Women's Leadership Network:
Our moment. Our turn. Our rules.
By Fawn Germer
Best-selling Author, Co-host of the Hard Won Wisdom Podcast
It is easy to be cynical about what women are accomplishing today —or jubilant. Your choice.
After all of our hard work, we only have 30 women CEOS in the Fortune 500. What? Thirty out of 500? Overall, women held 23% of the top positions in more than 1100 corporations according to a 2020 Mercer Study.
And we are 51 percent of the population!
That’s infuriating. But instead of getting angry about it, let’s take a minute to celebrate how far we have come.
Not that long ago, women were banned from the Harvard Law School Library because we might distract men from their studies. We couldn’t get credit in our own names. Employers fired us if we got pregnant, or didn’t hire us because we might conceive. We were excluded from jury duty because, apparently, our opinion didn’t count. There were male bosses who freely demanded sex from the women who worked for them—without consequence.
It wasn’t so long ago that classified ads used to be split in half, with one set of jobs—the good ones—for men, and the rest for women. It was legal to pay men more because, well, just because.
Our history inspires me because our gains were the result of a brilliant, deliberate campaign for equality that began with the most crucial battle—the fight for the right to vote. Ninety years ago, we couldn’t even vote! But our foremothers knew that, if we could vote, we could make change. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Women’s Liberation Movement and the National Organization for Women executed a strategy that made discriminatory laws fall like dominoes. Reading that history is so exciting and inspiring. The women who are now in their fifties, sixties and seventies fought those battles—for us. We have a legacy to protect—and create.
That’s why I love what is going on with the Women’s Leadership Network and the Hard Won Wisdom Podcast. We are bringing great women together to share what they learned the hard way. Some women know innately what it takes to break through in difficult environments. They know how to use their strength without being punished for it. They know how to fly above the politics and build teams that perform. They know how to bet on themselves and charge ahead when it looks like there is no hope. They know how to listen to themselves instead of naysayers.
It doesn’t come so naturally to all of us. That doesn’t mean the rest of us are less able or less deserving—it means we need a little guidance so we can get our chance to prove our mettle.
You are their legacy. What you do with what they teach you here and on the podcast will play out over years and even decades. Just don’t do it alone. Remember the women coming up behind you, and help them along. The more success you create for others, the more you will succeed for yourself.
Will our work here create one more Fortune 500 CEO? A podcast won’t do that. But a movement to continue to share and reveal and help and mentor will create one, then two, then a dozen, then a hundred.
It’s our moment. Our turn. Our rules.
If one woman gets over the wall, then brings two more, who each bring two more… You get the point. The world is ours.
Something big has been missing.
By Michelle Brigman
Corporate innovator, Co-host of the Hard Won Wisdom Podcast
I’ve had my moments.
I’ve faced off with the blocker boss, which left me nowhere to go for support. I’ve had the year-end performance feedback that accused me of being too ambitious with my ideas and was told to make peace with the status quo. I have faced the judgment of other moms when I prioritized my career over the PTA. When I looked at other women working around me, I realized so many of them faced the same challenges and struggles. We all needed more than a Newsweek cover telling us how far we were coming. We needed real information and tactics that worked, but we also needed each other – on a far deeper level.
Women value effective business actions and outcomes. We create space for people to thrive by bringing their best selves forward. Corporate leaders speak about diversity and even go so far as to develop quotas and make noise telling ther people that they really care. But, those efforts are falling short with only one in four executive leaders being women. Even with this commitment and activity, it’s hard to not to feel discouraged reading the news that 3 million women have recently dropped out of the labor force with predictions of even more.
As someone still in the corporate world dealing with challenges with career and family, I get what’s going. Oh, do I ever.
Reality is that more and more women are faced with burnout, depression, and family strain. We are frustrated, and this frustration is causing us to push back against the norms, expecting more progress. This frustration is also a call to action fueling determination and purpose, awakening bystanders and turning them into players who are hungry to win. We know to win, we need experienced leaders and coaches, a committed pipeline of players, supportive fans, and a solid game plan. That is why I am so excited about The Hard-Won Wisdom podcast and Women’s Leadership Network. This is what’s been missing for way too long.
There are two games we need to be proficient in: the one that is played today and the one we must create for a better tomorrow. WLN has pulled together a team of experts in today’s game. They are the trailblazers who successfully broke through and began opening more doors for other women. They are my sheroes and heroes because they have lived it and continue to serve as powerful change agents. They are also the trusted voices who are helping to influence those in power positions, showing the missed business and culture opportunities in the existing rules and structures. Knowledge is power and these revered trailblazers are bringing their knowledge to you as a part of the WLN team..
WLN is also cultivating a place for today’s players, eager to redefine the rules and structures, to create a new and better game. Through collaboration and exploration, we are redefining what good looks like, establishing the right operational programs and metrics to educate and help people and companies to act on the things that will lead us to that new vision.
We are so ready to mentor, coach, cheer and teach you. But we also need your voice. You are the today, tomorrow – and the future of all the potential that exists, but has yet to manifest. Thank you for joining our tribe.
