Women in the LEAD

Gates and Bono unveil Data Agenda for Africa

I am convinced that war and  greater  movement towards the  equalization in the quality of life for all  on the planet will  occur when all feel equal and respected. This is a huge part of my passion and purpose. I have been studying how this can be possible and real in our life time... My recent fascination with Bono, the Irish singer from the band The U2, has been founded in learning about his deep understanding and focused action and work towards seeing this goal realized.  I too firmly believe that we that we must eliminate the "haves vs. and the have not syndrome".  In our world today overall inequity crosses many lines: women’s right to a voice in the most powerful seats in business and politics, an imposed debt on 3rd world nations and the unfairness that the hunger project advocates for when it makes us aware of the tens of thousands of children that are e starving each day.....You get my drift???

The below excerpt introduces Bono’s (and Bill and Melinda Gates) strategy to support Africa:

NEW YORK

(CNN) -- Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Bono, lead singer for the rock band U2, announced at the World Economic Forum here Saturday their plan to focus the world's attention on issues confronting Africa:

"We have an agenda," said Bono at a news conference, "which we're calling the 'DATA Agenda': 'Debt, AIDS and trade for Africa, in return for democracy, accountability and transparency in Africa.'

"It's a deal, and it's a tough deal, but we think if we follow that through, by this summer's G-8 we can get governments to agree on a kind of Marshall Plan for Africa.

"It's a good analogy I think, particularly post-September the 11th. ... The United States invested in Europeafter the Second World War as a bulwark against Sovietism. And it had debt cancellation as part of it, and trade, etc. "At the moment," Bono said, "Africais in the same kind of vulnerable position that Europewas -- to other extremists and ideologies. And I think it would be very smart for the West to invest in preventing the fires rather than putting them out, which is a lot more expensive.

I am impressed by those who take action and provide leadership where no other dare.

Maureen Simon

The Female Brain

While driving in my car yesterday I heard a fascinating interview, here in San Francisco

on the female brain. Louann Brizendine, M.D. is a pioneering neuropsychiatrist recently published a book entitled “The Female Brain” which brings together the test findings to show how the very unique structure of the female brain is and informs us on how women think, what they value, how they communicate, and who they’ll love... I look forward to reading the book, as much of my life work and passion is focused on understanding why women make great leaders and I am often researching and supporting women to understand how they can move into greater leadership roles in businesses, and politics. I am very aware that we must first take inventory of our assets, talents and gifts. Louanns’  research is uplifting and informing.

The first chapter of her book includes the following quote:

“It’s not as if we all start out with the same brain structure. They are different by nature. Think about this. What if the communication center is bigger in one brain than the other? What if the emotional memory center is bigger in one brain than the other? What if one brain develops a greater ability to read cues in people than another? In this case, you would have a person whose reality dictated that communication, connection, emotional sensitivity, and responsiveness were the primary values. This person would prize these qualities above all others and be baffled by another person with a brain that didn’t grasp the importance of these qualities. In essence, you would have someone with a female brain.
—from Chapter 1, “What Makes Us Women”

She goes on to say:

Every brain begins as a female brain. It only becomes male eight weeks after conception, when excess testosterone shrinks the communications center, reduces the hearing cortex, and makes the part of the brain that processes sex twice as large.


A woman uses about 20,000 words per day while a man uses about 7,000
A woman remembers fights that a man insists never happened
A teen girl is so obsessed with her looks and talking on the phone
Thoughts about sex enter a woman’s brain once every couple of days but enter a man’s brain about once every minute
A woman knows what people are feeling, while a man can’t spot an emotion unless somebody cries or threatens bodily harm
A woman over 50 is more likely to initiate divorce than a man


Just think, when we women begin to fully understand the many physical, emotional and intuitive assets that we naturally hold , the world will be a very different place.

Maureen Simon

Gender Equality, The Empowerment of Women : What Will It Take?

The Executive Director of the United Nation’s Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Noreena Heyzer, has urged the international community and national governments to pick up the pace of delivery on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls to reverse the feminization of the AIDS pandemic.

“Ten years ago, women saw what was happening, especially in Africa, and began speaking out. For ten years, supported by UNIFEM and others, they have been working to place gender inequality and HIV on national and international agendas — demanding greater attention to the ways in which gender discrimination, poverty and violence intersect with the disease to increase its spread — along with its dreadful consequences on lives.”

…We cannot wait another 25 years,” Heyzer said, calling on the international and national leadership to meet the “two urgent leadership challenges of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS and delivering on gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.”

I was watching a great British fictional film last week, “The Girl in the Café”. The film was, in part, about the G8 and how decisions are being made to meet (or not meet) the Millennium Goals (set out by the Beijing Conference for Women). The conference set clear international criteria to support the betterment of women’s quality of life worldwide. The movie showed a group of mostly powerful men making financial decisions regarding their national priorities and how they were planning to put off allocating funds into the millennium Goals. In the end a subtle but powerful women showed how necessary that it is that we prioritize women’s rights worldwide and how we must provide protection and opportunity to those who can not protect themselves. The movie was great!! We now need to create change in the real world!!!

I do not think we have a choice we must reprioritize the equalization of resources in the world even if it means personal sacrifice. I recently came across the work of British economist Noreena Hertz (The Silent Takeover: Global Capitalism and the Death of Democracy). She has the full support of Bono and Sting and many other aware activist stars. Noreena is one of the world's leading young thinkers who looks closely at corporate power and is already sparking intense debate on both sides of the Atlantic on the equalization of resources. She argues that governments' surrender to big business is the deadliest threat facing democracy today. I personally believe that work with corporations, governments and politician’s world wide is what need is now.

We have much work before us when we think about the equalization of power between men and women and when we think about women’s rights, but it is very clear that women must be strong and step forward to represent the millions of voices who will never make it to the table ---for they will not be heard otherwise.

Maureen Simon

Don’t Loose Heart-Everything Happens For A Reason

I remember back ,five years ago, receiving this email message that was circulating amass by Clarissa Pin kola Estes. I have such respect for her work.

She wrote the below message at the beginning of the Iraq war. So many of us, in particular women, were astonished by what we were seeing and hearing in the news. I keep this near me these days to remind my self that something much bigger than myself is taking place in the world right now. I must remember her word often …” For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement...

“It is time to stay awake and to contribute to the light of the world:

Message To Brighten Tomorrow from the author of “Women Who Run With the Wolves”  Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“My friends do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often-righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The luster and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, and gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement...”

Don’t loose heart. Everything happens for a reason.

Maureen Simon

Imagine Having Been Born Next Door!

As John O Donohue the famous Irish writer said, “…to be born is to be chosen. No one is here by accident”. I love that thought because it deepens my inquiry as to why I am actually here!  I also find the statement to be bold. Irish writers are not afraid to be bold or to think outside of the box!

I know that there are many arguments that can and have been made regarding John’s statement above, but I totally agree with his wise words.

The above quote comes from John’s stellar work Anam Cara (soul friend in Irish). In Anam Cara John goes on to write,” This selectivity intimates a sheltering providence that dreamed you, created you and always minds you. You were not consulted on the major factors that shaped your destiny: when you were born; to whom you were born or. where you would be born. Imagine the difference it would have made to your life had you been born into the house next door."

Johns conversation above gets me thinking :

What have I  been chosen For?

If my life is not an accident, there must be deep meaning for my life. Am I living up to this sacred contract?

How can I take my commitment to live fully to the next level?

Consider asking yourself the above questions. And for a new perspective on life ask yourself, what would it have been like if I had been born next door?

 

Maureen Simon 

Learning Patients—Enjoying Discovery

Our most important decisions are discovered, not made. We can make important ones but the major ones require us to wait with the discovery.

                                                                                                Anne Wilson Schaef

Life is filled with many, many decisions. The journey to the decision is, I believe, what Anne Wilson Schaef is referring to in the above quote. It is so important to understand that the journey to the outcome is where most of the learning lies. Children are naturally very comfortable with discovery as much of the world is so new to them. Most of us would benefit by remembering the child-like newness of discovery. When I watch children playing me often admire the enjoyment that I see as they journey to discovery with patients.

Take a moment and look at your life….

            In what areas of your life do you need to pay more attention?

            Where are the greatest lessons or discoveries for you right now?

Where is discovery most alive for you today?

Our lives are full of so much possibility and potential. It is up to us to stay awake during the journey.

Maureen Simon

What Can We Do About The State Of The World?

What Can We Do About The State Of The World?

I was pleased to hear that Debbe Kennedy will be doing a very special dialogue at the GDC on personal responsibility (stay tuned)….These days, as we look at the world, we must wonder how much of the turmoil is actually a direct reflection of what we ourselves, our neighbors and the world at large are feeling in daily life. There is a connection!

We could all benefit from greater collective responsibility expressed through empathy and understanding. I believe that empathy and understanding are the way to end all wars. One of the most important things needed in the world today is a greater understanding from each of us as to what it is like to walk in the shoes of the other.  Separateness and superiority have become a way of life, rooted deeply in fear. As a nation we project a sense of righteousness and superiority as if we are the ones to "bring democracy to the world" or "save the world. I question-- is our way of living necessarily the "right way”? Many aspects of American life are unraveling before our very eyes such as the sense of community that was instilled in the

US

by our founding fathers. We have lost sight of the physical health of individuals and their lack of access to care. The line between the “have’s and have not’s” is widening. When I look at our current state I wonder who we to lead in the world are.

What will it now take for us to live in fairness and concern for all?

What do we as individuals need to do/be to take personal responsibility in our own lives?

It is our personal responsibility to move beyond fear, selfishness and superiority to a place of deep understanding and care for the benefit of all.  Women are particularly needed to lead this new way of living/leading as we by the nature of our ability to give birth potentially hold compassion for the entire whole). We innately connect to others with are and compassion.  It is my wish that women step forward today and take a greater lead in where our collective world is headed.

Maureen Simon

A New Global Community IS Forming

This past ten days I spent the week as both a facilitator and faculty member at a very special program- The Women Leaders of The World Program of Santa Clara University (www.gwln.org). The program has been born from the Global Women’s Leadership Network and Sponsored by The Leavy School of Business. The eighteen women who attended entered a journey of exploration to discover how they can return back to their countries with greater skills, abilities and more confidence to accomplish often very challenging missions with in their respective countries.

The women attending were from eight countries including :Kenya,Uganda,Mexico,Turkey, Japan, Afghanistan, the United States and Poland.Their projects covered such concerns as the creation of equal education in Malawi, developing democracy and education opportunities in Eastern Europe, the creation of women’s support centers in Silicon Valley and Afghanistan, a museum and waterdevelopment project in Kenyaand rights to land for women in Uganda.

As my the time progressed with these women it became very clear to me that these women were on a mission to improve the quality of life, to work towards justice and to preserve the unique cultural gifts of their countries. Each woman who attended held a very special role and is in full service to her country. Her mission is to contribute to the progression and development of her country in some unique way. I was most impressed at how they knew that their mission was much bigger than themselves and how they reached out to gain greater knowledge so that they could contribute at the highest level possible. Throughout the week the women’s concentration and commitment to  gaining new information and ideas was profound!

The week was full of learning – for all involved. I know my life has been greatly expanded and will never be the same. When lives from diverse places come together we begin to experience both our commonalities and our uniqueness. For me this is one of the greatest gifts in the world.

At the end of the ten days as we said our good- byes, I could see many new faces ---different faces than the women who arrived just ten short days earlier.  I witnessed the faces of stronger, clearer women with new possibilities.  As we said goodbye we all knew that the road ahead may not be easy but the hope, new ideas and new possibilities can not be left behind. Much will go back into the world. A new bond has been formed …new connections and support …new possibilities abound.

When I think of how these amazing women reached out to connect to a world larger than their individual worlds to gain support, I hold great respect for their courage, faith and determination to their commitment.

Where can you reach out…strengthen your network and learn what you need to know to be fully awake, alive and contributing in the world in which you live? What are you here to contribute?

Maureen Simon

How Would the World Be Different If Women Had An Equal Voice in Leadership?

Many women are aware that of the fact that we hold many of the necessary attributes and talents that are now greatly needed to change the way the world is being led (or not led) at this time in history (herstory).

Countless studies and years of learned experience have proven that the innate feminine attributes of care, compassion, advanced communication and interpersonal skills, combined with intuition and other creative capacities, bring vital balance to leadership dynamics today. Many also now realize that women we must come forward, and step up to greater responsibilities. Now is our time.

However when we look at the statistics ( below--from the Anita Borg Foundation) it becomes clear that women are far from holding  powerful roles at the top level of leadership in corporations and in the world.  Women’s increased role in global corporations is particularly important now because so much of much of the world’s power resides in global corporations and it is with in their walls that many decisions are being made daily that effect millions of lives around the world.

Some food for thought:

§         Women made up 46.2% of the US labor force in 1998, but filled only 11.2 % of corporate officer positions.

§         Women filled 3.8% of executive positions in the US; 2.7% of Fortune 500 “top earner slots,” 11.1% of corporate board positions but only 1.1% of the inside director positions drawn from company executives in 1998.

§         Women filled only 3 CEO positions of Fortune 500 companies and an additional 4 CEO positions in Fortune 1000 companies.

How can there be balance in the leadership of our world if only half of the voice of leadership is represented? What will it take for the voice of the feminine to be truly heard and respected ---for the diverse views and wisdom that she holds? I believe that when this day arrives we will all be living in a greatly improved world! The question is how we get to this amazing place.  Your thoughts and ideas are appreciated!

Maureen Simon