Change the game, not who you are!
Sometimes the best strategy is not to fight for a change to the problem or to expect those in control to change their mind.
When Gandhi wanted the British out of India he did not try to go to war with the strongest empire in the world at the time.
How many slaves were freed through the Underground Railroad well before law freed the rest?
How many small acts of faith did Mandela use to overrule apartheid?
So maybe the answer to women only getting 7% of Venture Capital money or less of Investment Banking money is to change the game—rather than fight the status quo. Maybe the answer to so few women Heads of State, CEO’s, Board of Directors, and other positions of influence is NOT to change who we are and be more like men! If in the last 50 years this is all the progress we have made despite the numbers of women MBA’s, the number of women entrepreneurs, or the number of women Investment Bankers, and the number of women graduating college—than becoming more assertive or confident is not the solution. Looking at the world through new lenses is.
Rather than try harder, work longer, and change more to be like men—lets look at the inherent strengths of being feminine and use these things to make a difference.
What are these feminine strengths?
- The art of collaboration
- Community building
- Large results with many hands contributing small efforts
- Rallying large numbers of supporters
- Finding solutions
- Mentoring and encouraging
The Internet and social media have given rise to many new ways of business—changing forever traditional marketing, sales, order fulfillment and raising capital. These changes provide a remarkable platform for women to make a difference in the funding of new ideas, new businesses, new non-profit organizations, and to market directly to each other. Women comprise over 80% of the purchasing power in the United States even though we represent less than 15% of the heads of corporations making the products and services we buy.
The time is ripe for change. Women are more educated, have more resources, and have more time than ever before in human existence. We can be the change we are seeking in the world by starting a new paradigm.
Think big. Think bold. Think of what you would like your community, your country, and your world to be like. Let’s cease putting another moment of energy into what is wrong and what we do not like. Let’s create the world we desire. Let’s create a balance of power shift so subtle, so substantial, so sweet that once it is obvious what happened even those who would fight us today will be happy we did!
Join the conversation. What does your utopia look like? What small change can you initiate? What would you do if you felt you could, if you felt no glass ceiling, if you had all doors open wide?
