Posts Tagged ‘leadership’
Pass Your Power Forward
Regular guest columnist Anne Doyle wrote this post for International Women’s Day, but it applies every day. It reminds me about how important symbols are, and is a great example of what I call “Sister Courage”–be a sister, have courage, and work together like a movement with sister courage. Here’s the link to the original on Anne’s website if you want to connect with her there. I’m so proud of Anne for running for city council (and winning!), as well as admiring her leadership ideas.
After my speech, the same woman came up to me, handed me the pin and told me she wanted me to have it. “Oh no, I couldn’t take your pin. I know it’s very special to you.” She insisted, but told me there was a string attached to her gift. “You must promise me that one day you will give this pin to another woman,” she said. “I am giving it to you with the understanding that you will pass it forward.” “How long can I keep it?” I asked her. She simply said, “You will know when it’s time to pass the pin and its power forward.”
Read MoreThanksgiving to Three Courageous Leaders
On Thanksgiving Eve, I’m grateful to three courageous leaders. First, Dana Kennedy, Executive Director of Emerge Arizona. Dana not only works every day to recruit, train, and support pro-choice Democratic women to run for office, she put her convictions into action by running for Phoenix City Council. Though she didn’t prevail this time, I hope she will run again until she joins the ranks of leadership consultant and occasional guest poster here, Anne Doyle and political blogger par excellence Jill Miller Zimon, both of whom mounted their first political races and won city counil seats in Auburn Hills MI and Pepper Pike OH respectively.
As then-AZ Governor Janet Napolitano, now Secretary of Homeland Security, once told me, “You can’t win if you don’t run.” That’s a great leadership lesson, whether we’re talking politics or profession, civic engagement or choosing life goals.
Nervous about taking the plunge? Help is a Google away. In the political realm, check out this report featuring Emerge Arizona.
Read MoreGet Your Coven Together and Create a Revolution on Friday the 13th
If you are a writer and a woman, you’e probably heard about the great new website SheWrites started by a very powered woman, Kamy Wicoff, and already boasting a membership of over 5000. I just posted this over there and couldn’t resist sharing it with you. Seems that Publishers Weekly released its annual list of Top 10 Books, and guess what, there wasn’t a single book by a woman on it. So Kamy swung into action, which I love. The rest of the story will be obvious. (BTW, if you’re a woman writer, join up today by clicking the picture on the right.)
So here’s what posted at SheWrites:
I like Friday the 13th. Thirteen is a great number. Why? First of all, my birthday is on the 13th, April 13th. Every once in a while it lands on a Friday, and I feel just as lucky then as when it falls on a Tuesday. The gifts are just as much fun to open. Publisher’s Weekly has handed us at SheWrites a gift by calling attention to the lack of books by women writers on their Top 10 list.
I also like Friday the 13th because 13 is the number of a coven. Covens are powerful. Every women needs her coven, no matter what her religion is or what she thinks about witches. We need our circle of women friends, our old or new girls network. Our sister courage. Our girl gangs. One of us alone can accomplish a lot, but 13 of us together make a movement. Remember, thirteen colonies started a revolution and formed a new nation in 1776. Kamy has challenged us to create our own revolution.
Read MoreWhy Obama Won’t Be Our Next “Greatest” American President
A few posts ago, I asked how you rate President Obama’s leadership on health care reform.
There were some intriguing responses. I said at the time that I agreed with Jeff Friedman, who replied via Facebook:
As seems to be the case with almost every issue he tackles, his heart is in the right place, but he doesn’t seem to have the stomach for a good, old fashioned street fight. And, unfortunately, until he quits trying to be Conciliator-in-Chief and starts to tackle the Republicans and the Blue Cross, I mean the Blue Dog, Democrats head on, most of his positive agenda for the country is going to fall by the wayside. If only he had the stubborn, confrontational approach for his good ideas that George W. Bush had for his horrible ones.
Still, I had the audacity to hope that Obama would gain strength in his role and become increasingly willing to put forth bold initiatives to solve problems such as the 40 million Americans lacking health insurance and many millions more teetering on the brink of losing it along with their jobs or being so underinsured they can’t afford primary or preventive care.
I take to heart the position of smart young author Courtney Martin (please read her Washington Post column about this topic here and vote for her to be their next new pundit) that Obama is exercising a significant kind of leadership when he says citizens must lead ourselves by participating in the process not just during elections, but every day.
Read MoreCourageous Leadership Transition at the Women’s Media Center
As a board member of the Women’s Media Center, I’m delighted to share this announcement of a very positive passing of the torch, or more properly increasing the number of torches lighting the way to making women visible and powerful in the media: a tribute to the founding president Carol Jenkins and a warm welcome to incoming president Jehmu Greene. Here’s the press release that just went out.
Read MoreIt is with great pleasure that we announce to you that Progressive Women’s Voices alum Jehmu Greene has been selected as the next president of The Women’s Media Center. She brings great expertise in feminist/progressive organizing and media — and she is, we believe, the perfect woman for the organization’s next stages of development. We are sharing this announcement with you before our public announcement tomorrow because we value your support of the WMC. Thank you.
Convictions to Action: Margaret Sanger’s Legacy and Leadership Lessons
Folks have asked me to post this speech that I gave at the Brooklyn Museum Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art on September 13. Today, September 14, would be the 130th birthday of the founder of the American Birth Control Movement, Margaret Sanger. So here you go!
I just got back from my high school reunion in West Texas. It was a long journey from teen mom with little sense of power over or intention for my life to a movement leader and an activist for women’s human right to reproductive self-determination.
So when I tell you I’m amazed to be here with you, so near 46 Amboy Street in Brownsville, where Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinic 93 years ago next month—believe it! This is hallowed ground.
Read MoreA Three-fer Good News Day
September 3 should become a special day on women’s calendar, just as Women’s Equality Day became a special day in honor of women’s voting rights. For the first time ever, two of the three nightly major network newscasts will be anchored by women. ABC Nightly News has announced that Diane Sawyer, who has anchored “Good…
Read MoreIs Social Media Your Best Leadership Toolkit?
While I was in Arizona recently, I spent some time with the Arizona State University School of Social Transformation folks brainstorming an online leadership certificate course for women that we intend to launch in the fall of 2010. We plan to use a social media platform to create an ever-growing network of contacts for the women who participate in the course.
I’d love to get your feedback on the idea and how you would use social media as a leadership toolkit to further your work. What are you wanting to know or learn to use? What social media do you think have the greatest promise for organizational or leadership effectiveness?
This video is jam-packed with data about the power of social media. Take a look. Do you agree with it?
Read MoreWhat Can We Learn From Health Reform’s Leadership Laboratory?
The health reform debate gives us an interesting Petri dish in which to observe leadership–or not.
Management of controversy always tests leaders. Leaders on the right are typically clearer and more aggressive in delivering their message (whether factual or deliberately untrue, as in the example below) than those on the left. This calm, measured interview with Kentucky Democrat Rep. John Yarmouth talking about what he anticipated discussing with his constituents during the August recess is a case in point on the left side of the political dial.
In contrast, catch demonstrators on the right trying to shout down Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX) at his Austin TX town hall in order to shut off any chance of Congress’ reforming the health care system. They know their goal and they go for it.
Read MoreAuthenticity or Transparency?
Transparency has become a key buzzword in leadership and government, but leadership speaker and consultant Kare Anderson shared an article on Facebook that really made me sit up and think a little differently. She cited Aaron Stout writing on Ugluu: While those of you that know me understand that I’m a big proponent of transparency,…
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