“Imagine if I
was in a man’s body. Wow!” she
exclaims. When I ask her why she might
want to reside in this foreign place, she says matter-of-factly that the deck
is stacked so heavily in favor of men.
This is my friend Kathy talking and what she’s calculating is the exponential impact her skills
and expertise would have on her own compensation and status in the work place,
as well as how her talents are applied within her organization and industry if she were a man.
This conversation during our five-mile
morning run is referencing a provocative interview with Sheryl WuDunn, author
of “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women
Worldwide." WuDunn has several theories
around why women ascend the corporate ladder in fewer numbers than men. The statement
that resonates with me is this one: “There are hundreds of thousands of women who have
fought very hard to lead, thrive and grow in corporate America and in the
political arena, but our culture has yet to embrace them.”
On the one hand I like this
perspective because it acknowledges how hard women have worked for the right to
use their skills in leadership and executive level positions. And I am being intentional when I use the
word “right” because as recently as the 1960’s women still suffered punishing oppression; being qualified
and ambitious did not guarantee women would be recognized and promoted to the
highest level in any area other than the typing pool. Yet this viewpoint also
frustrates me beyond belief, because if it truly is about a culture shift than
the next question is an admittedly selfish one.
Is it all over for the female executives of today and any work we do now
is simply paying it forward?
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired. My 40-something female colleagues are
tired, too. We’ve leaned in. We’ve taken on the extra projects, put in an insane
amount of hours. Those of us with children have somehow managed to excel at our
jobs and raise families. We’ve spoken up about compensation inequities; asked
to be promoted. We’ve solicited mentors, sponsors and advocates,
faithfully manicuring these relationships. We’ve joined women’s networks and as executives we now lead them. We’ve done
everything we can possibly do for ourselves.
But we need to wait for the behemoth sloth that is culture change to
reap the fruits of our labor?
Never at any time in history has there been
more pressure to address this moral dilemma.
WuDunn is not the first person to refer to this issue in these
terms. If you’re reading regularly on this topic, you’ve seen the research and commentary that infers continuing
to ignore this problem has significant economic ramifications. I have to
believe those of us with the passion to address this are being heard. WuDunn advocates that every woman do just
that: Make this problem your problem and
help any emergent woman you can.
And it is in this way, I believe,
that we ultimately help ourselves. For those of us who fear culture won’t change fast enough for us, I think the answer is
in believing that we are powerful enough right where we are. Didn’t we put in
all of the hard work to get here? The
very act of attempting to affect change opens new doors not only for our
careers, but for our life’s work. Sure, some of us will stay on track and rise
to the very highest levels in our organizations. But others will take the experience gained in
corporates, follow new passions and soar to greater heights.
This has me thinking about the power I have, or any one woman for that matter has, to change the world. I’m confident it’s pretty significant. Nilofer Merchant wrote an HBR post in January about how she brings more energy and creativity to her workday
when she holds walking meetings. Today on Twitter, Merchant receives a dividend
for her investment in the form of a tweet sharing a photograph stating Obama
changed his position on Syria after a walk-and-talk with his Chief of Staff; her
follower has this to say: “Hey
@nilofer, in case you harbor any doubts about whether you’re changing the world.”
“Wow!” is right.
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