Let's Celebrate #WomensEqualityDay with Celina Stewart of the League of Women Voters of the US!

Today is Women's Equality Day and marks the 105th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. This important day celebrates the achievements of women's rights activists (including my great-grandmother who marched for women's suffrage in upstate New York in the early 1900's) and reminds us of the struggles that women continue to face. Some of these struggles include the lack of equal pay for equal work; gender stereotypes, unconscious bias, and lack of mentorship opportunities in the workplace; a higher risk of sexual harassment in the workplace; under-representation in leadership positions; gender bias in hiring and promotions; and the impact of the motherhood penalty.

According to the National Women's History Alliance, "At the behest of Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971, the United States Congress designated August 26th as "Women's Equality Day." The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women's Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality."

Founded soon after the passage of the 19th Amendment, the League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan grassroots volunteer organization that operates at the national, state, and local level, was born in 1920 when "fearless women fought for and finally attained the right to vote. Originally designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters and to nurture civic leaders, the League helps voters - both women and men - become informed and engaged citizens."

Earlier this summer on July 19th in Los Angeles, I had the incredible honor to meet Celina Stewart, the Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters of the United States, based in Washington, DC. In February, on behalf of my local League of Women Voters, I had issued an invitation to Celina to visit Southern California and speak to my local League - and she accepted my invitation! During her Southern California visit, also referred to as a "listening tour," she met members of 10 local Leagues and was the featured guest speaker at events held in San Diego, Manhattan Beach, and the San Fernando Valley. Some may argue that the League of Women Voters is no longer nonpartisan, but as Celina explained, "Our positions have remained unchanged over the decades, they were not ever political. People attack the League because we make a difference, but the League is the watchdog of democracy."

A legal expert, voting rights champion, and lifelong democracy defender, Celina Stewart serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the League of Women Voters of the United States. In this role since August of 2024, she oversees the operations of the inspiring 105-year-old voting rights organization; and she and her team work to foster alignment across the national office and the 750-plus State and local Leagues.

Celina earned her JD Degree from Western Michigan University Law School and her BA Degree in Sociology from Spelman College. Prior to joining the League, she was acting Chief Operating Officer and Director of Philanthropy at an electoral reform nonprofit – and also served as a litigation consultant for law firms and legislators.

In 2018, Celina first joined the League as "Director of Advocacy and Litigation." In that role, she developed and implemented League political strategies and policy positions regarding voting rights, election reform, redistricting, and campaign finance issues. She also directed litigation opportunities for the national, State, and local Leagues in federal courts while serving as the lead lobbyist and liaison with Congress and the Administration.

In 2019, she was quoted in the Spelman Messenger, "Once everyday people are engaged and feel motivated to participate, our democracy is strengthened."

She was promoted to "Senior Director" in April 2019 and to "Chief Counsel" in July 2020; and in those roles, she built stronger relationships with legal partners resulting in increased visibility for the League of Women Voters on Capitol Hill.

Dianna Wynn, the President of the national League, describes Celina as, "A born leader and proven problem-solver. Celina's dedication to the League combined with her strategic vision and leadership are invaluable as the League continues to empower voters and defend democracy."

Here's a quote from Celina's appointment ceremony in August 2024, "We are living in a truly unprecedented and historic time. Every day, there's a new attack, and women are being called to save our country. And that call is urgent. We don't have time for fear or hesitation. All we have time to do is whatever it takes to ensure that the work we are doing today leaves enough breadcrumbs for the next generation of Leagues to carry the organization – and the brand – beyond 2120."

And here's a quote from a blog post Celina wrote as our country celebrated Independence Day last month, "Our movement draws inspiration from the suffragists who founded the League over a century ago. They understood that democracy is – NOT – self-sustaining – it must be actively defended by each generation – because threats emerge in EVERY generation. The suffragists did not win the right to vote by asking nicely. They organized – protested – and demonstrated."

I recalled an important article written by Dianna Wynn (President of the national League) in January about the organization's name where she wrote, "To me, now more than ever, it's clear that 'WOMEN' is an essential part of our name — and always will be...Organizations like the League of Women Voters empower women and fight to protect our freedoms so that we can become more fully represented in our democracy...In these trying times when some seek to take power AWAY from women, it's important to emphasize – including in our name – that women have fought for and deserve a voice at the ballot box and in our government. To drop 'WOMEN' from our name does a disservice to those who came before us. We carry out their legacy as we advance democracy and voting rights into our second century. It also does a disservice to the women of today who are fighting for equality in every aspect of their lives, from political representation to equal pay to reproductive freedom." 

So, when I asked Celina her thoughts about the name of the organization and how to attract more male allies, she responded, "We want the League to be open and reflective of everyone. Our power is as individuals and also together."

During Celina's July 19th event, she said, "We are our ancestors' wildest dreams." I, for one, agree with that statement, because I have accomplished things in my life that my great-grandmother, who marched for women's suffrage leading up to 1920, could only dream about. But, of course, we still have a long, long way to go!

Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, the 10th President of Spelman College, wrote in 2019, "Our Spelmanites are ambitious for themselves and even more ambitious for each other and their communities, the mark of real leaders. Join me in celebrating the women of Spelman who have devoted their lives to public service and the welfare of their communities, their country, and the world."

Celina is truly the embodiment of this quote, and I thank her for inspiring me everyday since I first heard her speak at her August 2024 appointment ceremony - but especially today on Women's Equality Day!

Image Credits: LWV-Beach Cities (Debbie Laskey and Celina Stewart photo taken July 17, 2025) and LWVUS.

Read mentioned posts from the LWVUS Blog:

LWVUS President Dianna Wynn: Why We Will Remain the League of WOMEN Voters (January 2025)

https://www.lwv.org/blog/why-we-will-remain-league-women-voters

LWVUS CEO Celina Stewart: Democracy Needs Defenders, Not Cheerleaders (July 2025)

https://www.lwv.org/blog/independence-day-democracy-needs-defenders-not-cheerleaders

CNN: Why Work Is (Still) Not Working for Women (March 2025)

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/07/world/womens-equality-at-work-globally-as-equals-intl-cmd

Read previous #WomensEqualityDay posts on my blog:

Celebrate #WomensEqualityDay with Erika Andersen (August 2024)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2024/08/lets-celebrate-womensequalityday-with.html

Gender Bias and #WomensEqualityDay with Amy Diehl (August 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/08/gender-bias-and-womens-equality-day.html

Celebrate #WomensEqualityDay with Kim Elsesser (August 2022)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2022/08/lets-celebrate-womens-equality-day.html

Work Remains for More Women in Top Leadership Roles with Susan Colantuono (August 2021)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/08/as-we-celebrate-1920-work-remains-to.html

Let's Celebrate International Day of Women Judges

How many women judges can you name? Sandra Day O'Conner, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor. Ketanji Brown Jackson. How many more women judges can you name - and not just Supreme Court Justices?

According to the United Nations, "While equality in the judiciary has been historically uneven, steps are being taken to remedy this as evidenced by the declaration by the United Nations General Assembly of 10 March as the International Day of Women Judges. 

The representation of women in the judiciary is significant for many reasons. In addition to ensuring that the legal system is developed with all of society in mind, it also inspires the next generation of female judges and motivates them to achieve their goals.

Women in the criminal justice system can act as agents of change and contribute to greater accountability. Women judges bring different perspectives and experiences, strengthening judicial systems. Women in leadership roles help disrupt networks of collusion, striking a blow against corruption.

Women's representation in law enforcement and judicial institutions has been linked to more effective, victim-centered responses to crime.

By investing in women's advancement and women justice leaders, we can help ensure that justice is better served and that women and all members of our societies are met with fairness and equality before the law, for the benefit of all.

Only through the active participation of women, on equal terms with men, at all levels of decision-making, we'll be able to achieve sustainable development, peace, and democracy.

Despite women's increased engagement in public life, they remain significantly under-represented in decision-making positions. In fact, a relatively small number of women have been, or are part of, the judiciary, particularly at senior judicial leadership positions.

Women's representation in the judiciary is key to ensuring that courts represent their citizens, address their concerns and hand down sound judgments. By their mere presence, women judges enhance the legitimacy of courts, sending a powerful signal that they are open and accessible to those who seek recourse to justice.

By marking the day, we reaffirm our commitment to develop and implement appropriate and effective national strategies and plans for the advancement of women in judicial justice systems and institutions at the leadership, managerial, and other levels."

Did you know?

Annette Abbott Adams became the first female justice in California in 1942 when she was appointed presiding justice of the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, by then-Governor Culbert Olson. She was also the first woman to serve on the California Supreme Court bench as a pro tempore judge.

Did you know?

Forty percent of judges were women in 2017, which is 35 percent more than in 2008.

Did you know?

In 1946, Eleanor Roosevelt penned an "open letter to the women of the world," urging their increased involvement in national and international affairs.

So, today, on International Day of Women Judges, learn more about women judges and promote equality in the justice system.

SHARE THIS: To achieve justice, we need more women in justice. ~United Nations #InternationalDayofWomenJudges #equalityforwomen #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Image Credit: Pinterest.

Read about three female judicial officers who shattered the glass ceiling at every level of the California judicial branch:

https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/womens-history-month-celebrating-first-female-judicial-officers-california

Read about four women who made history in the legal field and helped advance women's rights in California:

https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/womens-history-month-recognizing-suffragettes-california

Ten Notable Deaths During 2024 and Some #PersonalBrandingTips

While many notable deaths occurred during 2024, we were left with a myriad of personal branding tips. Join me in learning from the legacies of these ten individuals.

BOB NEWHART

Whenever comedians are mentioned, one name has stood the test of time. Bob Newhart died at the age of 94 on July 18th. Since my Dad was a CPA, Bob was a favorite in my house due to his previous occupation as an accountant. Perhaps, my Dad had dreams of being a comedian, or perhaps, he simply appreciated Bob's dry wit as a stand-up comedian. Whatever the case, "The Bob Newhart Show" and later "Newhart" were must-watch television in my house. And then, the way that the final episode of "Newhart" harkened back to the original series! Sheer genius! If you haven't seen it, check it out! According to the CPA Journal, "Newhart leaves blanks and pauses in his one-person phone routines to try to get his audience actively involved. This style could only come from an accountant." He was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1993, and in 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 17 of the 50 greatest TV stars of all time.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: While your career choice may not be clear to others, your talent may stand out - and make you a star. Bob Newhart proved this!  

BETTE NASH

The aviation world mourned the loss of Bette Nash, a Washington, D.C.-based flight attendant who died after spending nearly seven decades serving passengers in the skies — and making history along the way. She began her career with the now-defunct Eastern Airlines at age 21 in 1957, when Dwight Eisenhower was President. At the time, flights between New York and D.C. cost $12 and "stewardesses," as they were called, served lobster on platters and passed out cigarettes on board. According to NPR, "The industry changed drastically during Nash's tenure, especially with the introduction of technology (no more handwritten tickets, for example). American Airlines eventually took over some of Eastern's routes. But, as she said at a celebration of her 60 years of service in 2017, the joys of the job remained, "My favorite part of flying over the years has been greeting my passengers as they board and deplane. People really are fascinating and it’s truly been a joy." Nash became an increasingly recognizable fixture on American Airlines flights in recent years — particularly on shuttle flights between Washington and Boston. She earned the Guinness World Record for longest-serving flight attendant in 2022, by which point she had been working for more than 64 years."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: If you find a job that you love, it becomes a labor of love, rather than simply a job. Bette Nash proved that!

LILLY LEDBETTER

Lilly Ledbetter, whose gender pay equity legal fight was the inspiration for the Fair Pay Act of 2009, died at age 86 in October.

According to CNN, "In the 1990's, after 19 years of working for Goodyear, Ledbetter learned she had been making thousands of dollars less each month than male managers. She sued Goodyear in 1999 for gender discrimination. She initially won in federal court in 2003 and was awarded $3.8 million in backpay and damages. The decision was later overturned after the tire giant appealed. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court in 2007, which upheld the lower court's ruling. In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled Ledbetter should have filed suit within 180 days of the very first time Goodyear paid her less than her peers. Having missed that window, Ledbetter had no grounds to sue, according to the court."

When Barack Obama became President, the first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. Ledbetter said in 2018, "That was the most awesome emotion I think that I have ever had. I'll put it behind having a son and a daughter." In retirement Ledbetter became an activist and advocate for gender equity.

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) described her: "Lilly Ledbetter simply wanted to be paid the same as her male Goodyear coworkers – and her fight took her to the Supreme Court, Congress, and the White House to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. She was a true hero."

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said on social media that Ledbetter's simple phrase "equal pay for equal work" had changed his understanding. He said, "It's shocking that, as a CEO, I witnessed firsthand how wide the pay disparities were – not just in my own company, but across so many others we acquired. Lilly taught me the fight for equality starts with pay equity. There can be no true equality without it."

As of 2024, for every dollar a man earns, a woman is paid 84 cents, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity and the Equal Pay Today campaign. That's based on earnings data for full-time, year-round workers from the US Census in 2022, which was the most recent full-year data set available. 

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: In Ledbetter's own words: "That I never gave up and I did make a difference. In fact, I told my pastor, when he does my funeral, that's the last line I want...She made a difference."

SHARE THIS: The hashtag #EmbraceAmbition means to me: Being respectful of and supporting everyone's ambitions equally. ~Lilly Ledbetter #PersonalBranding #DebbieLaskeysBlog

WALLY AMOS

According to Biography, "Wallace WALLY Amos Jr., the man behind the Famous Amos cookies brand, has died. The 88-year-old was surrounded by family, who said the cause of death was complications from dementia. Amos was best known for the cookie brand he started in 1975 and sold in 1988. But before his entrepreneurial days, he was the first Black talent agent for William Morris Agency. While there, he discovered Simon & Garfunkel. Amos spent his later years developing additional cookie companies, a muffin brand, and promoting children's literacy.

In 1967, Amos moved to Los Angeles, where he struggled to set up his own personal management company. Burdened with the debt of his failing business, Amos began to take comfort in baking chocolate chip cookies. He started bringing cookies along to business meetings. With financial backing from singers like Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy as well as an innovative marketing initiative that included an extensive advertising campaign and a gala grand opening, the first Famous Amos cookie store opened on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles in March 1975. (I vividly recall visiting that location often in my youth!) Within months, 38-year-old Amos had opened two more West Coast locations, and the New York–based Bloomingdale's department store had begun selling the cookies.

Outside of his entrepreneurial work, Amos traveled as a motivational speaker and dedicated himself to ending illiteracy in the United States. He worked with organizations such as Read to Me International, the YMCA, and Literacy Volunteers of America, serving as the group's national spokesperson from 1979 until 2002. President George H.W. Bush presented him with the Literacy Award in 1991. He even had a reading room at his cookie shop in Hawaii, where he relocated in 1977. Wearing a watermelon hat, he read to children at his shop on Saturdays."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: If, after a long career, you end up being the symbol of something that everyone loves, then that's okay. Wally Amos may have been the symbol of a chocolate chip cookie, but it was a yummy cookie!

PHIL DONAHUE

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Phil Donahue, the talk show innovator who changed the conversation and the course of daytime television with the weekday program he hosted for nearly three decades, has died. He was 88. According to his family, he died at his New York City home following a long illness. Survivors include his wife of 44 years, "That Girl" star Marlo Thomas. They met when she was a guest on his show — he was a divorced single father living with and raising his four sons at the time — before marrying in May 1980. The Cleveland, Ohio-native hosted more than 6,000 iterations of "The Phil Donahue Show," from the first, broadcast from a Dayton, Ohio station on November 7, 1967, through the last, seen nationwide on syndication via Multimedia Entertainment, on September 13, 1996.

Donahue addressed contemporary and controversial topics and invited his studio audience to participate, carrying his microphone into the crowd. He became adept at interweaving their questions and remarks with his own commentary.

The issue-oriented approach was novel, and his topics — abortion, incest, artificial insemination, alcoholism, penile implants, homosexuality, same-sex couples raising children and priests' pedophilia, to name just a few — proved cutting-edge, making his show notorious and popular.

Donahue had things pretty much all to himself until 1985, when Oprah Winfrey launched her own talk show. He said, "It's just not possible to overstate the enormousness of her impact on the daytime television game. It was staggering." (She would dethrone him atop the ratings in 1987.)

After he had turned 60 and received 11 Daytime Emmy's, Donahue called it quits in 1996, and Winfrey presented him with a Lifetime Achievement honor. She said, "I want to thank you for opening the door so wide, wide enough for me to walk through. Had there not been a Phil Donahue, I don't believe there could have been an Oprah." In May 2024, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Never be afraid of trying new things or new ways to tackle issues. Phil Donahue did just that, and in the process, ushered in an entirely new era of television talk shows.

CHARLES OSGOOD

According to CBS News, "Award-winning journalist Charles Osgood, who anchored "CBS Sunday Morning" for 22 years and was host of the long-running radio program "The Osgood File," died at age 91 in January 2024. He was a gifted news writer, poet, and author, and spent 45 years at CBS News before retiring in September 2016. Osgood began anchoring "CBS Sunday Morning" in 1994. During his run on the show it reached its highest ratings levels in three decades, and three times earned the Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Morning Program...And for almost 46 years, he wrote and hosted "The Osgood File," written radio commentaries on the day's news, broadcast up to four times a day, five days a week, that were occasionally rhymed. For each edition, which aired on stations around the country, he signed off with the familiar "I'll see you on the radio" – a phrase he carried over to his TV duties hosting "CBS Sunday Morning."

He explained, "Short words, short sentences, short paragraphs. There's nothing that can't be improved by making it shorter and better."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: When you're good at something, you can do it for a very long time, as Charles Osgood proved.

JEANINE EPPER

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Jeannie Epper, the peerless, fearless stunt performer who doubled for Lynda Carter on Wonder Woman and swung on a vine across a 350-foot gorge and propelled down an epic mudslide as Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, died at age 83 in May. Just one member of a dynasty of stunt performers that Steven Spielberg dubbed the "Flying Wallendas of Film" — starting with her father, John Epper, there were four generations of Eppers in show business since the 1930's — she worked on 150-plus films and TV shows during an amazing 70-year career. She put herself in harm's way for Kate Jackson on Charlie's Angels, for Lindsay Wagner on The Bionic Woman, for Angie Dickinson on Police Woman, for Jessica Walter in Play Misty for Me (1971), for Jill Clayburgh in Silver Streak (1976) and for Nancy Allen in RoboCop (1987)."

Wonder Woman TV actress Lynda Carter wrote that she and Epper in the 1970's were "united in the way that women had to be in order to thrive in a man's world, through mutual respect, intellect and collaboration. Jeannie was a vanguard who paved the way for all other stuntwomen who came after. Just as Diana was Wonder Woman, Jeannie Epper was also a Wonder Woman.”

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Often, it's important to ignore stereotypes and simply follow your dream - as Jeanine Epper did!

IRIS APFEL

Iris Apfel, the US businesswoman, interior designer, fashion designer, and actress, died at age 102 at her Palm Beach home in March. According to the BBC, "The matriarch of maximalism has died at aged 102. 'More is more, and less is a bore' was her mantra, and her unique style and wisdom brought joy and inspiration to many. "I like big and bold and a lot of pizzazz."  Apfel remained perennially young at heart, in her own words "the world's oldest living teenager." 

She's instantly recognizable: sitting amid a confection of canary yellow frills, or with a ton of costume jewelry around her neck. A different scintillating look for every day and occasion – but what didn't change for decades was her immaculate silver bouffant hairdo, coral-red lips, and huge spectacles – a black-rimmed infinity symbol broader than her face. 

Apfel's talent as a hot style innovator showed up in her 20s, such as when she spotted and adopted a garment that was to take the fashion world by storm (and hasn't stopped): jeans. We may imagine denim cool was invented by Marlon Brando in The Wild One (1953), or Marilyn Monroe in The Misfits (1961), but Apfel was ahead of these Hollywood stars. "In the '40s I was probably the first woman to wear jeans."

The world sat up to acknowledge her as a star, with a lifetime of building a brand based around herself, and she was soon sought after to sell everything from cars to tech startups. In 2018 she modelled for Vogue; and Mattel made a silver-haired Barbie in her name. Apfel's popularity is perhaps a sign of the times. In recent decades older celebrity fashion models, like Carmen Dell'Orefice, 92, and Daphne Selfe, 95, are increasingly held up as glamorous, relevant and sought after.

Photographer Ari Seth Cohen, who featured her in his documentary Advanced Style, on fashionable New Yorkers aged 60 to 100, described how Apfel promotes "personality and personal expression rather than a youthful idea of perfection and beauty."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Iris Apfel was the epitome of being unique, and she was incredibly successful and happy by being herself!

SHARE THIS: I like big and bold and a lot of pizzazz. ~Iris Apfel #PersonalBranding #DebbieLaskeysBlog

WILLIE MAYS

One doesn't need to be a fan of the San Francisco Giants to be a fan of Willie Mays. Long considered to be one of the best all-around players in the history of baseball, Mays passed away in June. According to Leo Durocher (a former Dodgers manager), "If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases, and performed a miracle in the field every day, I'd still look you in the eye and say Willie was better." On Mays' Baseball Hall of Fame page, "In 1954, in Game 1 of the World Series against the Cleveland Indians, tied 2-2 in the top of the 8th inning with runners on first and second and no outs, Vic Wertz hit a towering drive that would have been a home run in most parks. Mays, playing shallow center field, took off and ran with his back to the ball, caught it over the shoulder an estimated 460 feet from the plate, turned, and fired. The Giants won the game and the World Series. "The Catch" is considered by many to be one of the greatest defensive plays in history." On a personal note, my father, despite being a lifelong Dodgers fan from age 7, was also a lifelong Willie Mays fan. Talk about the power of personal branding! 

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: When your accomplishments are amazing, they stand out on their own!

JIMMY CARTER

Former President Jimmy Carter passed away on December 29th at the age of 100. Born in 1924, James Earl Carter Jr. was an American politician and humanitarian who served from 1977 to 1981 as the 39th President of the United States. 

According to President Joe Biden, "President Carter was an extraordinary leader, statesma, and humanitarian. Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But what's extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well. With Carter's compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe."

Biden thanked the Carter family and staff and told "young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility."

Habitat for Humanity will forever be linked to Carter, because since 1984, the Carter Work Project took the former first couple across the United States and around the world to 14 countries, where he helped to build, renovate, or repair more than 4,300 houses alongside more than 100,000 volunteers.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Dedication to one's ideals can, and do, make a difference. In Carter's own words, "I have one life and one chance to make it count for something...My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference."

What else did you learn from those we lost during 2024? Chime in and share.

Image Credits: CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images (Bob Newhart), AP Photo/Lennox McLendon (Fernando Valenzuela), and Tory Burch Foundation (Lilly Ledbetter).

Click to read an interview with equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter:

https://www.toryburchfoundation.org/resources/create-diversity-and-inclusion/an-interview-with-equal-pay-activist-lilly-ledbetter/

Click to read "A Spectacle in Glasses" about Iris Apfel:

https://www.worldofinteriors.com/story/iris-apfel-eccentricity

Let's Celebrate #WomensEqualityDay with Erika Andersen!

Today is Women's Equality Day and marks the 104th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. This important day celebrates the achievements of women's rights activists (including my great-grandmother who marched for women's suffrage in New York in the early 1900's) and reminds us of the struggles that women still face including equal pay for equal work and top leadership roles - which is especially apropos due to the current American Presidential race.

According to the National Women's History Alliance, "At the behest of Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY), in 1971, the United States Congress designated August 26th as "Women's Equality Day." The date was selected to commemorate the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. This was the culmination of a massive, peaceful civil rights movement by women that had its formal beginnings in 1848 at the world's first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York. The observance of Women's Equality Day not only commemorates the passage of the 19th Amendment, but also calls attention to women's continuing efforts toward full equality."

Today, to celebrate this important day, I have invited Erika Andersen to return to my blog. I've had the incredible pleasure of knowing Erika Andersen for many years, and she first appeared in a Q&A on my blog back in 2011. She is the founding partner of Proteus, where she and her colleagues support leaders at all levels to get ready and stay ready to meet the future. Erika advises senior executives and also shares her insights through her books, speaking engagements, and social media. In addition to her latest book, Change from the Inside Out, she is the author of four previous best-selling books: Be Bad First, Leading So People Will Follow, Being Strategic, and Growing Great Employees. Erika is also a popular leadership blogger at Forbes.com, and the creator and host of the Proteus Leader Show podcast.

QUESTION: Today, I celebrate my great-grandmother, who was a suffragist who marched for women's rights in New York in the years leading up to the passage of the 19th Amendment. What does this day mean to you, and what do you hope girls and young women learn about August 26th?

ERIKA ANDERSEN: I'm right there with you – both my grandmothers were suffragists, as well, and they demonstrated for women's rights as young women. In fact, I'd like to share a photo of me as a young teenager trying on my grandma Lote's "March Uniform."

My mom and dad were also feminists, and my brothers and sister and I were all raised to believe that we could build good full lives for ourselves that included whatever kind of work and family we wanted. That's what Women's Equality Day means to me: an affirmation that we will continue to move toward a world where girls and women, no matter their circumstances, their ethnicity or religion, have the freedom to pursue and attain the professional and personal goals they desire.

I hope that girls and young women today learn about the history of the fight for women's rights, so they understand how we got where we are today, don't take what we have now for granted, and commit to keep moving forward. For instance, I recently had a conversation with my oldest granddaughters, who are 11 and almost 14, where I shared with them the fact that only 50 years ago, unmarried women couldn't get credit cards in their own names. They were, I'm happy to report, shocked, and it led to a marvelous conversation about the inequalities that still exist and how to change them.

SHARE THIS: What does #WomensEqualityDay mean to me? An affirmation that we will continue to move toward a world where girls and women, no matter their circumstances, their ethnicity or religion, have the freedom to pursue and attain the professional and personal goals they desire. ~@ErikaAndersen #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Marilyn Loden coined the term "glass ceiling" when speaking on a panel at the 1978 Women's Exposition in New York City. According to the Washington Post, "When her turn came to speak, she thought about how she had been tasked at her company to explore why more women weren't entering management positions. She had gathered enough data that she felt confident that the problem extended beyond what her colleagues were wearing or saying. Loden explained, 'It seemed to me there was an invisible barrier to advancement that people didn't recognize, a glass ceiling.'" While it's been more than 40 years, the problem persists. Many well-known women have used the term including Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Aretha Franklin, and Oprah Winfrey. How do you think women can shatter the "glass ceiling" - perhaps, some ideas that would be applicable in any industry?

ERIKA ANDERSEN: So much good and thoughtful content has been written about this. Before I weigh in, I want to highlight a recent book on this topic, written by a friend and client of mine, Bonnie Hammer, one of the most celebrated executives in media for the past 40 years. It's called "15 Lies Women Are Told at Work...and the Truth We Need to Succeed." Bonnie systematically dismantles the key limiting and untrue things women are told about how they need to behave, to help us break that glass ceiling. It's refreshingly blunt and funny – and so true. I recommend it highly.

Her book aligns with my own premise that a lot of what holds us back as women at work is our own self-doubt, second-guessing, and concern about "the rules." A friend of mine, a skilled coach, used to say that the most effective approach to work was to be "confident but not cocky." And I believe this applies especially to women. Women who believe in themselves, their capabilities, and their ideas without being cocky (i.e., dismissive of others, unrealistically positive without having the facts, etc.) tend, in my experience to have the most success in corporate environments.

At the same time, it must be said that even the most confident, least cocky women will have a hard time succeeding in environments where the deck is stacked against them: where those in power refuse to open their ranks and share authority and responsibility with their female colleagues. So, it's also important for women who do have power, and powerful men who are their allies, to work to make sure their organizations are as fair and open as possible in their policies and culture. 

QUESTION: According to an article published by the BBC entitled, "Why We Use Women's Professional Titles Less Than Men's," "Across many fields, women who have earned formal titles report that others neglect or dismiss these titles, or even condemn women's claims to them." To see proof, we can look to the American First Lady to see how many people dismiss Dr. Jill Biden's title. So, how can we get gender parity when it comes to professional titles?

(Read the full article here: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210216-why-do-professional-titles-actually-matter)

ERIKA ANDERSEN: This is a great article, Debbie – thanks for sharing it. I’ve noticed this "untitling" or "uncredentialing" of women for many years. Another version of it is using women's first names in situations where a man with an equal level of power or achievement would be called by his last name. (I noticed it recently when the two teachers of one of my grandkids were referred to as "Mr. Hutton and Joan.") 

I think we can move the ball on this one by consistently requesting, as women, that we be accorded our proper titles. And if people tell us that we're being "too sensitive," or that "they're just trying to make things less formal and more friendly" (two common defensive responses), we can keep the temperature from escalating while continuing to make our request by saying something like, "From your point of view, this isn't very important. However, it is meaningful to me, so I'd like you to refer to me as X.  Thank you." 

QUESTION: During my career, I've had more male bosses than female bosses, and without a doubt, the men were more supportive. The women were less likely to recognize my accomplishments in group settings and sometimes took ownership of my successes. Were these women leaders what has been referred to as QUEEN BEE LEADERS? And what would you have done in these situations?

(Here's a good post about this topic: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-41165076)

ERIKA ANDERSEN: Because I’ve worked with so many women executives over the years, I've observed most every level of supportiveness: from women bosses who were the kind of "queen bee" described in the article, to women who were extraordinarily supportive of other women's success, who actively mentored and coached their younger colleagues and formed strong bonds with their peers.

In situations where I was coaching women who had less supportive women bosses, I encouraged them to get very clear about the specifics of how they wanted their boss to treat them differently, and to ask for it respectfully. I always suggested that they not make gender an aspect of their request – in other words, that they not include any version of "we as women should support each other," but simply ask to be supported as an employee and a colleague. It seemed to me, if their boss had a psychological issue about supporting other women, that leaning into that aspect of the relationship was only likely to backfire!

QUESTION: Earlier this year, you wrote an inspiring post for Forbes entitled, "My Personal Heroines on International Women's Day." Can you please share a brief recap?

(Here’s the link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2024/03/04/my-personal-heroines-on-international-womens-daywho-are-yours/)

ERIKA ANDERSEN: Thank you! The core point of that post was an encouragement for readers to reflect on the "heroines" in their own life and family, and I offered the examples of my paternal great-grandmother, my two grandmothers (the suffragists I mentioned above) and my mom, a powerful and committed feminist.

I love the idea of honoring those who came before us in this personal way. I think most of us have wonderful women in our lives – relatives, teachers, friends – to whom we can give thanks and to whom we can look for inspiration.

QUESTION: And lastly, you penned one of my fave quotes: "Great leaders don't do it alone...they get help." Can you please share a few examples as to how.

ERIKA ANDERSEN: Let's connect this back to the theme of Women's Equality Day. I’ve noticed that when women leaders are in their power – that is, when they're feeling confident and not cocky, and are relying on some of the things that research shows women tend to be better at than men – they automatically include more voices in decision-making, and they are much more likely than men to acknowledge when they don't have experience in a particular domain and to invite the input of others who do have that experience.

In other words, I've found (and again, research confirms this) that women have a more collaborative approach to leadership – which is the definition of "getting help." And the research also shows that this kind of approach increases productivity and feels more fair to those involved. In other words, you go, girl.

As always, my sincere gratitude to Erika for sharing her insights about issues that impact us all. For a special treat, check out Erika's next appearance on my blog on November 4th, when she participates in my #HolidayLeadershipSeries.

Image Credits: Debbie Laskey and Erika Andersen.

Link to book referenced in second question's response:

15 Lies Women Are Told at Work...and the Truth We Need to Succeed by Bonnie Hammer:

https://www.amazon.com/Lies-Women-Are-Told-Work/dp/1797176420

Link to "Research" referenced in final question's response:

https://www.apa.org/topics/women-girls/female-leaders-make-work-better#:~:text=Decades%20of%20studies%20show%20women,organizational%20dedication%2C%20and%20improve%20fairness

Read previous posts on #WomensEqualityDay here on my blog:

Gender Bias and Women's Equality Day (with Amy Diehl) (August 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/08/gender-bias-and-womens-equality-day.html

Let’s Celebrate Women’s Equality Day! (with Kim Elsesser) (August 2022)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2022/08/lets-celebrate-womens-equality-day.html

As We Celebrate 1920, Work Remains to See More Women in Top Leadership Roles (with Susan Colantuono) (August 2021)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/08/as-we-celebrate-1920-work-remains-to.html

Quotes from Inspiring Women During 2020 (December 2020)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2020/12/2020-was-year-of-women.html

Connect with Erika at these links:

Website: https://erikaandersen.com

Website: https://www.proteus-international.com

Books: https://erikaandersen.com/books

Check out Erika’s previous appearances here on my blog:

FALL BACK TO READING SERIES – Featuring Erika Andersen (October 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/10/fall-back-to-reading-series-featuring_01710409622.html

How Magic and Happiness Impact Leadership (April 2023)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2023/04/how-magic-and-happiness-impact.html

Tips to Become “Change-Capable (May 2022)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2022/05/tips-to-become-change-capable.html

Three Leadership Secrets: Build Consensus, Be Open to Challengers, and Delegate (May 2021)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/05/3-leadership-secrets-build-consensus-be.html

Review of: Leading So People Will Follow by Erika Andersen (October 2019)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2019/10/fall-back-to-reading-with-12-thought.html

Leadership + Strategy = Amazing Employee Experience (November 2018)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2018/11/leadership-strategy-amazing-employee.html

Review of: Be Bad First by Erika Andersen (October 2018)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2018/10/fall-reading-recap-leadership-branding.html

Are You the Type of Manager or Leader YOU Would Follow? (January 2014)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2014/01/are-you-type-of-manager-or-leader-you.html

Want to be Nicknamed Strategy Guru? (July 2011)

https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2011/07/want-to-be-nicknamed-strategy-guru.html 

Notable Deaths in 2023 and Some Personal Branding Tips

While many notable deaths occurred during 2023, we were left with a myriad of personal branding tips. Join me in learning from the legacies of these eight inspiring individuals.

SENATOR DIANNE FEINSTEIN
With an inspiring climb from Stanford University to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to Mayor of San Francisco to United States Senator, Feinstein was the epitome of effective leadership and women's empowerment.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Political service can be an admirable life mission. Embrace it and make positive change.

JIMMY BUFFET
While music critics were never kind to Buffet, his fans embraced his "It's Five O'clock Somewhere" lyrics and beach lifestyle. His evolving brand began in 1985 and today includes restaurants, resorts, clothing, home décor, food, beer, tequila, and even a retirement community. His music was also turned into a musical, "Escape to Margaritaville," which debuted on Broadway in March 2018 and ran for 124 regular performances, followed by a national tour.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: If a brand's or personal brand's message resonates with fans or followers, it doesn't matter if industry critics like it.

TINA TURNER
A singer, songwriter, and actress, Tina Turner was known as the "Queen of Rock 'n Roll." She rose to prominence as the lead singer of the husband-wife duo Ike and Tina Turner before launching a successful career as a solo artist. During the 1980's, she launched "one of the greatest comebacks in music history." Her 1984 multi-platinum album Private Dancer contained the hit song "What's Love Got to Do with It," which won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and became her first and only number-one song on the Billboard Hot 100. At 44, she was the oldest female solo artist to top the Hot 100. In 1994, she began living in Switzerland, and relinquished her American citizenship after obtaining Swiss citizenship in 2013.

Daphne A. Brooks, a scholar of African-American studies, wrote for The Guardian: "Tina Turner merged sound and movement at a critical turning point in rock history, navigating and reflecting back the technological innovations of a new pop-music era in the 1960's and 1970's. She catapulted herself to the forefront of a musical revolution that had long marginalized and overlooked the pioneering contributions of African American women and then remade herself again at an age when most pop musicians were hitting the oldies circuit. Turner's musical character has always been a charged combination of mystery as well as light, melancholy mixed with a ferocious vitality that often flirted with danger."

In October 2022, Mattel released a Barbie Signature Music Series Tina Turner Doll. As Mattel explained, "She went from singing as a young girl in her rural church choir in Nutbush, Tennessee, to becoming the legendary performer hailed as the undisputed “Queen of Rock 'n Roll.” Barbie celebrates the unprecedented music career and journey of Tina Turner. She is a Grammy-winning, chart-topping singer, and one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. The doll, designed by Bill Greening, commemorated her smash hit “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” and the design is inspired by the iconic outfit Tina wore in the music video."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Tina Turner epitomized reinvention. She could have ended her musical career when she divorced Ike Turner. However, she reinvented herself, created a solo career, and became the "Queen of Rock 'n Roll."

LISA MARIE PRESLEY
Daughter of music superstar Elvis Presley, Lisa Marie was his only child. Although she attempted having a singing career and married four times, she never attained the type of star power her father had, but she managed his home, Graceland, and musical legacy with pride and was also a philanthropist who supported many causes during her lifetime.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: One does not have to define his/her/their role in the world by living in someone else's shadow. Brands can, and must, define their own roads to travel.

SHARE THIS: Your personal brand is what makes you unique. It's what sets you apart from others and helps you stand out. ~Jessica Thiefels #personalbranding #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SUZANNE SOMERS
An American actress, author, and businesswoman in the health and wellness industry, Suzanne Somers became famous in the television role of Chrissy Snow on Three's Company (1977–1981) and later as Carol Foster Lambert on Step by Step (1991–1998). She wrote more than 25 books, including two autobiographies, four diet books, and a book of poetry. She was also well known for advertising the ThighMaster, an exercise device.

While her battle for equal pay on Three's Company might have been humiliating, it was also ground-breaking. She said, "Man did I love being Chrissy Snow. I am really proud of creating that dumb blonde because she had a moral code. She was lovable. Most people don't realize that Chrissy Snow, from Three's Company, was the first feminist. I was the first one in television who asked to be paid commensurate with the men because I was on the number one show and had the highest demographics of any woman in television and yet all the men were being paid 10 to 15 times more than me. So my contract was up, I renegotiated and I was fired for asking."

ABC refused to give in to her demands, and the network slowly began nudging Somers out of the show until she was finally fired when her contract ended after the fifth season.

She didn't let television executives set her back for too long, however, and went on to a profitable Las Vegas residency before putting her entire focus toward building a fitness brand centered around one of the world's most coveted pieces of exercise equipment: the ThighMaster. Somers admitted she made almost $300 million from the device alone.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Suzanne Somers was the embodiment of the saying, if you have lemons, make lemonade. She was a pioneer in women's equality and the fight for equal pay for equal work.

CINDY WILLIAMS
Half of a successful television duo during the late 1970's, Cindy Williams' alter ego was Shirley Feeney. The TV show, Laverne and Shirley, was a big hit, however, similar to Suzanne Somers and her role in the TV show Three's Company, Williams did not want to be typecast in future acting roles.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Sometimes, being known as one thing or for one thing can be a positive attribute. Don't knock it.

ROSALYN CARTER
Wife of Jimmy Carter for more than 70 years, she was an American writer, activist, and humanitarian who served as the First Lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. During her decades of public service, she was an advocate for women's rights and mental health. According to Wikipedia, "During her husband's administration, she supported his public policies as well as his social and personal life. To remain fully informed, she sat in on Cabinet meetings at the invitation of the President."

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Rosalyn was supportive to her husband, during their time in the White House and afterward. Support can be very inspiring.

SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR
When Ronald Reagan was running for the Presidency in 1980, he pledged to nominate the first woman to the United States Supreme Court. Once he became President, the time had come. He nominated Sandra Day O'Connor from Arizona, and the rest is history.

PERSONAL BRANDING TIP: Despite the fact that Sandra Day O'Connor was unable to get a law firm job as a lawyer due to her gender following her excellent work at the Stanford Law School (she graduated in the top ten percent of her class), she did not give up. She went to work for the San Mateo County District Attorney's office. She offered to work for no salary and without an office and shared space with a secretary. And then, as the first woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court, she had to deal with chauvinism that few can imagine during her tenure on the Court from 1981 to 2006. O'Connor said that she felt a responsibility to demonstrate women could do the job of justice. She faced some practical concerns, including the lack of a women's restroom near the Courtroom. She referred to herself as FWOTSC, first woman on the Supreme Court. Her sense of purpose, respect for her jobs, and professional demeanor throughout her lifetime led to her incredible successes. Those are qualities any brand can embrace.

After reflecting on this list, I note that more women appeared. Was this intentional, or did more women make an impact during their lifetimes? Perhaps, women are finally getting much deserved recognition for their accomplishments and impact.

What personal branding tips did YOU learn from people we lost during 2023?


Image Credit: Macky Technologies.

Why Mentorship Is Important

Over the past 14 years, thanks to social media, I have had the privilege of meeting inspiring marketing, branding, customer experience, leadership, and gender equality experts. One of these experts is Susan Colantuono, a leadership expert based in Rhode Island. Susan has graciously appeared here on my blog twice over the last few years, and we recently continued our conversation about leadership, specifically about the importance of mentorships. Highlights follow Susan’s bio, and links to previous Q&A’s are provided at the end.

Susan Colantuono is an internationally renowned author, speaker, and mentor/coach. She discovered, developed, and introduced to the world a definition of leadership and four keys that have transformed women’s leadership development and initiatives to close the leadership gender gap – including The Missing 33% of the career success equation for women. Her TED Talk entitled, “The Career Advice You Probably Didn’t Get” has garnered over four million views.

QUESTION: In your book Make the Most of Mentoring, you wrote that “we need to rethink (the concept) of mentoring.” Why?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: I wrote Make the Most of Mentoring as a way to strengthen mentoring programs – especially those designed to help all women advance. I’ve been told that it is hugely valuable for marginalized men as well. There are many reasons why we need to rethink the concept of mentoring, the whole first section of my book covers them, but for now, let me list two:

[1] The importance of mentorship in career progression has been an identified tool for women’s advancement since the 1970s, and yet, since the proliferation of formal programs in the 1980s, these mentoring programs have only marginally moved the needle in terms of women in senior roles.

[2] Initial research into the role of mentoring in the success of executive men focused on the process and relationship, and not on the content. Thus, most mentoring programs do nothing to address The Missing 33%, in other words, the importance of business, strategic, and financial acumen in career advancement.

QUESTION: In your book, you shared a quote from Professor Gale Evans of Georgia Tech: “There’s only one rule that matters, one rule that I have not seen written about in any book, article, or website. That rule is this: Every woman must always play on the women’s team. Why? Because every time any woman succeeds in business, your chances of succeeding in business increase. And every time a woman fails in business, your chances of failure increase.” While true in theory, often women become competitive in the workplace. How can that change to create a women’s team mindset?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: I am a huge advocate for supporting other women, but I think that the expectation to not compete is unattainable. When resources (e.g., promotions, plum assignments) are scarce, everyone competes.

(An aside, why don’t we hear about the problem of men competing? Answer: sexism).

So, my guidance is this, declare what you want, always put your best foot forward when advocating for why you should achieve it, do not denigrate a woman with whom you might be competing, and if another woman gets the position/assignment, support her as best you can.

SHARE THIS: Every woman must always play on the women’s team. ~Gale Evans via Susan Colantuono #WomensTeam #DebbieLaskeysBlog

SHARE THIS: If another woman gets [a desired] position/assignment, support her as best you can. ~Susan Colantuono #GenderEquality #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Before someone enters into a mentoring engagement/relationship, what questions should they ask themselves?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: Key questions for a protege/mentee to ask: What are my goals for this mentoring relationship. In other words, what concrete new skills, knowledge, experience do I want to gain and how can this person be a resource to me? If you can’t answer this question decline mentoring until you can. If you are tapped on the shoulder by a mentor, the question is different. What development needs do you (the mentor) see in me that you’d like us to address? The other absolutely crucial question is this: Am I committed to following through on any agreements we make about things like reading, practice opportunities, scheduled meetings, etc. Again, if your answer is equivocal, decline…for now.

QUESTION: Who do you consider to be the most important mentors in your life, and why?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: My first mentor was Dave Chichester, my first corporate boss. (Yes, bosses can be mentors, mentors can be sponsors, sponsors can be bosses and mentors. Do NOT think of these relationships as either/or relationships, they are a Venn diagram.) He gave me CAKE mentoring. (Helped me develop my Confidence and Encouraged me to take a position I would have NEVER considered.) Another was Kaleel Jamison who also gave me CAKE mentoring. (She helped me develop my Aptitude for facilitation and Konnected me with career resources.)  

QUESTION: Academy Award winning filmmaker/director Steven Spielberg has said, “The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.” What does this quote mean to you?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: To some extent, I agree with Spielberg’s quote. As mentors, we never want to push someone to become a mini-me. However, at the same time, part of mentoring is to help others develop skills that we have, especially business, strategic, and financial acumen. So, I’d say there’s a difference between developing a skill (moving the mentee toward our image) and manifesting that skill in our own unique way (creating themselves).

SHARE THIS: As mentors, we never want to push someone to become a mini-me. ~Susan Colantuono #Mentorship #LeadershipTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

My profound thanks to Susan for returning to my blog and sharing her inspiring thoughts.


Image Credit: Bryan Garces via Unsplash.


Links to previous Q&A’s here on my blog:

Do You Use Your Voice to Lift Up Women Leaders?
December 10, 2022
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2022/12/do-you-use-your-voice-to-lift-up-women.html

As We Celebrate 1920, Work Remains to See More Women in Top Leadership Roles
August 26, 2021 (Women's Equality Day)
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/08/as-we-celebrate-1920-work-remains-to.html

Connect with Susan at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susancolantuono/
Mastadon: @susancolantuono@toot.community
Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_colantuono_the_career_advice_you_probably_didn_t_get

Men’s Role in Gender Equity and Celebrating RBG's Birthday!

 

Why is today special? Today is the birthdate of former Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In her memory, we celebrate her accomplishments and her passion for gender equality advocacy.

According to Kim Elsesser in Forbes, “How did Ruth Bader Ginsburg become such a feminist rock star? Ginsburg learned about gender discrimination firsthand at school and in the workplace. At Harvard Law School, Ginsburg and other female students were questioned by the dean as to why they felt they were entitled to take the spot of an aspiring male lawyer. Ginsburg realized that women could never achieve equality with men if outdated stereotypes were holding them back. Prior to her tenure on the Supreme Court, she challenged law after law where women and men were provided different rights due to gender stereotypes.”

Today is also Equal Pay Day, an annual observance that symbolizes the ongoing issue of pay disparity and the wage gap between men and women. The date itself symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn as much as men during the previous year.

As a member of the Twitterverse for more than 13 years, I always enjoy meeting new people and learning from them. To quote Matthew Kobach (@mkobach), "Twitter is a key that unlocks thousands of doors, some of which you never even knew existed." Recently, I connected with David Smith from Baltimore, Maryland, and invited him to appear here on my Blog in a Q&A discussion about men’s role in promoting gender equality in the workplace, diversity, and leadership. Highlights of our conversation follow a brief introduction.

David Smith, PhD, is co-author of the book, Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in the Workplace and an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. A former Navy pilot, Dr. Smith led diverse organizations of women and men culminating in command of a squadron in combat and flew more than 3,000 hours over 30 years including combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a sociologist, he focuses his research in gender, work, and family issues including allyship, inclusive mentorship, gender bias in performance evaluations, and dual career families. He is the co-author of Athena Rising: How and Why Men Should Mentor Women and numerous journal articles and book chapters that focus on gender and the workplace.

QUESTION: You wrote a book entitled, Good Guys: How Men Can Be Better Allies for Women in The Workplace. Can you please share some key highlights or take-aways you hope readers have?

DAVID SMITH: Our goal for Good Guys is to engage men in doing gender equity work WITH women and develop the skills they need to help create sustainable workplace change. Framing allyship as gender collaboration and partnership helps avoid potential perceptions by men that women need rescuing or that men can do this work without women. Men are an important piece of the gender equity puzzle because they are still the majority in positions of power and influence.

The benefits of men engaging in gender equity work is often overlooked and can be instrumental to their involvement. Men who engage as allies in doing gender equity work have more diverse networks, access to different information, and have better interpersonal skills—more empathy, EQ, humility, and better communication skills that make them better leaders—and better partners and parents! Recent research showed that men who participated in allyship programming (training, education, communities of allies) were more likely to observe and recognize biased behavior and take proactive ally actions as reported by women.

My co-author, Brad Johnson, and I operationalize allyship into three areas of action that are also helpful in understanding where someone is on their allyship journey.

[1] The first is interpersonal allyship and this can be understood as how someone individually holds themselves accountable for how they show up in the workplace. This includes the kind of relationships they have with coworkers to include being collegial, supportive, collaborative, and supporting equity and fairness initiatives. This is the easy part of allyship because you only have to focus on holding yourself accountable for developing your awareness and relationships.

[2] The harder part of allyship where men feel like they are really putting some skin in the game is public allyship—publicly disrupting status quo, biased behaviors and language, and public advocacy and sponsorship. Public allyship requires men to not only hold themselves accountable, but also people on their team, and their leaders.

[3] Finally, as men develop awareness and understanding of how biases operate in everyday practices to create systemic inequities, such as, the gender wage gap or a lack of representation of women in senior leadership positions, they also have an obligation to change those practices to make them more equitable so everyone can thrive.

SHARE THIS: Men are an important piece of the gender equity puzzle because they are still the majority in positions of power and influence. ~@davidgsmithphd #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Susan Colantuono (@SusanColantuono on Twitter) wrote, "If women aren’t proportionately represented throughout your organization, you aren’t facing a women’s issue, you’re facing a talent development issue with business implications." What do you think about that statement?

DAVID SMITH: The outcomes for businesses and teams that have a more diverse and balanced workforce are unquestionable: better places to work, more successful, make better decisions, more innovative, more creative, and more profitable. The business case for gender equity couldn’t be stronger. A lack of representation is a clear indicator that an organization is not achieving its potential. Many organizations recognize the value and importance of creating a sustainable pipeline of talent, but few have also solved for how to retain and advance women as leaders and managers equitably. This will require change to their internal talent development processes. The status quo is not working.

QUESTION: When I was in graduate school in the mid-1990's, one of my tenured professors said to the class, "Women don't belong in grad school. They belong at home in the kitchen" How would you have responded if you’d been in my shoes?

DAVID SMITH: First, I’m sorry you experienced this and unfortunately it was all too common. I still hear these biased and sexist comments today. All too often, when these comments are made, it falls on women to respond despite men being in the room (and many of them recognizing the sexism). Even more challenging, as in your situation in grad school, is the power dynamic involved and the potential negative impact of saying anything.

So, if I were in your shoes as a female grad student, I hope I would have used a Socratic question. For example, “Why do you feel that way”? This can be an effective way of addressing sexism and forcing perpetrators to justify and explain their comments. Often this forces them to see the error in their ways or at least have them think about the impact it had on others. This technique also feels less confrontational and can alleviate some of the concern about backlash.

Having said that, what needed to happen was for an ally and especially a man in this case, to step up and disrupt this sexism. Research shows that men who disrupt are not penalized in the same way as women and in some cases can benefit from being seen as an ally or gender advocate. There are many techniques for disrupting depending on many of the situational and relational factors involved, but unfortunately bystander paralysis keeps most people from doing or saying anything. It is crucial that allies disrupt the status quo of sexism and highlight what many people in the space were thinking or feeling. Actively disrupting can help validate others who were offended and give them the self-confidence to disrupt in the future. Systemic and cultural change demands that all of us disrupt status quo workplace behaviors.

SHARE THIS: Men who disrupt are not penalized in the same way as women and can benefit from being seen as a gender advocate. ~@davidgsmithphd #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Two quotes serve as an introduction to my question. According to Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook: "If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat." And according to Shirley Chisholm: “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair.” Despite recent successes, how can women earn more top leadership positions at the C-Suite table?

DAVID SMITH: There are a lot of systemic practices involved but let’s focus on one that I think is key—sponsorship. It is well-documented that women don’t receive the same amount and type of sponsorship that men receive. One of the programmatic interventions that has proliferated in companies is formal sponsorship programs. Formal programs are helpful in creating intentionality, visibility, and accountability in organizations. Of course, the goal is to eventually transition to making sponsorship equitable for everyone and a part of the organizational culture. But until that day, formal programs help to focus attention on the wealth of talented women at all leadership levels.

While having more women in senior leadership positions is the goal, it’s helpful to simultaneously focus on where we can have the most impact—at the first rung of the managerial/leadership ladder. The McKinsey Women in the Workplace annual studies continue to find that the most significant change in gender balance occurs when we reach the first level of leadership. This varies by industry but is consistently the career point where we find a dramatic decrease in women. If we’re going to create real and sustainable equity in the C-Suite, we need to make sure we are sponsoring and providing stretch opportunities for women into the first managerial/leadership level.

SHARE THIS: If we’re going to create equity in the C-Suite, we need to provide stretch opportunities for women in the first managerial/leadership level. ~@davidgsmithphd #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Amy Diehl (@AmyDiehl on Twitter), a gender equality advocate who we both admire, recently appeared on my blog in a Q&A about leadership, gender bias, and gender equality. When asked which Ruth Bader Ginsburg quote was her favorite, she responded, “This RBG quote is a reminder that women should not be the exception on boards, teams, and leadership: ‘Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn't be that women are the exception.’” Which RBG quote inspires you, and why?

DAVID SMITH: Here’s my favorite RBG quote:
“If you have a caring life partner, you help the other person when that person needs it. I had a life partner who thought my work was as important as his, and I think that made all the difference for me.”

We can’t achieve full gender equity at work until men show up as allies at home. Until men do their fair share of the domestic responsibilities, caregiving, homeschooling, emotional/cognitive labor associated with this unpaid labor, and be fully supportive of their partner’s career, we will continue to endure the painstakingly slow progress that leads to estimates of 200+ years to close the gender wage gap.

The family norm in the US has long been dual-earner or dual-career families, even more so when children are present. As women flocked to the workplace over the past 60+ years, they continued do double duty at home. Yes, men have slightly increased the amount of unpaid work during the same period, but the gap still remains with women doing 1.5 to 3 times what men do at home. Most male executives of Fortune 500 companies have a stay-at-home partner. There has been little pressure for leaders and organizations to change workplace culture or how/when/where we work to create an equitable workplace for men and women. Although the pandemic has certainly refocused this conversation. But where will it go?

The good news is that most fathers (nearly 70%) want to have an egalitarian relationship at home and be equally involved in raising and caring for their children. Yet, half of these fathers are “conflicted” because they are not able to combine work and family equitably because of workplace norms, policies, managerial support, and stigma. If we can change workplaces to acknowledge that we all have caregiving responsibilities, families (yes, even single people provide caregiving), and personal/emotional needs to be able to perform at our best, this may be the next step toward a much brighter future and one that I aspire to.

My thanks to David for sharing his equality, diversity, inclusion, and leadership insights and for appearing here on my Blog.

Image Credit: Ashkan Forouzani via Unsplash.

Connect with David at these links:
Website: www.workplaceallies.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/davidgsmithphd
Twitter: @davidgsmithphd

Read some of David's inspiring posts in Harvard Business Review:

Research: Men Are Worse Allies Than They Think
https://hbr.org/2022/10/research-men-are-worse-allies-than-they-think

Stop Protecting “Good Guys”
https://hbr.org/2022/08/stop-protecting-good-guys

How Men Can Confront Other Men About Sexist Behavior
https://hbr.org/2020/10/how-men-can-confront-other-men-about-sexist-behavior

Men, Stop Calling Yourselves Allies. Act Like One.
https://hbr.org/2022/08/men-stop-calling-yourselves-allies-act-like-one

Read Kim Elsesser’s (@kimelsesser on Twitter) full article in Forbes (referenced in this post’s introduction):
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2020/09/19/ruth-bader-ginsburg-was-a-feminist-rock-star-heres-why/

Do You Use Your Voice to Lift Up Women Leaders?

 

Do you know today’s significance? On this date in 1869, the legislature of the territory of Wyoming passed America’s first woman suffrage law, granting women the right to vote and hold office. In 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state admitted to the Union and became the first state to allow women the right to vote.

To celebrate today’s significance, I’ve invited Susan Colantuono to return to my Blog for a conversation about women leaders, supportive men in the workplace, leadership, and RBG.

But first, a brief introduction…Susan Colantuono is an expert on women's advancement, author, and speaker. She is best known for her TED Talk on the Career Advice You Probably Didn't Get (which has over 4 million views) and her books, “No Ceiling, No Walls” and “Make the Most of Mentoring.” She is the founder and former CEO of Leading Women, a global consulting firm focused on women's advancement. Now, as a co-host of A Career that Soars!, she continues to provide leadership and career development to women around the globe.

QUESTION: You appeared on my blog in a Q&A in August 2021. During our inspiring convo, you said, “Surrounding oneself with smart and capable colleagues is one hallmark of great leaders.” How can new leaders overcome their big egos and embrace this important leadership tip?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: People who are new to leadership positions (not all of whom would fulfill my definition of leadership!) navigate three major transitions.

First from individual contributor to first-line manager. This is the first hurdle when it comes to tapping smart and capable colleagues, because, in most cases, they make this leap because of their excellent professional performance. It’s easy here to not know how to delegate and rely on others because there’s been no experience. And if they don’t learn, they will fail.

By the time a person transitions into the “muddle in the middle,” which can be all positions from manager to senior manager, and involve managing individuals or teams or teams of teams, they have a basic understanding that they will not succeed without engaging the greatness in others.

And at the executive level, when one manages functions and business units, it is impossible to be the only one in the room who knows everything. So, to me, the answer to your question is success on the way up requires the learning of this lesson…and if someone hasn’t learned it due to a huge ego, they will ultimately fail.

TWEET THIS: Surrounding oneself with smart and capable colleagues is one hallmark of great leaders. ~@SusanColantuono #LeadershipTip #EmployeeExperience #DebbieLaskeysBlog

TWEET THIS: At the executive level…it is impossible to be the only one in the room who knows everything. ~@SusanColantuono #Leadership #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: In a recent post on the website www.19thnews.org entitled, “Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff leans in to being a voice for gender equality,” he said, “I found where I can really make a difference is just trying to use my voice to lift women in leadership up.” What are the qualities women should look for in men who can be good mentors and help them to earn promotions and C-Suite roles?

(Read the post here: https://19thnews.org/2022/08/doug-emhoff-second-gentleman-women-gender-equity/)

SUSAN COLANTUONO: I was so happy to read the profile on Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff. The media has pretty much ignored him (as they have the consequential portfolio that VP Kamala Harris is handling). I'd say the two most important things to look for in good mentors (and perhaps sponsors) are:

1. A skill set that matches the woman's development needs especially as it relates to providing mentoring on business, strategic, and financial acumen.
2. A willingness to advance women (past evidence or current interest).

QUESTION: You wrote a memorable book in 2010 entitled, “No Ceiling, No Walls: What women haven't been told about leadership from career-start to the corporate boardroom.” What are five key take-aways you hope readers will have?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: Debbie, thank you for describing No Ceiling, No Walls as memorable. I am constantly touched by women who’ve told me it transformed their careers. The top five takeaways I hope readers have are:

1. Leadership manifests at every level from career-start to the C-Suite.
2. Career advancement rests on the foundation of proven and perceived leadership, which means “using the greatness in you to achieve and sustain extraordinary outcomes by engaging the greatness in others.”
3. There is a missing 33% of the career success equation for women. This translates to the fact that most of us have to get better at developing and/or demonstrating our business, strategic, and financial acumen.
4. The key to demonstrating business, strategic, and financial acumen is learning to use The Language of Power.
5. Using the metaphor of a diamond ring, many women don’t need to polish the diamond, we often need to strengthen its setting. In other words, because women are perceived as great at interpersonal and team skills, it’s a better use of our time to strengthen our business, strategic, and financial acumen rather than polish our interpersonal and team skills.

QUESTION: There is a new role in some C-Suites: Chief Happiness Officer. What do you make of this, and can it, or should it, become standard in all organizations?

(Read the post here: https://www.fastcompany.com/40582655/employers-your-idea-about-employee-happiness-is-all-wrong)

SUSAN COLANTUONO: Fast Company has a pretty good article about the trend to hire Chief Happiness Officers. Here’s what I think, and I mirror some of the points in the article. Employee engagement rests on four key factors: meaningful work, a good manager, respectful colleagues, and equitable pay and benefits.

If the responsibility of the Chief Happiness Officer includes action in these four areas, I think the position has merit. If the company envisions the responsibility as including event planning, foosball tables, and corporate swag, it’s a waste of money.

QUESTION: Lastly, what’s your favorite RBG (former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) quote, and why?

SUSAN COLANTUONO: I so admire Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and one of my favorite t-shirts reads: "VOTE, we’re Ruthless (pun intended). "There are SO many great quotes from her that I’m going to choose two:

“When I'm sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, 'When there are nine,' people are shocked. But there'd been nine men, and nobody's ever raised a question about that.”

“The decision whether or not to bear a child is central to a woman’s life, to her well-being and dignity. It is a decision she must make for herself. When the government controls that decision for her, she is being treated as less than a full adult human responsible for her own choices.”

My profound thanks to Susan for returning to my blog and sharing her inspiring thoughts.

Image Credit: WDCUTAH.org (Women's Democratic Club of Utah).

Connect with Susan at these links:
Susan's website: https://a-career-that-soars.mn.co/landing
Twitter:  @SusanColantuono

Read my first Q&A featuring Susan at this link:
https://www.debbielaskeysblog.com/2021/08/as-we-celebrate-1920-work-remains-to.html

To read more about today’s historical significance, check out this link:
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/wyoming-grants-women-the-vote

Take Flight and Lead!

On this date in history, or HERstory to be more precise, October 23, in the year 1910, Blanche Stuart Scott became American's first woman pilot to make a public flight - in an era when women still could not vote! As the hashtag says, "SheDidThat." This happened 18 years before Amelia Earhart's flight across the Atlantic. After Scott's flying days were over, she became a consultant to the U.S. Air Force Museum, served as a screenwriter for RKO and other movie studios, and was a popular radio personality. A decade after her death in 1980, she was honored by the U.S. Postal Service with an air mail stamp commemorating her aviation achievements.

To quote Matthew Kobach (@mkobach), "Twitter is a key that unlocks thousands of doors, some of which you never even knew existed." As a member of the Twitterverse for 13 years, I always enjoy meeting new people and learning from them. I recently connected with Joni M. Fisher from Florida, and invited her to appear here on my Blog in a Q&A discussion about leadership and women's equality. Highlights of our conversation follow a brief introduction.

Author and journalist Joni M. Fisher is an instrument-rated private pilot who believes flying is the most fun a person can have with their clothes on. She was a staff writer for a Fortune 500 bank and taught at a police academy before devoting herself to writing suspenseful crime novels and reporting for General Aviation News. Her fingerprints are on file with the FBI, and her fourth book in the Compass Crimes series will be published in 2023.

QUESTION: You explained your inspiration about writing about strong women in a post "The Story Behind the Strong Heroine." Can you provide highlights for those who have yet to read the full post?

(Read the full post here: https://jonimfisher.com/the-story-behind-the-strong-heroine/)

JONI M. FISHER: I write suspenseful crime stories featuring role models for women because we need more of them. The difference between the heroines in the books I grew up reading and the heroines I longed for is the difference between the traditional Cinderella story and the 1998 movie Ever After, played by Drew Barrymore. Both portray a young orphan being victimized by greedy relatives, but in the movie version, the heroine rescues herself and the prince.

Women have been culturally groomed to be passive, polite little victims and to settle for less. I grew up questioning authority, rebelling against injustice, and fighting to find my own path instead of trying to fulfill the expectations of others. One of my favorite questions is What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

That bold approach to life appeals to me. We don’t get a do-over, and this life is not a practice run. Memento mori. Remember your death. Make the most of this journey because it will end.

My novels feature women whose lives get overturned by a crime. Their stories show how they fight for justice. Characters overlap from book to book, connecting their stories. The crimes involve murder, kidnapping, the felony murder rule, and embezzlement.

QUESTION: You are a passionate advocate for women in leadership roles, so on a related topic, what is your favorite RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) quote, or in the alternative, other inspiring quotes?
JONI M. FISHER: I don’t have a favorite RBG quote.

But I do have one from the first woman on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor:
"You have a job to do, and it doesn't mean succumbing to somebody's emotional pitch made out on the sidewalk."

As a pilot, I am inspired by Amelia Earhart’s quote on leadership:
“Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done.”

When Amelia and other women pilots wanted to enter a cross-country race, the men refused to allow them. In 1929 Amelia Earhart and her friends created their own cross-country race, which men labeled the “Powder Puff Derby.”

This year, I volunteered to work on the continuation of that race. Now it’s called the Air Race Classic. The oldest racer is in her 90s, and the youngest is seventeen. It’s a 2,500-mile route flown over four days in daylight only. The aircraft are handicapped, so the efficiency of flying is a bigger factor than the speed of the plane.

The racers and the host committees at each route stop rely on sponsors to fund them. It was my job on the start committee to attract media to cover the race. Though my duties put me in a leadership position, I treated it as a position of service. It was a joy to use my journalism experience to promote the racers and the sponsors. After the race, I documented how to identify and notify local media so other committees could repeat our success. In this way, leadership serves to empower others. Like they say in medicine, “Watch one, do one, teach one.”

QUESTION: If you could have dinner with any three people from history or the current era, who would you choose, and why?
JONI M. FISHER: The three people I’d love to dine with are Michelangelo, my grandmother, and Mother Theresa. I believe these three dinner guests would generate lively and wonderful discussions for an evening of a lifetime.
(1) Michelangelo was a thinker, dreamer, and such a creative soul that he saw connections between things others didn’t. He envisioned man in flight long before it became commonplace. He was an artist of vision and beauty.
(2) My grandmother was a loving woman with a history that needs to be told. Her parents were from different tribes (Chickasaw and Blackfeet). They were taken from their tribes to be raised “civilized” by white families. They were not allowed to speak their native languages and were forced to accept the religion of their adopted families. They found each other and fell in love. My great grandfather’s real name was Pierce-Arrow, but it was changed to Pierce. Despite their childhood trauma, my great-grandparents were patient, kind, and generous people who raised their daughter to be the same.
(3) I’d love to meet Mother Theresa because her selflessness inspires me. She was famous for her devotion to helping the poor.

QUESTION: One of my favorite leadership quotes is from human resources expert and Army veteran Ed Wood (@cewood08 on Twitter): "Build such a strong team that no one can tell who the boss is." What does this quote mean to you?
JONI M. FISHER: In my first job out of college, I worked as a staff writer for a Fortune 500 bank in New Orleans. Bev Fortenberry taught me teamwork. The whole team assumed responsibility for the results. We all failed or succeeded together, whether we launched company-wide training on new software or ran the annual stockholder’s meeting.

In preparing for one stockholder’s meeting, we were tasked with writing the CEO’s presentation to the stockholders. This was the year the bank would expand nationwide, but we weren’t even leading in our state. Because it involved writing, everyone turned to me for inspiration, but it was a team effort. Bev told us to make it so memorable and inspirational that people would remember it for years. Oh, and it must be no longer than three minutes. No pressure. Stockholder’s meetings are generally dull events featuring slide after slide of numbers and pie charts.

What we came up with was to dress the CEO like General Patton and project an American flag on the wall behind him. It was a stockholder’s address like none other. His speech about taking on the competition as if we were at war electrified the crowd. The company soon afterward dominated the market in the state. Within a few years, our bank merged with Capital One.

Bev mastered the most challenging role of leadership: to lead by example. She gave us room to go big.

Leadership that is selfless brings out the best in others and creates an atmosphere of joy and energy. It takes time and effort, and sensitivity to coach others to do their best. It takes patience and maturity to nurture someone through failures and mistakes. Like parenting, great leadership leads to excellence and grooms people toward independence. If you can celebrate the success of others, you can lead. When others surpass you, outgrow you, or start their own business based on what they have learned with you, then their success is yours, too. When we empower one another, we make our lives more meaningful.

TWEET THIS: Leadership that is selfless brings out the best in others. ~@JoniMFisher #LeadershipTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

TWEET THIS: When we empower one another, we make our lives more meaningful. ~@JoniMFisher #LeadershipTip #DebbieLaskeysBlog

QUESTION: Another of my favorite leadership quotes is from author and consultant Mark Herbert (@NewParadigmer on Twitter): "Leadership doesn't require you to be the smartest person in the room. It requires you to block and tackle for others." What does this quote mean to you?
JONI M. FISHER: Mike Zidziunas is the director of the largest teen flying club in the world When he and a group of club members flew their Piper Cubs from Lakeland, Florida, to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, it was a huge accomplishment. People weren’t used to seeing teenagers perform such long cross-country flights One of the aircraft developed a problem, which required the engine to be removed and loaded on a truck for repairs. Mike sent the male and female club members to get tools from the airshow administrators. The administrators refused to loan the tools to teenagers because, well, they were teenagers.

Mike marched down to the administration building and invited the good folks there to watch the teens remove the engine and load it on the truck. The students accomplished the task in record time while Mike stood back and explained that the teens regularly repair and build engines. After that, the Lakeland Aero Club members were allowed to check out tools on their own. Mike is the kind of leader who treats students like adults, and they respond by behaving like adults. He blocks and tackles obstacles on behalf of the students so they can get things done.

I believe young people gain arrogance by being told they are wonderful. They gain confidence by accomplishing things, by challenging themselves to achieve higher goals—like flying aircraft--and by doing their best at whatever they do. The Lakeland Aero Club is building aircraft and the next generation of leaders.

TWEET THIS: A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves. ~Eleanor Roosevelt via @JoniMFisher #DebbieLaskeysBlog

Image Caption: 

Joni M. Fisher shares this Cessna 210 with four other pilots. She earned her private pilot's license on June 1, 1996, and her instrument rating on March 23, 2000. Of all the aircraft she's flown, this is her favorite. It's also featured in her first novel, South of Justice.

My thanks to Joni for sharing her amazing leadership insights and for appearing here on my Blog.

Image Credits: Jason Leung via Unsplash; and Joni M. Fisher.

Connect and follow Joni:
Joni's website: www.JoniMFisher.com
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/jonimfisher
Twitter: @JoniMFisher
Instagram: @authorjonimfisher