Women in Leadership: No apology necessary!

“Remember, no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady

“I am endlessly fascinated that playing football is considered a training ground for leadership, but raising children isn’t.” ~- Dee Dee Myers, former White House Press Secretary

I have always admired Eleanor Roosevelt, for she was not merely a leading woman of her time, but she was a leader before and beyond her own time. A staunch supporter of her husband’s presidency during a challenging era in American history, Mrs. Roosevelt’s impact extended into the broader society by her own choosing. Defending civil rights for African-Americans, as well as calming the nation’s tendencies toward anti-immigrant sentiment during World War II, her care for diversity and collaboration catapulted her into a leadership role as a member of the United States delegation to the newly-formed United Nations following her husband’s death in 1945. Eleanor Roosevelt achieved leadership NOT because she was a strong woman, although she clearly was. No! She achieved leadership because she was a person who refused to grant others the consent to make her feel inferior.

As proponents in the field of women’s leadership, such as the brilliant Terri Altschul have well noted, “High achieving women (at home and work) wrestle with how to succeed in a world that rewards stereotypical male values.” (Getting Out-of-the-Box, 7/12/2016) What Eleanor Roosevelt, Terri Altschul, and others have demonstrated through their own lives is that leadership is a choice that must be firmly made and fiercely defended. Whether man or woman, only the individual can make the choice. But, there is certainly no reason to allow someone else to make that choice for you, nor to suffer societal biases that suppress the ability to fully evaluate all available opportunities.

I am reminded of the quote from former U.S. Secretary of State Madeline Albright, who sharply quipped, “There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.” Julie Graber, in July: Latest on Women in Leadership Roles, candidly presents stark metrics that underscore the continued need to elevate equity in access to leadership opportunities for women. As Julie relates, in the state of Maryland, where the percentage of companies where women hold 20% or more of the executive positions declined to 35.5% in 2016 from 39% in 2014. Internationally, female CEOs in World's Largest Public Companies, as PwC reported in 2015, noted that there were only 10 women (3%) among 359 new CEOs in the 2500 largest public companies in the world. In a diverse world, women from former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to current Chilean President Michelle Bachelet Jeria and current Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed have proven that leadership is not reserved solely for men.

Women in leadership will often confide in me, though, that the path has often been rocky and the pitfalls many and frequently disguised as helpful colleagues. Add to that political climate the outwardly hostile attitudes that often greet female leaders in “non-traditional” industries, and the pressure becomes greater still. A well-qualified leader from a multi-generational family in the commercial construction trades spoke to me of receiving unvarnished and profane insubordination from male laborers and site supervisors, questioning her judgment at every turn. And this blatant disregard shown to an intelligent and skilled construction industry leader who could certainly read blueprints, estimate a job, AND operate the equipment with the best of them!

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have hope and evidence. Each leader that I encounter—male and female—who recognizes that leadership is not a gender and opportunity is not to be rationed for the few, becomes part of the solution. I have yet to be a member of a team that has not been made stronger by blending the diversity of creativity, intelligence, and experience that gender, culture, race, and ethnicity undoubtedly contribute.

So, we’re going to keep talking about this until awareness and action have overtaken ignorance and disregard.

Oh, and by the way, the second quote is for my own daughter, who competed for and earned a spot on her school’s previously all-male football team last fall.

Don’t we owe it to all of our daughters?...