International Women's Day: Let me tell you a story...

For International Women’s Day yesterday, some of the women at Confirmit created storyboards about themselves which we shared at a special meeting of the women’s Employee Resource Group. I confess I hadn’t particularly planned to create a storyboard, but having seen a couple of the examples that people shared, I decided to give it a try. Just to see what would come to mind, if nothing else.

In the end, it was an oddly pleasing experience. A couple of quotes I’ve heard in recent years came straight to mind, and it was surprisingly easy to draw a line between what I do for work, what matters to me, and what I think my most critical challenge in life is. Had it not been for sitting down with a blank PowerPoint slide (and some inspiration from Tamara Augustine, in particular), it’s not an exercise I would ever have taken on. In fact, I’d probably have rolled my eyes at the idea of it and gone to make a G&T. I would have been wrong to do so.

At the meeting yesterday a dozen or so people (not all women) shared their boards and they were all simultaneously completely different, and the same. While everyone had different stories to tell, different influences and varied challenges, there was a common thread in that everyone had brought a remarkable level of honesty to a meeting of colleagues – many of whom we have not met in real life.

It was a slightly emotional and incredibly inspiring conversation (and I am someone who usually eschews such honesty and emotion with a brusque “let’s go to the pub!”) If anyone is still taking part in IWD activities, or is just looking for ways to connect people and help them to understand each other better, this is definitely an exercise to consider. It needs to be done in a supportive environment, and must be voluntary, but for those willing to take part either in sharing or listening, I think there is tremendous value in it. It certainly brought home to me the value of communication – not just in formal channels and on official, corporate topics, but in just connecting humans.

My board is here and is probably pretty self-explanatory. In short; I write, I try to amuse with words, I wear many hats, and most importantly, I need to raise two boys who will be allies to women in whatever they choose to so. So, that’s easy enough…

#IWD2021 #InternationalWomensDay