Are you drawn to the label Alpha Female? Do you know what the definition of being an Alpha Female is?
Well, I’m sorry to inform you that this isn’t going to be your typical article with pictures of businesswomen eating men for lunch. I’ve embraced being called an Alpha Female for the majority of my adult life. I’ve even created a podcast around it. The label itself isn’t always seen as a compliment so I thought I would redefine the way we look at the label so that more women truly embrace their Alpha Female.
What I love about this definition of an Alpha Female is that it was built with a community. I’ve had the input of hundreds of my podcast listeners and guests to create the definition as it stands today. So it was time to dedicate an entire blog post to what it can mean to be called an Alpha Female.
What Many People Think An Alpha Female Is
According to dictionary.com: An alpha female is a powerful and successful woman, often in a leadership role. Alpha females are often described as intimidating by men and women alike.
See the intimidating part never really resonated with me. Why does a powerful and successful woman need to intimidate anyone… So out of that frustration, a new definition was born.
This is something I’ve seen shared or I’ve been tagged in countless times on social media.
I love all these bullet points and more. So let’s add to it.
The New Definition of an Alpha Female
An Alpha Female is a powerful and assertive woman. Her confidence is due to her being an intelligent and intellectual problem-solver. Being an Alpha Female is a State of Mind based on choosing ambition and being proud of it. She strives for a happy and healthy work/life harmony.
She is the brightest star in her constellation. When an Alpha Female stays true to their authentic selves and their missions they shine. An Alpha Female puts herself first because she deserves self-care and love. She knows that work/life harmony is found by staying true to your priorities and what makes you happy. She is never complacent about striving for better and nurtures relationships with all the people in her life.
Let’s break it down.
I’ve always seen the term “Alpha” to describe the dominant male in an animal pack. For example, a wolf pack will always have an alpha male. However, my understanding is that the alpha male also has an alpha female in the pack who he breeds with and they usually eat first at kills. But then I’ve also read other research that states the alpha female is a sibling to the alpha male. So even in the animal kingdom, an alpha female has many definitions attached to the label.
I think we can all agree that an alpha female is usually associated with confident, powerful, assertive, and courageous women. So the beginning of the definition holds true. The reason why I added intelligent and intellectual problem-solver is because I love words.
So an alpha female is intelligent and is focused on understanding her surroundings, uses good judgement when making decisions and wants to expand her mental capacity. The reason why I added intellectual is that it goes beyond just being smart. She is also focused on expanding her so-called “street smarts”, emotional intelligence and wants to learn to trust her gut when making decisions vs. fleeting emotions or feelings.
Now let’s dig into the work/life harmony sentence. While I can appreciate that most of society understands the concept to be work/life balance. I don’t believe balance exists. I don’t have equal work hours to life hours in my day and that just hasn’t been my reality. Maybe it is for some people and that really resonates with you. The thing here is that you get to choose. An Alpha Female creates a life that she loves so she chooses how many hours she dedicates to work and to life.
Early on in the Alpha Female podcast episodes, I had a guest refer to it as work/life harmony and it’s stuck ever since. You don’t have to try and evenly balance work and life. Instead, an Alpha Female structures her days so they feel good. The percentage of work and life is up to her. This is where setting boundaries, creating your own schedule and learning to always spend time doing the things you love is important.
Ok now let’s talk stars…
Did you know that the brightest star in a constellation is called an Alpha star? When a podcast guest told me about this I loved it. An Alpha Female usually shines or stands out in her group of friends, co-workers, and surroundings so this was a perfect way to describe her.
Let’s wrap this up with missions and authentic self.
When an Alpha Female stays true to their authentic selves and their missions they shine.
Have you ever witnessed a woman working on a passion project or her business and she’s just in her element, she’s flowing, she’s confident and she’s making a difference? See that’s an Alpha Female.
Have you ever witnessed a woman being herself unapologetically? Speaking her truth. Sharing her voice. Not caring what others think? See that’s an Alpha Female.
So whether you resonate with the entire definition or just parts of it I hope it inspires you to embrace your inner Alpha Female and show up in the world differently.