have exceled in their respective careers that you can learn from. The main point to consider here is that, no matter what stage you may have gotten to in life, it is important to never rest on your laurels. Keep thinking, keep looking for new opportunities and keep trying to generate new ideas.
Powerful women steps to break through the Glass Ceiling
One step to take to break through the glass ceiling is to learn to see the big picture. Like the game of chess where you always consider the whole board when deciding on a move, decisions made with too narrow a focus often turn out bad.
Learn to take charge. As mentioned earlier, you have to know when to act like a leader and speak up. Don’t hesitate to take on responsibilities and let your superiors know that you’re interested in working in top level positions, listen to their advice, find out what skills you need to develop, figure out what needs to be done before being told and work hard to make it happen.
Learn to take risks. Like Mark Zuckerberg said, “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” These days opportunities don’t just come your way, you need to step out of your comfort zone to be able to grab them and that involves taking risks and overcoming your fear of failure.
Work on your emotional intelligence. Before you can be able to lead and motivate others, you need to have firm control of your emotions because the higher you go the lesser the job is about you and more about others. Listen before reacting and “seek first to understand and then to be understood.”
Finally, don’t be carried away with lofty words or titles. The only thing worse than being overly diffident towards those who outrank you, is being dismissive of those inferior to you.
Just as the Queen can move in any direction the Knight can leap over pieces but you need to plan 3 moves ahead. You need to anticipate what the other person will do in a particular situation.
Just like in the game of chess, before making any drastic decision – especially when moving in for a checkmate, you have to be able to anticipate what could go wrong and plan accordingly. In any given situation, it is important to always have a backup plan and a Plan C, in case your Plan B fails.
Most of the problems you will likely encounter in your career are those whose solutions require a gentle and cerebral approach. Sometimes you may get stuck in a position known in chess as zugzwang: where any move you make is a bad one. It happens like that sometimes, in chess and in life, but making sacrifices may result in a winning position later on so it is important not to lose hope and keep your head in the game.
The lessons that can be learned from playing chess are so many, it can keep you feeling alive, vibrant, polished and motivated. You don’t have to be a conniving cheater to win… you just have to be better.
And if all else fails… fake it.
An article dedicated to my strong daughter.
Your Partner in Personal Growth.
For leadership in retail innovation read this
Get a copy of my new book “Live Free Die Hard”, a personal management manifesto at Amazon here
Andrew