I grew up in a retail business in New York City ran by my grandmother and mother, both strong women. I, however, was more interested in studying how women manage their businesses than in inheriting the family firm. Therefore, I became an anthropologist, specializing in helping companies “see, feel and think” with fresh eyes so they can change. This is sometimes tough, as people often put more effort into complaining about what’s wrong with their organization than in being willing to change it so it can thrive in changing times. And boy, are the times fast changing today.

So, what am I learning as I study women CEOs and business leaders?

The most obvious is that challenges are coming at them from all directions: new competitors, shifting consumer habits, digitization, data-driven marketing, Amazon.com and e-commerce, omnichannel platforms, a new generation of shoppers that has grown up digital, and new vendor solutions eliminating the once-reliable ones. The “that’s not what we do” culture, top-down and very hierarchical and controlling — quickly becoming obsolete — is ready for a massive transformation.

How do women leaders approach these changes and build organizations that can sustain growth?

There are two parts to the answer.

First, my firm did research on what women want in their workplace culture, using the survey methodology of the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. What we found was that women want to work in businesses built around collaboration — i.e., a “clan” culture focused on teamwork, staff development and the empowerment of employees. Customers are thought of as partners and a balanced work-home, humane work environment is intentionally part of the company ethos. Management’s main goal is to empower employees and to facilitate their participation, commitment and loyalty. In addition, women want empowerment and innovation, both of which point to successful competitive results. You win not by what you sell but how you work together to sell it.

These research results dovetail nicely with what I’m learning from the series of interviews I’m conducting with women CEOs. They happen to be building strong, successful businesses which deliver exactly what the women in the OCAI survey said they wanted: strong, collaborative cultures that focus on the “we” rather than the “I.” They then balance this with well-executed processes and systems that track their workforce’s bottom line results, customer experiences and long-term relationships. Yes, the focus is on results, but not totally on competition to the exclusion of how they get those results.

You may ask, does this approach to work really “work?” You better believe it. Countless women I’ve spoken to have grown their startups year by year and then sold them for millions.

Unquestionably, from my research and from my own experience growing up watching strong women run a great retail business, how we work together is as important as the end results. In a nutshell, it’s the power of the person and the team.

Andi Simon is author of “On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights,” is a corporate anthropologist and award-winning author. She is the founder and CEO of Simon Associates Management Consultants, designed over a decade ago to help companies use the tools of anthropology to better adapt to changing times.