It’s a jungle gym, not a ladder.
Looking back, it made no sense for my college friends and me to distance ourselves from the hard-won achievements of earlier feminists. We should have cheered their efforts. Instead, we lowered our voices, thinking the battle was over, and with this reticence we hurt ourselves.
Women need to shift from thinking “I’m not ready to do that” to thinking “I want to do that – and I’ll learn by doing it.
What is your biggest problem, and how can I solve it?
As former secretary of state Madeleine Albright once said, “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.
In order to protect ourselves from being disliked, we question our abilities and downplay our achievements, especially in the presence of others. We put ourselves down before others can.
I told the members of the graduating class that they should be ambitious not just in pursuing their dreams but in aspiring to become leaders in their fields.
But knowing that things could be worse should not stop us from trying to make them better.
Conditions for all women will improve when there are more women in leadership roles giving strong and powerful voice to their needs and concerns.
We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.
We can each define ambition and progress for ourselves. The goal is to work toward a world where expectations are not set by the stereotypes that hold us back, but by our personal passion, talents and interests.
If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat! Just get on.
As a man gets more successful, powerful, he is more liked, and as a woman gets more successful, she is less liked, and that’s true by both women and men.
Trying to do it all and expecting that it all can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy.
Being confident and believing in your own self-worth is necessary to achieving your potential.
A woman, if you’re Most Intelligent or Most Likely to Succeed, that’s an embarrassing thing. Or something that’s not considered attractive, and I think that’s what we need to change.
We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.
The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream.
Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression. Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place.
There is no perfect fit when you’re looking for the next big thing to do. You have to take opportunities and make an opportunity fit for you, rather than the other way around. The ability to learn is the most important quality a leader can have.