What I Didn’t Know Before Starting a Women and Leadership Group

It was one hell of an eye-opening week after kicking off the Women + Leadership group for our Cincinnati office—in ways I wasn’t expecting. 

First: I started this for everyone else. Women and leadership was a reoccurring topic around the office and one I felt I was already well versed in (as a past 3% Conference attendee) and prepared for. I was wrong—as the program has progressed, I’ve gotten too much out of the amazing people involved and conversations to say that I haven’t felt changed. And for that, I will be forever grateful.

 Here are some things I hadn’t fully realized until spearheading the group:

Looking back is useless.
Face the uncertainty of the future—fearlessly.

I’ve spent more time than I’d like to admit dwelling on the past and if I thought it physically possible, I’d kick myself in the ass—hard. I’ve had the chance to work on some amazing things, with amazingly talented people, and I’ve done work I am tremendously proud of. But that was in the past and the result of a lot of hard work, and the only thing that will get me those chances again is—you guessed it—hard work.

Here’s the kicker: Nothing will be handed to you, and if you’re a woman, there’s a chance you’re getting overlooked if you are not speaking up anyway. Stop wasting energy reliving the past; it is minimizing your ability to really look ahead for your next opportunity. 

Don’t ask for permission. Don’t wait for someone else to say it’s ok. I’m telling you—it’s ok to know and ask for what you want and where you see an outage in your organization, to do something about it. As long as you’re being realistic, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be doing this right now.

Your field of dreams: If you never talk about it, it will never come.

Don’t be the only player standing alone on your field of dreams. Build up an all-star team that’s made up of the people you are growing as talent and the people above you are learning from above you. How? With conversation. Know the positon you want to play, master it, and then call it—and be fearless about it. I could go on with the cheesy movie/baseball analogies, but I will spare you. You get it.

No, really, it’s not just for me (or even just you).

The response at our office has been overwhelming. Support from women and men alike has been pouring in. Many men have admitted that the gravity of the issue has never really registered with them until our group brought the issue to light, but now they feel better equipped to go home and support their working wives.

It’s something that I know that even my very outgoing, smart, and energetic two-and-a-half-year-old who’s already been labeled “bossy,” “aggressive,” and “a diva” will benefit from. Because for every group that is started, for every conversation that is had—all of these efforts will empower women to rise above the labels and face the world on their own terms.

It’s powerful stuff and deserves to be talked about. Not sure how to get started? Feel free to message me directly. I'd be happy to help. 

For a great recap of our first event, the POSSIBLE Women + Leadership panel, check out member Kaitlyn Irvine’s post.

And we’re not done yet. Stay tuned for more.