Businesses and institutions are now valuing Diversity and Inclusion, they know and they want to harness diversity in their teams, and part of that is an increased momentum and striving to have more women in leadership.
At the same time that I am heartened and encouraged by the many conversations that are helping to shift the structural and systemic barriers in our environments that prevent women from advancing, I am also very cognizant that some barriers lie within.
As a Member of Parliament, I advocate and push for progressive workplace practices, caregiver support, and male allyship and engendering care so that women can be unburdened in order to rise up professionally.
At the same time as a coach and working with my clients, I also see that half the battle needs to be won within women themselves, against the psychological barriers and limits that we’ve unconsciously adopted due to patriarchal systems and upbringing.
As a changemaker, I believe that we need to be the change we want to see in this world. For women and anyone aspiring to lead, we need to break that ceiling within ourselves if we wish to succeed in breaking the glass ceiling outside.
This article talks about investing in growing women’s leadership. And it’s true, it’s not about asking women to learn about how to “present themselves” to conform to what bosses and investors see and look for as “leadership traits”, cos those are already colored in a gendered way.
What we need to invest in is to develop women towards finding their Authentic Purpose, and removing their internal barriers, so that they can step into their own as leaders, and be the powerful version of themselves that attracts others to their cause.
In other words, it’s not about gender, it’s about Purpose.
