Can Women Get Along?

As part of my work, I teach executive presence classes for women. In February, I had four bright and engaged women in my class. I’d like to think that our experience could be representative of women as a collective all over the world. These four women were successful, smart, and periodically struggling in male dominated work settings. As many women have found, having our voices heard and our ideas carried to fruition can sometimes be a frustrating and discouraging task.

When these four women came together, they immediately took down their walls and shared their own worries and vulnerabilities. In doing so, they opened the door for further discussions and support from each other. Getting vulnerable with each other can feel scary, especially if ultimately we are going to be competing with each other for those few “token” positions for women that many companies offer. Yet by sharing their fears, each of these women said that they felt instantly better and less alone to know that others were struggling with the same issues. 

They utilized our class time to challenge themselves to speak up, give presentations to each other, and share their elevator speech and more personal stories about themselves. Within that sharing, they gave each other honest and open feedback, which allowed them to learn how to receive and give feedback in both productive and compassionate ways. These women were natural connectors and realized that they hadn’t been sharing their strengths with others for fear of being seen as arrogant or lacking in humility.

Gaining Strength and Unity Through Vulnerability

When women are vulnerable and strong, we can not only get along, but we can support each other. Owning our strengths and our concerns with each other taps into our natural ability to connect and nurture others. It’s time for women to bring those qualities to the work force and demonstrate how those qualities make for excellent leaders. Fighting each other will never be the way to succeed. We will either do it together or we won’t do it. 

Women, we can support each other if we allow ourselves to be both vulnerable and strong. Fighting each other will never be the way to succeed. We must do it together or we won’t do it at all. #women #leadership #gendergap #vulnerability Click To Tweet

Interestingly enough, that was the same week as the Super Bowl and all of the talk and opinions about JLo and Shakira’s half time performance. Not surprisingly, the four women with me that week all agreed that we were both jealous and impressed with the courage, talent, and confidence of JLo and Shakira. We agreed that maybe we wouldn’t be comfortable in those outfits or with those dance moves, but we could certainly support women who do things differently than us and outside of our own comfort zones. 

When women unite, magic happens and the world is a far better place for it Sometimes it feels as if outsiders are trying to pit us against each other. When we stay strong and honest with each other and work to support each other, nothing will get in our way. 

Love,

Lisa Kaplin Psy. D. PCC