5 Ways Women Can Support Each Other "Oprah Style"

When women gather together, a synergy, fueled by girl power, fills the atmosphere.

"Receiving support from your sister circle will make you feel like you can conquer the world! And guess what? You can! — Oprah Winfrey

It's important that we, as women, have a support system of courageous, loving and passionate women. Oprah stated, "Although we are experiencing very monumental moments in sisterhood, we have so much more to do. From competing in the workplace to negative views depicted on reality TV, I have seen women display catty, competitive, and jealousy-driven behavior towards each other. It breaks my heart to read posts on social media about women publicly feuding, making disparaging comments, or earing each other down. Instead of complaining about how men and society as a whole treat us, we should focus more on the benefits of supporting each other." I agree with her wholeheartedly because women already have a lot against them, and we don't need to add to it by being against each other!

Listed below are the 5 ways that women can support each other "Oprah Style:

1. Compliment Each Other — Who doesn't like to feel good about her self-image? You never know how kind words like, "I love your outfit!" or "Those shoes are everything!" will make a woman feel, especially if she is struggling with low self-esteem. Instead of talking about her behind her back or behind closed doors, figure out a way to boost her self-esteem by saying something nice. Paying compliments about someone else's looks, or even accomplishments, will brighten their day.

2. Mentor — Women are great leaders. We are empathetic, excellent communicators and nurturers with the ability to empower others to maximize their potential. Mentoring other women shows that you care about their success. You are not selfish, but desire to see them succeed personally, professionally, and even spiritually.

3. Collaborate Instead of Compete — Collaboration inspires you, grows your network, helps you achieve goals, and resolve problems. When women collaborate around creative ideas and concepts, we produce high-level results. Many of us share the same passion or dream but are too intimidated by the talents of others. As a result, choose competition over collaboration. When you are confident, you do not have to compete. Our confidence rises by working together and building each other up.

4. Create a Seat at the Table — Considering the challenges we, as women, have faced to gain a seat at the table in boardrooms, on panels, and other workplace environments where our counterparts are majority male, we should be eager to share our platform with other women. Creating opportunities for other women to share their gifts and talents, without feeling your light, will be diminished is a huge way to express support. There is so much room for all of us to eat at the table!

5. Protect One Another — One of my favorite quotes is "Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back." Protecting another woman is a great way of showing support. This support can be shown in many ways, such as not participating in workplace gossip, donating to worthy causes (domestic violence prevention and rescue or business start-ups!), listening instead of offering unsolicited advice, or showing unconditional love. Women can sometimes find themselves in a vulnerable position when unprotected by her peers. Showing you care by building a wall of protection around her will make her feel safe!

Final Takeaway

Always remember, when women work together, we accomplish amazing things. With support, and in the spirit of togetherness, we can do more and change the world!

*Based off the article by Ayo Thomas — some changes were made to fit my style of wording, but this is to give credit to the author of the original article!*