“What does our age demand of women? First of all, it requires most of them to earn their own living … It requires women who have a knowledge of life, prudence, and practical ability; women who are morally steadfast, women whose lives are imperturbably rooted in God” (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, aka Edith Stein).

Between my own interests, book reviews, and research for Elise Gallagher’s and my new book, my bookshelves are overflowing with business books aimed at women. And yet I can’t get enough.

I recently added three to my shelf—one aimed at women interested in becoming influential and innovative leaders within global organizations and two aimed at female entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs. Together, they provide encouragement, inspiration, and advice for women who want to make an impact through business leadership.

Climbing the Ladder

Take the Lead: How women leaders are driving success through innovation was written by Anne-Valérie Corboz (dean and professor at HEC Paris Executive Education), Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj (associate professor at HEC Paris in Qatar), and Delphine Mourot-Haxaire (an executive coach and director of HEC in the UK). In addition to their current academic work, Corboz and Mourot-Haxaire also previously worked in major corporations, including Pfizer, Boston Consulting Group, and Morgan Stanley.

Take the Lead includes their stories as well as interviews with other female business leaders. From these experiences and their research, they created a model of innovative leadership that involves seven Cs: creativity, compass, courage, connections, champions, curating teams, and career. The book includes statements such as, “Women often think more creatively about their careers, and problem-solve in new and wonderful ways” and, “Women and men have different leadership styles, all of which are equally important to support innovation in organizations.”

Unfortunately, they did not include research to support these statements (though I know it exists), and their advice was, by and large, not specific to women. It was, however, helpful to anyone who wants to hold a leadership position, particularly in a large organization. I also did not find many of the stories in the book to be very unique, and too many of the quotes from their interviews were missing too much context or clarity to be helpful.

The Unique Gifts of Female Business Leaders

Fortunately, the other two books were very tailored to women and celebrated our unique gifts.

The Future Built by Women: Creating a Brighter Tomorrow Through Tech and Innovation was written by Brooke Markevicius. She left a career in nonprofits after discovering, thanks to her software developer husband’s work, the impact that technology can have on some of the same issues she was working on. She earned a master’s degree in computer information systems and then founded a tech startup called Allobee.

Allobee was a platform to connect business owners with female freelancers who had left the 9-5 workforce, and it was inspired by Markevicius’ own experience after becoming a mom. She became passionate about supporting other moms who wanted to “balance” motherhood and work in non-traditional ways. Allobee was acquired by The Riveter in 2023; Markevicius became their chief product officer but left shortly thereafter, feeling the pull toward entrepreneurship again.

The Future Built by Women is full of Markevicius’ passion for encouraging female entrepreneurs, especially moms. There’s a lot in it about technology, but it’s applicable for entrepreneurs in any industry. After all, every business uses technology in some way. She also uses her knowledge of software development to teach the reader how to think like a programmer, which is useful in ideating and building companies and products.

The mission-driven, world-changing approach to entrepreneurship that Markevicius’ story is full of is, she believes, characteristic of female entrepreneurs. “Women have been building the future for centuries, often behind the scenes, driven not by fame but by a desire for a better future for their families and society at large,” she writes.

And the way women build businesses doesn’t have to require burning the candle at both ends. We are bringing our innovative, sensitive natures to entrepreneurship in a different way than the Silicon Valley (typically masculine) approach that gets all the media attention:

Women build for the future and humanity, and it seems to be working. Maybe not at the breakneck pace at all costs, but it works … We might slow down momentarily, but we never stop moving toward our vision because we’re building not just for ourselves but for humanity.

Our motherhood and even the cyclical nature of our bodies requires us to work sustainably—and “to enable women to truly shape the future, we must embrace our distinctive operational rhythms, understanding that this uniqueness is a superpower.”

Addressing the Challenges Faced by Female Entrepreneurs

Other challenges we face as female entrepreneurs are due to the lingering gender biases and structural inequities many women experience when they start their own business. In her book Female Founders’ Playbook: Insights from the superwomen who have made it, Anne Boden addresses these issues within the venture capital/high-growth business ecosystem.

Boden founded her fintech startup, Starling Bank, after over 30 years in traditional banking—which means that in rooms with investors and other startup founders, she has found herself often not only the only woman but also much older than many of the people she talks to. As a result, it was difficult for her to raise money for Starling Bank—but she did it.

Female Founders’ Playbook walks readers step by step through the process of coming up with an idea for a business, launching, seeking funding, working with investors, and leading a unicorn. Boden lives and works in the U.K., as do the women she features in the book—so entrepreneurs in other countries will want to make sure the information she shares applies to them as well. Overall, however, her book is an honest, practical look at what it takes to create a high-growth enterprise. She manages not to flinch away from tough love while at the same time being encouraging—a difficult line to walk. For example:

It is pointless sitting around waiting until the market does recover its full strength. Besides, anecdotal evidence says women shine in crisis situations. … Tough times ahead for the tech industry could offer the perfect environment for women to buck the trend and make significant progress. We’re also great at grasping every opportunity. Put this together with a track record learned from years of pushing back against the naysayers, together with our superpowers such as agility, creativity and determination, and we are an unstoppable force.

While I only recommend Female Founders’ Playbook for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to go the venture capital route, I do recommend it if that applies to you. For all entrepreneurs, The Future Built by Women is a great read.

Taryn DeLong is co-president and editor-in-chief of Catholic Women in Business. Her first book, Holy Ambition: Thriving as a Catholic Woman at Work and at Home, written with her co-president Elise Crawford Gallagher, is out November 1, 2024 from Ave Maria Press. Taryn lives outside Raleigh, North Carolina, with her family. Connect with Taryn: Instagram • Facebook • LinkedIn • Blog • Substack