Sadly, too many people wrongly believe that when females step into their own power and ‘show up’, it is somehow only to challenge men. This is far from true. Rather as we embark on International Women’s Day 2019, I want us to start recognising the contribution of both genders. We need to embrace the good in each gender and shave off those elements of behaviour that have no place in the 21st century.
We must learn to celebrate both the masculine and the feminine. And with this we can begin to understand which aspects to use at any given time - not because one is better than the other - but rather because combining the two can enable truly great things.
Sustaining this will require societal and structural changes. But we will get there. In the meantime, we must look to each other and influence one another to ‘show up’. We can look around the classroom, the office, on the sports field and even on the school run, catch the eye of someone else we recognise as showing up fully and doing things right and celebrate them. We can cheer them on, and in so doing, we will also cheer ourselves on. We can then stand for what we believe in and allow others to hold us accountable for it, as we must also do for them.
Therefore, my vision on International Women’s Day 2019, is to inspire a generation to ignite and sustain the talents of both themselves and those around them, so they can make a positive contribution to the world. We can’t do that when we are distracted with the ‘oughts’ and ‘shoulds’ of our gender (whether male or female). So, let’s embrace what and who we are right now. Let’s show up fully, and influence others to show up too so we can get on with making the difference which our planet is crying out for.