Women Who Lead
What sets us apart — and ties us together?
Earlier this month, at the prestigious Aspen Ideas Festival, I shared insights on leadership alongside 18 incredible women leaders.
It was the highlight of the festival for me — a high bar for an event that boasts top thinkers and leaders — because these women, who I consider mentors, role models, and friends — opened up, courageously sharing intimate stories of hope and fear.
Below are some of my takeaways from the evening. (And to my fellow panelists, forgive the paraphrasing and loose attribution; readers: for the exact words, do watch this video recording of the event, or check out Medium’s build, here).
We juggle family, careers, and other priorities, with no single blueprint or formula for how to make it all work.
Women, particularly those of us who are caregivers to children and aging parents, have multiple responsibilities that leave us constantly juggling. There is not one way to balance a career, a family, and all the other things on our plates. Rather, we find ways to make it work through trial and error. Supportive partners are often central to helping us find our way. So are grandparents, nannies, friends, and others in our network. Our juggling act is never neat and tidy. And there’s a lot of guilt that comes along with it. But rather than being fearful, we should open up to one another. If we talk about our choices openly, we can learn from one another, and model different ways for women, and men, to follow. Journalist and writer Gayle Tzemach Lemmon spoke about “the power of embracing the and” instead of the ‘or’. That we can be mothers and business leaders, that we can have families and careers. And Raney Aronson, executive producer of PBS’ Frontline, said, “I think it’s so important that we talk honestly about how we do juggle. And we allow for our conversation about the realities.”
Our leadership is rooted in empowering others.
We have the task and responsibility of creating a world that is just and equal. As Robin Chase, Zipcar founder, said, “My hope for you, and my happiness, lies in the promise of ever-larger numbers of women leaders, adopting an honest and passionate life, and building a world that we want to live in.”
Bina Venkataraman, Director of Global Policy Initiatives at MIT and Harvard, spoke about leaving “heirlooms” for the next generation — including a healthy planet where our children can thrive and have a relationship with nature. We must look at our lives and ask ourselves: will we leave the world better than we found it? Leila Janah, Sama founder, spoke about the need to bring selflessness into all realms our lives, rather than simply when we give charity. Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of Acumen, said beautifully, “If we could each take a moment to experience awe each day, whether in the beauty of the 0rdinary or in the face of someone many would rather not see, we might discover the chance to reconnect with the human parts of ourselves that are yearning to shine. If we could see ourselves in one another, we could not exploit each other.”
We are stronger together.
Andrea Kates, the Managing Director of Launchpad for Enterprise, shared a funny story about becoming a tech CEO in a world with very few role models for women. When she was in school, one of her teachers warned her not to take advanced calculus, or she would stop having menstrual cycles. Andrea was frightened, but not deterred. At her 20th high school reunion, she would learn that four of her other female classmates had received the same warnings. Laughing about the absurdity of the story, she urged women to share their stories and support others to break new barriers. As women, we recognize that we are stronger together. We shatter ceilings when we support one another.
Courage is within us, we just need to
find it.
Women today are achieving new heights, whether in the corporate world, in government, in entrepreneurship, and a broad range of male-dominated fields of study. It is not always easy to rise in a male-dominated economy, sometimes without role models or a roadmap. But we must be brave, for our own dreams, and for the dream of creating a more equal and prosperous world. Alyse Nelson, CEO of Vital Voices, shared how, as a young woman, she travelled across the globe to find her place in the world, but soon realized that the women leaders she looked up to “didn’t come to learn their place in the world; they came to fight for it.” Amy Cuddy, who has one of the most viewed TED talks of all time — teaching people to use physical poses to inspire confidence — said that all her poses ever did was unlock the power that women already had within them. She urged women to find their strength and confidence, quoting Maya Angelou: “Stand up straight and realize who you are, that you tower over your circumstances.”
