With Hilary Clinton formally out of the picture in the American Presidency race, I do wonder if I will ever see a woman become an American President albeit rule the world? Whilst numerous commentators speculate whether her defeat was linked to her gender, fuelling the feminist movement, I believe she ran a hard campaign and lost fair and square to a great candidate. Her defeat is really no loss to feminism.
Having worked on two programmes for radio and television all about women it may come as no surprise that I have formed a keen interest in monitoring cases of women trying to reach the highest realms in typically male dominated arenas. As a result, I feel a great sense of hopefulness and optimism which often gets challenged by my male friends who increasingly remind me that it’s a man’s world and the sooner women realise it the better. Why am I still friends with them you may ask? It’s quite simple really. Their audacity simply provides the initiation of a pulse racing debate which I absolutely thrive on. More importantly, how else are stereotypes expected to be demolished?
If Hilary was a man would she have clinched the nomination race? If this is to be believed, then women should attempt to literally fill the shoes of men and thus be more like men in order to create an equal playing field. Margaret Thatcher would therefore be the obvious choice for a role model, having reached the brass ring of being the first ever female British Prime Minister and possessing classic alpha female qualities. Is it imperative therefore to shed feminine tendencies in order to reach the brass ring?
Someone who categorically disagrees that masculine behavior is the only legitimate way in which leadership can be exercised is Dee Dee Myers, former White House press secretary and author of a new book fantastically entitled: “Why Women Should Rule The World.” The book is about what happens when women attempt to take on positions of leadership: The choices they make, the obstacles they face, the rewards and the disappointments — and how they differ from men. She highlights certain internal and external struggles which form the basis of men and women being hard wired differently. But in her view, they are no way intended to fuel the argument that the fairer sex should be exempt from playing a role in resolving the world’s problems. In fact she means quite the opposite.
It is the internal struggle that she mentions that has got my pulse racing recently. Myers is of the view that women do not take ownership of their successes the way that men do and, correspondingly, are less likely to reach for the brass ring. I could not resist thinking about how this applied to me, my female friends and not surprisingly my male friends. The conclusion matched Myers’ statement. The internal struggle cannot be better illustrated than at networking events which are traditionally renound for being the setting of extending contact links by taking ownership of your own success. Having recently been invited to a plethora of networking events, I took a back seat and became a keen observer of male and female engagement in networking. I quickly realized that effective networking is simply an applied strategy. What’s more, it almost pains me to acknowledge that such a strategy was mostly mastered by the men in the room. What men did and the women failed to do was fire a round of name dropping, title announcing and indicating their unique selling point. Although, the men managed to cover more ground I am not sure whether they actually formed meaningful relationships? As a woman that naturally matters. Women took there time. Small talk was often their saviour.
Without trying to sound like a sweeping generalist and too harsh on my sex, we women do not have a clue. Of course there are the exceptions. Pinky Lilani immediately comes to mind. Pinky’s contacts are truly amazing. They extend from royalty, corporate movers and shakers to A-list celebrities. I met her recently and had a lengthy conversation about the internal struggle that has been plaguing my mind. Pinky has spent the past decade tirelessly working to create a much needed space for women to be able to celebrate their successes through networks that rival the traditional all boy’s/man’s club. She places emphasis on the importance of somebody else selling you. This may actually form the basis of a cure for the internal struggle.
Although I may not see a woman ruling the world in my life time, I am certain that this world will no longer be a man’s world. Difference is key and it is what makes this world round. There is no reason why we shouldn’t stand side-by-side with men in resolving the world’s problems and leading the next generation. The only sad aspect to all of this will be no more pulse racing debates.