Backwards and in Heels
In honor of International Women’s Day 2020 on March 8, I decided to dedicate this month’s article to women leaders and how they can use story to meet key challenges. I have a good overview of the challenges my clients face, but I decided to do a broader search to help get the creative juices flowing. So naturally, I googled “leadership challenges faced by women.”
The result was a harsh reminder about how hard it is out there for women in business. They struggle to:
be promoted, acknowledged, credited, taken seriously, or paid like a man.
build a network, find mentorship, or access funding when up against the boy’s club.
feel confident, overcome imposter syndrome, or take initiative.
delegate, ask for help, or tell others what to do.
juggle their work and personal lives in an attempt to achieve balance.
prove themselves or tackle perfectionism when expectations are lower and the bar is higher than for men.
take charge, speak up, or be heard while constantly monitoring their words and their tone.
navigate sexual harassment, sexual assault, and other forms of blatant discrimination.
I read through the articles with mounting despair. Women do face these realities on a daily basis. What made me think that talking about stories of hope over fear could help counter such an overwhelming, demoralizing, and persistent narrative? I needed to find another topic for my article. Or better yet, give up altogether because—let’s face it—we're doomed and the world is gonna end soon anyway.
Clearly, I was getting sucked into the narrative. The only way out was to remember my original intention: help women leaders grow their narrative intelligence so they could solve challenges with more authority and greater ease.
I did what I should have done in the first place. I googled “challenges leaders face.”
I got a very different list in which leaders strive to:
articulate a vision and stay focused amidst constant change.
create a healthy culture and develop teams.
influence and manage stakeholders.
steer a team or organization through a crisis or a disruption.
handle conflicts and manage difficult people.
grow revenue.
While all leaders face this second list of challenges, women do it while carrying the first. It brings to mind the famous quote about how Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did—only backwards and in heels.
Becoming savvier about the power of story begins with recognizing the bigger cultural narratives that we can’t help but be influenced by. On the one hand, Wall Street has never had a female CEO. And on the other, women ARE out there making things happen in the world—women like Elizabeth Warren, Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Michelle Obama, Greta Thunberg, and Jacinda Ardern, to name just a few.
I’m sensing the desire to counter the negative narrative with the positive one, but I know that won’t help. Instead, I want to hold both narratives in my awareness, and I want to acknowledge and explore the tension between them.
Over the weeks and months to come, I’ll be seeking out real stories from and about women leaders. To do it, I could use your help.
Ladies, what leadership moments are you most proud of?
Guys, who are the women leaders you know and admire?
And everyone, who should I reach out to as I explore this topic further?