Power Tool #5: Carpe the Chaos
Political talking heads slicing and dicing Nov. 2’s election results had previously declared this to be the year of the Republican rightwing woman. It wasn’t quite. Still, it’s a dagger to the heart of social justice feminism that the nation’s first two women of color elected governor are not women who support women’s rights to economic and reproductive justice–the two fundamental building blocks of women’s power and agency in this world. We have a lot of work to do.
It’s our job to find the opportunity–to carpe the chaos. To be a beacon of light when so many of our leaders are co-opted rather than courageous, and to take the initiative without delay. Post-election regrouping with its inevitable jockeying for power is the perfect launching pad for future victories. On the positive side, the Colorado ballot initiative that would have given personhood rights to the fertilized egg but not to the woman failed by a three-to-one margin. So let’s build on that to foster the paradigm shift in gender power that is sorely needed.
Paradigm shifts don’t happen in moments of stability. They occur during periods of upheaval, times when the tectonic plates of our lives shift and make things feel chaotic. Wars, revolutions, famine, drought, earthquakes, economic depressions, diseases like HIV/AIDS, social justice movements—these all cause basic social turbulence. Sometimes “normal” patterns are interrupted because of a technological innovation, such as the wheel, the printing press, the automobile, the television, the pill, the cell phone, the Internet, Twitter. As women gain reproductive and economic equality, the changing gender power balance creates substantial chaos.
Discussion Question: Think about when you’ve been in a chaotic situation, in work or in your personal life. Did you retreat, or did you step forward and own it, rewriting the rules and setting new parameters?
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
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As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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Thank you for the term co-opted vs. courageous. That is the essence of my frustration with the incoming House of.Representatives leadership. Co-opted for special interests, greed and religious control instead of courageous actions for the greater good for society.
Oh yes, lots of frustrations here. They squandered their two years of majority by trying to please those who would not be pleased until they were back in power.
I think coopted v. courageous applies to Obama’s speech last week, which you’ve already touched on.
In terms of your discussion question, there is one big example when I think of chaos in my work life. I left a nonprofit that I worked for when we got a new executive director. I didn’t trust this person, I felt that she was in it to build up herself, rather than the organization, and I also suspected her of embezzling money. It’s a hard line to draw, in terms of heading into the chaos to stand up for your beliefs, but also needing to protect yourself. I looked at this job the same way I would look at an abusive personal relationship. So I left. I tried to call out the problems once I was gone, but I didn’t have any bargaining power once I wasn’t an employee.
So I have another discussion question to bounce back at you. How do you know hen it’s time to leave, or time to stay and fight?
You know the song “Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.” I don’t know that you ever know for sure. You can only trust your heart and have the courage to be true to yourself.
When to be a whistle blower inside an organization is a significant question that you have raised. There is a big difference between having differences i opinion about how a place is managed (you move on if it doesn’t suit you) and having evidence (not just believing) that there is legal or fiduciary wrongdoing.
What do people think is the right way to do the latter? An example that might come to mind is Sherron Watkins at Enron.
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I’m in the heart of chaos right now, trying to care for an elderly parent and trying to sell a house in a depressed housing markets. Some days are utterly overwhelming but then on other days I actually feel like I growing stronger from the experience. I’ve found that the strategy that works for me is allowing myself to momentarily retreat from it all so I can rest, regroup and strategize. I’m learning about the power in downtime.
Power in the downtime is something I’d like to learn from you! It’s like the idea that the space are as important as the notes in a musical score. Good luck to you and keep us posted.
[…] Some women in hardest-hit sectors are taking matters into their own hands, applying the Leadership Power Tool “Carpe the Chaos.” […]