As the end of the year approaches, it is a time for remembrance... taking stock, looking for places that are deserving of our gratitude, applying lessons learned... looking to the future. My journey of remembrance began with these thoughts...
Some time ago an intriguing invitation arrived. I was one of four seasoned women leaders who were invited to speak at a dialogue on women in leadership. We were each asked to share from personal experience and insight. The idea was that our individual messages would stimulate the thinking and dialogue among the women and men who would be in attendance. The topic was one I have long been passionate about, but what sparked my interest most were the two themes that came in the form of two questions that would frame the conversation:
What notable progress are women making in organizational leadership?
What qualities do women bring to the art and practice of leadership?
I accepted.
Some weeks before the dialogue, I began thinking about what message I would share. By chance one afternoon, I ran across some personal notes in a file. Among them, I had written down a quote from Sister Corita Kent, the well-known Carmelite Nun and artist. As I read her words once again, they took on a new meaning that began setting the stage in my mind for this special dialogue. My notes read:
“...sometime in your life, trying to be good may mean stopping — and taking time to be quiet to discover who you are and where you’ve been.”
It struck me that the unexpected invitation was presenting me with a unique opportunity to STOP… and reflect on how far women had come just in my lifetime. Admittedly, my vantage point was seemingly small, but I quickly decided, not insignificant. The opportunity also seemed to be a calling for me to recognize who I had become in the process and to think through for myself what I had learned about leadership.
In what now seems a lifetime ago, I spent twenty-one rewarding years of leadership with IBM Corporation. IBM was one of the early pioneers of women’s rights, equal pay and valuing diversity. I was actually hired by a powerful woman executive, who I always felt saw potential in my innocence and inexperience. However, she was one of few women in leadership positions where I worked. What I remember as if it were yesterday is my uttering these words in many a coffee shop discussion, which by nearly any woman’s standards would be considered quite astounding today: “It doesn’t seem right that women are beginning to take jobs that men have held for so many years.”
However, many things began to rapidly change for women in the next five years — and I woke up, finding myself accepting a position as one of IBM’s first women managers in the Northwest (Anchorage, Alaska, to be exact). Being willing to pioneer the unknown, taking what was noted as a big risk ended up being, professionally, one of my best moves. Anchorage became one of the largest revenue producing offices in the country, and I learned great things from the team of men who mentored and coached me into leadership. The opportunity translated into visibility and became a powerful catalyst for an exciting leadership journey in the years that followed — one that I could never have imagined would happen at one time. The experience was remarkable enough that when I wrote my book Putting Our Differences to Work, it gave me great joy to tell the story, reflect on lessons learned, and honor those that made it remarkable for me as a young leader.
Many other women pioneered the early organizational leadership paths --- so many untold stories. The progress for women during the decades that followed bears a litany of courage, inspiring new generations of women leaders.
RESULTS ACHIEVED: Pioneering Paid Off!
"The women of today are the thoughts of their mothers and grandmothers, embodied, and made alive. They are active, capable, determined and bound to win. ... Millions of women, dead and gone are speaking through us today." --- Matilda Joslyn Gage, Founder, National Citizen and Ballot Box (newspapers) 1889
Check out these amazing facts about our women's history.
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
When I think of the qualities we bring to leadership as women, there is also a calling to consider what we need to BE to support and influence the emerging new world. I offer three thoughts to stimulate your thinking and perspectives:
1. Faith and Belief.
We need to develop a practice of deep faith and belief in ourselves. As the well-quoted verse from Proverbs affirms, as we think, so we are.
2. Our Leadership Responsibilities.
We need to take our leadership responsibilities very seriously, remembering our actions, behaviors and results will pave the path for those who will follow us. As Mother Teresa mentored us, “Don’t wait for the leaders. Do it alone. Person to person. This is our strength as women. We know how to connect.”
3. Supporting Each Other.
We need to support each other faithfully in more ways than we have in the past. This may sometimes mean stepping aside to let someone else pass. As a practice, we need to be relentless in our efforts to reach out, expressing our joy in others’ achievements. We have to help each other keep focused on mastering the how to be a leader, encouraging each other at every turn to keep up the process of developing and renewing our commitment to character, values, principles, and courage.
What do you think we need to be as women leaders today?
What contribution will you make to this time in history as a woman leader in your own right?
I leave you to ponder these questions.
Warm regards...
Debbe
Debbe Kennedy
Founder, Global Dialogue Center
www.globaldialoguecenter.com
Home of Women in the Lead
Twitter: @debbekennedy
Author...
Putting Our Differences to Work
The Fastest Way to Innovation, Leadership and High Performance
by Debbe Kennedy ▪ Berrett-Koehler ▪ 2008 – Hardcover
Foreword by Joel A. Barker, futurist, filmmaker and author
www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com
