On Sunday, March 8, I celebrated
International
Women's Day at an art event in Houston. It was
presented by
Dancepatheatre
and it featured both dance and spoken word poetry on the
themes of women, race and diversity.
It was a
particularly poignant evening because it reminded me of how
far we have come on many of these topics, but also how much is
still needed to be done. The two women artists, Sara
Draper and Donna Garrett, whose work was being showcased, had
clearly found their voice on these
topics.
They stopped long ago from biting
their tongues. And they unapologetically shared their
voices.
Their bravery and courage
were appreciated. As a result, the audience was moved
and transformed.
I wasn't alone with my
tears. Many wept.
You see your voice can
be a catalyst for change, healing and transformation.
You have the ability to lead others to a better
future.
Forbes recently
released the top 30 countries that are best for
women. The United States of America wasn't even within
the top 25!
At number
27, the USA was surpassed by The Philippines, Sri Lanka and
Mozambique, just to name a few!
If you
are like me, this news concerned me and quite frankly angered
me. After all, there is no excuse for the U.S.A to rank
so low on this scale. This country was founded on the
basis of diversity and on our freedom of speech to express
this diversity. It has long been revered as a "melting
pot" of acceptance and equality...and while our history has
strayed from this premise over time, it still is unacceptable
to stand at #27.
Too often, we
learn to bite our tongues and not to speak out with our
perspectives, particularly if it is unpopular to do
so.
I didn't always share my voice, in fact, all too often in
my corporate life I thought that biting my tongue
was expected of me. And so, I did it far too
much.
What I didn't realize was that in
doing so, I shortchanged myself; I shortchanged others and my
ability to impact the
business.
During these
difficult times, it seems to me that people are biting their
tongues even more so than ever before.
Ironically, you may believe that it is the way to "be safe"
because you believe that if you rock the boat, or stick your
head out, the ax will fall. And so you "lay low" and you
think that you are far from harm's
way.
But instead, when you bite your
tongue, you don't contribute. When you don't
contribute, you lose your ability to impact the
business. And when you lose your ability to impact the
business, you become redundant and that is one way to
guarantee the ax will fall.
Fortune also recently
announced the top companies for women. Google was
number one for the second year in a row. Why? I
believe it is because Google has created an environment where
people are encouraged to have a unique voice. They
realize how counter-productive it is to have people biting
their tongues.
Google encourages people to
develop and pursue their own projects they see are most
relevant for them and for their business. People love
working for Google because they feel valued and they are
contributing with their unique perspecitves. As a
result, Google wins.
However, during these
difficult times, you may find yourself to be in an environment
where fear and doubt prevail. Fear and doubt keep people
hiding out, afraid to unleash their voices. You may not
be in an environment that outwardly encourages you to express
your perspective, but regardless of what your environment
may be, don't make the mistake and assume that your point of
view is unwanted.
During these tough
times, don't fall into the trap of
buying into the fear and doubt. Be courageous and
unapologetically share your
voice.
Unleashing your voice
isn't the same as complaining, but identifying the issues and
asserting solutions to these concerns for which your unique
point of view can
contribute.
So, during these
difficult times when you feel the urge to go underground;
don't. Instead, do the opposite.
Help transform the environment around you and be a
catalyst for change with your voice. I would love to see
the U.S.A. be number 1 on that list one day. Wouldn't
you?
And by the way, not biting your tongue is one
of the best ways to stay relevant and contribute during these
tough times. Don't you think?
Laura
is a sought-after keynote speaker, award-winning author of
The Connected and
Committed Leader, and business and life coach who has been
featured on the Today Show and Fox News. In addition, her
accomplishments have been highlighted in several business
periodicals including The Long Beach Business Journal, The
Houston Chronicle, Latina Magazine, and Central Valley
Business Times. Her articles on management and leadership are
regularly seen in Leadership Excellence.
Laura can be contacted via her Web site at:
