Recently I listened to Ted Radio Talks on “Disruptive Leadership”; the title made me curious. I wasn’t surprised that several of the interviews were about women and leadership: “Grandmothers are respected, natural-born leaders,” said Bunker Roy, a social activist from India who has been cultivating women leaders from remote areas of the world. He has found that women, not men, are the ideal change agents for their villages. He described one of the women he trained to solar-electrify their village as typical: “She went like a grandmother and came back like a tiger.” Of course they did!
In another interview, Sheryl Sandberg was asked if she saw herself as a disruptive leader. “What I immediately want to say is ‘no,’ but I need to say ‘yes.’” In her book Lean In, she tells women to own their successes. “I am trying to disrupt the status quo. And I’m clear on that. The status quo—complete stagnation for women achieving leadership roles—is not good enough.” Sheryl challenges us to celebrate and cultivate leadership abilities in girls. If you hear someone call a girl “bossy,” just say, “No, she is showing off her executive leadership skills.” What girls in your life are showing off their executive leadership skills, and what messages are you giving them? “Keep your head up! Don’t always let the boys go first. Lean in!” What messages do we give ourselves and our women workmates? How about, “Sit at the table. Take risks. Don’t leave before you leave.”
AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881: Disruptive Leadership!
Tallyho! Mickey