In the last 3 weeks, I’ve met a whole lot of highly-accomplished and much-awarded women from India and across the globe. While they all have varied achievements to their credit, all of them have some characteristics that make them the women they are. I’ve brought that down to 7 inspirational traits of today’s women that I hope I can bring together myself. And share with you.
7 Inspirational Traits
One: PERSISTENCE
These are women who have made the most of what they have or didn’t have and persisted. They are women who have taken the bad and turned it around to make it something extraordinary. Like Iris Davis who turned her depression into exercise and her exercise into bodybuilding. More importantly even when she was knocked out at around 50 with an illness, she started from scratch and is still a champion award-winning body builder today!
Two: A NEVER-SAY-DIE ATTITUDE
At the 7th World World Women’s Leadership Congress and Awards, I lauded, met and saw women who had rare achievements to their name. All of them shared one common trait. They never gave up. No matter what or where.
Three: STOICISM
All of those who shared their personal journeys displayed a rare quality of stoicism. No placing blame on others. No playing the victim card. Just the squaring of shoulders and moving on.

Four: GRIT
All the women I met had the uncanny quality of grit. Of persevering no matter what. Of getting up when down. Of getting up again even if knocked down again. And of putting that one foot in front of the other. Why? Because you have to.
Five: COURAGE
All of the displayed extraordinary courage in what they did. If they did not climb mountains they moved them. They moved countries and landed up in strange places with strange jobs not knowing what they’d have to deal with next. Courage in good times. Courage in the face of adversity. Bravehearts all!
Six: INCLUSIVENESS
I see in many women of today a leaning towards inclusiveness. Where the inclusion comes from being successful and spreading your wings so that you can make others equally successful. In a recent panel discussion I attended, someone spoke about giving voice to the women who have not been heard as yet. “Give a woman wings, and the whole flock flies”, I had written elsewhere. It’s true.
Seven: CHARACTER
Finally all the lines crossed, the lines blurred and the lines drawn have made these women of extraordinary character. It shows in the lines on their face (not age lines, mind you, characer lines). It shows in their eyes. It shows in the way they smile.
7 Inspirational Traits to emulate
All I can say during this month of March, of celebrating women, of bringing great achievements by women in focus, is that, it’s time we take at least one of these 7 and start building. After all, it’s not a Women’s Day or Women’s Week that makes us, it’s day after day after day!
More power to the women of the world!
Thank you for sharing these inspirational traits of women!
These traits I want to emulate in my own life and continue to develop whether day by day or moment by moment. I believe meeting and getting to know these women has be to life changing. You’ve taken traits I am working on but your more in depth focus on each one makes me first of all makes me want to promote and support women even more so than I have as well as do better to follow their examples.
Cindy! Thanks for your comments. I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that each woman I meet or come across has some or the other extraordinary quality! And I feel the only learning I can take is to imbibe some of it in my life.