Posts Tagged ‘leadership’
The Meaning of Michelle, Sonia, Ursula and Anne
This is what’s on Anne Doyle’s mind these days as she contemplates the recent rise of women in disparate worlds of politics and business. She’s “tired of tokens and tailblazers”, and looking for real, sustained leadership by women. Thanks, Anne, for sharing this thoughtful post.
What a month it’s been.
First it was an historic, stockholders meeting for Xerox. CEO Anne Mulcahy officially confirmed she willbe retiring July 1st and introduced her personally selected and groomed successor, Ursula Burns. Not only will Burns be the first Black woman to head a Fortune 500 company, she and Mulcahy have also charted the path of another milestone: the first woman-to-woman CEO handoff in Fortune 500 history.
Read MoreLeadership Question of the Day–Please Reply
I’ve often written about what I like to call Obama’s leadership leaps. The president has a unique capacity to catch the wave of events, especially controversial ones, and turn them into amazing rhetorical moments in which he teaches and leads people to their higher selves.
Once again in the last two days, I’ve been profoundly moved by the brilliant leadership leap the president showed the world during his visit to Muslim countries. It was the same kind of action he took when he spoke on race during last year’s presidential primary after controversy fomented by his former pastor threatened to deep-six his quest for the Oval Office.
He knows how to do this on the toughest and most seemingly intractable of issues; his sense of timing and tone has usually been impeccable.
That’s why I ask this leadership question today: why in the world does Obama not take the leadership leap when it comes to advocating simple justice for women?
Read MoreWas Wooly Bully a Woman?
The recent New York Times article entitled “Backlash: Women Bullying Women” instantly reminded me of the 1960’s song, “Wooly Bully”*. Its logic was garbled and its presentation just plain silly, but it was nevertheless so entertainingly in tune with the culture of the day that it became a big hit.
Though the piece began by acknowledging that men are the majority (60%!) of workplace bulliers, that fact was quickly dismissed. Why wasn’t it the headline? Because it’s so obvious. It’s not a “man bites dog” story.
Instead, the reporter zeroed in on the finding that of women who do bully, 70% choose other women as their targets. Then the article proceeded to analyze this through the lens of a recurring cultural narrative, far too often embraced by even the New York Times despite evidence to the contrary, that women can’t get along, that women don’t support other women, that women are their own worst enemies when it comes to fostering workplace advancement.
Read MoreHow to Squander Your Leadership Position
As if a year with William Kristol on the op ed page of the New York Times wasn’t bad enough, now they’ve hired conservative pipsqueek Ross Douthat. At least Kristol had some life experience to draw upon.
If the liberal-leaning paper is seeking that elusive “balance” thinking it will attract more readers onto its old media ship that’s listing dangerously in these choppy new media seas, they should think again. First of all, liberal columnists to a fault already explore all sides of any issue they are writing about. They love being provocative and stirring up debate. Second, if the Times’ core readers are to the center-left, well, maybe they ought to concentrate on doing a really great job of appealing to them rather than alienating them.
Read MoreWriting History Forward–Who Will Lead?
Have been intending to blog about this fascinating intergenerational feminist convocation since I took the D train out to Brooklyn last Saturday after enjoying dim sum in Chinatown with my 30-something cousin Elizabeth. (She calls me “Auntie G” because of our age difference. Thus the day started out with an intergenerational theme; food if nothing else transcends the generations.)
Asking just what transcends and what divides the generations were a galaxy of feminist stars, moderated (if such a thing is possible with feisty feminists) by the ever-engaging Laura Flanders, “Women’s Visions for the Nation: What’s It Going to Take?”, the Saturday speakout showcased the intergenerational feminist think tank, Unfinished Business. The occasion marked and was sponsored by the 2nd anniversary of the Elizabeth Sackler Center for Feminist Art.
NB: Sackler established the center at the Brooklyn Museum, and if you have not been out there to see the extraordinary wing where Judy Chicago’s famed feminist history review “The Dinner Party” is permanently installed–run, don’t walk. (Oh, and don’t forget to change to the 2/3 at Atlantic Ave.) You are in for a treat and I for one am immensely grateful for this treasure of a place, and for Elizabeth Sackler’s commitment to fostering the future of feminist thought, art, and action.
Read MoreCourageous Leadership and the Equal Rights Amendment
Today, March 22, is the anniversary of the U.S. Senate’s passage in 1972 of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a constitutional amendment that would–IF it had been ratified by 3/4 of the states by its ten-year deadline in 1982– have ensured equal rights could not be denied on the basis of gender.
Let me tell you a story about leadership, persistence, and courage.
The original ERA, first introduced in Congress in 1923, was written by Alice Paul, a women’s rights activist Alice Paul toasting the passage of the 19th amendment to the Constitution giving women the right to votewho was instrumental in the 1920 ratification of the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women’s right to vote. Paul also started the National Women’s Party, believing that otherwise women’s concerns would never be taken seriously by politicians.
The ERA has been re-introduced in nearly every session of Congress since then. Bet you didn’t know that, did you? We don’t hear too much about it, bu it’s still very much alive and with the election of Barack Obama there’s a resurging movement to restart the ratification process and get the three additional states needed to give women equal rights in the Constitution that didn’t even consider them citizens when it was written.
Read MoreIrish Women Leaders
Do you know about Mairead Corigan and Betty Williams who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977 for leading peace marches where Catholics and Protestants together protested against the violence that was splitting the country? Or Grace O’Malley, a famous 16th Century pirate, seafarer, trade, and chieftain? What about Maria Edgeworth, 18/19th century Irish Writer perhaps a precursor to Virginia Woolf’s notion that women need a room of their own; Edgeworth said: “Some people talk of morality, and some of religion, but give me a little snug property.”
These and many other fascinating women leaders are chronicled on this Famous Irish Women website. The graphics are quite charming, cozy Irish country home style. But the stories tell of grit and glory, wisdom and courage. Take a look and give a tip the hat.
More likely, you have heard and seen Mary Robinson, Ireland’s seventh president and the first woman to serve in that capacity. “I was elected by the women of Ireland, who instead of rocking the cradle, rocked the system,” she said. Elected in 1990, she served until 1977 when she became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a post she held from 1997 to 2002. Continuing to rock the systen through her work to advance peace, human rights, and women’s leadership in all arenas, Robinson, a lawyer, is a founding member and currently the Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders.
Read MoreHeadline as Haiku
The headline summed it up so accurately it made my teeth hurt: “Republican Unity Trumps Democratic Momentum.”
Robert Pear and Carl Hulse wrote the article that sums up Congressional Democrats’ 2007 accomplishments, or lack of them, in the New York Times, December 21. But whoever wrote that headline gets my vote for the Pulitzer. In fewer syllables than a classic haiku, he or she described perfectly the essence of American politics since the extreme right has held sway over the Republican Party.
The Democrats might have better ideas and public opinion on their side right now, but the Republicans–even when they’re in the minority—still run strategic circles around them.
Read More