Innate feminine skills are absolutely invaluable in a work environment, and can be used to cultivate successful relationships with every member of an organization.

Women are natural bridge-builders, web-weavers, and intuitive masterminds with strategic vision, and these incredible natural abilities can manifest great returns when they are drawn upon in leadership positions.

Gallup research has determined a strong parallel between gender diversity and revenue growth rate in retail stores. Additionally, research released by Catalyst noted that the ROI produced by the Fortune 500 companies with high percentages of female board directors is approximately 66 percent higher than those with few women directors at the helm.

Feminine leadership skills can be of immense benefit to any organization, and below are five of the most powerful feminine skills that can be tapped into for greater success in 2018:

Strategy

Feminine leaders tend to have very strong strategic skills because they have vision. They possess a strong concept of what the ideal outcome being striven for needs to look like, and can determine the best course to take in order to arrive there.

A strong female leader has far-ranging vision, and as such can corral her team to take the right actions needed to achieve their collective goal. She knows her people’s unique strengths, empowers them in their roles, and encourages them to their greatest potential to ensure success for everyone involved.

Empathy

Have you ever been in a position at work where your wealth of knowledge and ability hasn’t been acknowledged or put to good use? How has that made you feel in terms of overall job satisfaction, not to mention personal self-worth?

An empathic leader is a cherished leader because she recognizes the value that each of her employees brings to the table, and doesn’t solely put their unique skill sets to good use: she ensures that her staff members have a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their personal roles. She takes the time to see where her people are coming from, recognizes their strengths, empowers them, and helps them to cultivate their abilities.

When an employee feels that they are seen, respected, appreciated for what they can contribute—they put forth their best work. As a result, everyone benefits, and the entire organization shines.

Collaboration

This is one of the most important feminine leadership skills to cultivate, and the key to establishing strong, lasting relationships. In a session at the Wharton Executive Education Program, Management Professor Dr. Sigil Barsade made mention of the importance of a proper fit between employees and culture:

“If you really want the kind of commitment and superior performance of going above and beyond what [your company needs], it comes down to the person-culture fit. You need to find people who are going to believe in the values of your organization.”

Rather than the more masculine leadership technique that revolves around hierarchal structures, orders, and competition, the feminine approach is indeed to recognize skills each individual brings to the table, and to then gather everyone in working together for a greater purpose.

Part of this involves understanding how to use team members to their highest potential in order to maximize input, and one of the best ways to do this is to create a strong sense of purpose for everyone involved. It’s finding out where each team member feels most valued, and giving him or her engaging challenges to strive for. It’s how to approach partnerships with stakeholders in their own unique way to ensure mutual benefit. Most importantly, it reduces any sense of hierarchy, instead cultivating a sense of mutual respect and equality.

Intuition

We’re all familiar with the concept of female intuition, and how well it can serve those who pay attention to it. Just about all of us have heard about situations where mothers’ instincts have clued them into situations that they were able to remedy so they could save the day, but even those who don’t have children have the same gut instinct.

The more that a female leader taps into that natural intuition, the more she can realize what actions should be taken that will be best aligned for her team, and for her organization as a whole. She’ll just “know” what obstacles may come up, and how to overcome them so there’s a clear path to the envisioned end goal.

Vulnerability

A lot of people balk at the word “vulnerability”, believing that it implies a level of weakness or fragility, when in fact it can be an immensely powerful tool. To be vulnerable in a leadership role is about being open and transparent, and showing that one has emotions. It shows that a leader is able to have empathy and understanding, and can relate to other people—whether staff members or stakeholders—on a very sincere, human level. It’s the ability to connect with that deeper level of care and humanity that makes other team players want to open up and dedicate themselves to the shared goal in turn. Vulnerability is necessary for cultivating solid, long-term relationships: not just for romantic partnerships, but also for any interaction that’s going to have real trust and authentic connection.

Tap into your innate skill set, cultivate these abilities, and see how your world shifts into clearer focus and purpose. Truly, when a woman harnesses these natural feminine skills and puts them to use towards a goal, there is no limit to what can be achieved.