Women be brave and challenge your own status quo

When I look back at history I don’t think there has ever been a time when it’s been easy to be a woman. Even in the bible, Eve gets the blame for bringing sin to Adam. Fast forward to today and we still see mixed messages about how women are valued in our society. The media coverage of movements like #MeToo, #TimesUp, as well as stories about pay disparity and inequity are constant reminders that while we’ve seen change on many fronts, the bitter reality is a lot more needs to be done to raise the grade in how women are paid, treated, and valued in our culture.

I’m sure you have these stats but they’re worth noting:

• In the U.S. women make up 51% of voters, yet women make up 20% or less in the U.S. Congress and Senate
• As of 2016, women now hold a paltry 4.2% of CEO positions in America’s 500 biggest companies
• In 2016, more women earned bachelor’s degrees, yet women still get underpaid for the same job as their male counterpart
• Today, on average, a woman earns 79 cents for every dollar a man earns, and women's median annual earnings are $10,800 less than men's (This amount goes down for women of color)
• One out of every six American women has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape in her lifetime

It’s still a man’s world 

Yes, it’s still very much a man’s world and while these stats illustrate challenges, the answer isn’t to give up. I believe our resolve must be to look at ourselves, the communities we live in, have candid conversations, and then develop actions plans to address inequity.
Ask yourself, what’s the glass ceiling you can crack? How can you be a catalyst for change? How can I change my status quo? Choose optimism and be brave. The change you make can be small and meaningful. It may be a candid conversation with a friend or a speech to a group of young women. Maybe you’re a senior leader and you propose a policy that helps create new opportunities to empower women.

Around our country and the world this work is happening. I’m encouraged by the seeds getting planted. The trees will eventually bare good fruit. Just look at women like Malala Yousafzai, Emma Gonzalez, Tarana Burke, founder of “Me Too,” Danica Roem, the first transgender person to serve as a state legislator in the U.S., and the many others who are proactively challenging and changing the status quo for women in America. 

When we talk about change, we tend to focus on the big issues or problems that need to be addressed. The macro-lens is important, but if you have solved a problem, you know it’s not one, but many tries to find a solution. 

I recently attended the Digital Strategy Innovations Summit and Cathy Ma gave a great presentation on digital strategy and how we should look at our work and measure effectiveness. She reminded the audience of the importance of making small incremental changes towards your goals. While this was in the context of creating a robust digital strategy you can apply her advice to solving any problem. 

There’s power and momentum from the tiny gains we make in our lives and they can push us to continue the hard and difficult work that lies ahead. What can you do today that makes you one percent better tomorrow and the day after and so on?  Yes, it’s still a man’s world, but I challenge you to be brave and start with yourself. Change your status quo.