Women and the Power of We

Asking the question: Where are the women interested in the 'Power of We'? generated some activity during April and May. Reviewing the activity, I think I can summarize it as follows:

We heard from Mary Schmidt that the subject of the posting on this blog will matter in order to draw women into the conversation. Shorter posts may make a difference over longer posts. By being shorter, it allows for more room for others to join in as the conversation is being started and not completed all at once.

We heard from Ronni Bennett. Ronni told us that business is not a democracy. Leaders need to take charge, to set the agenda and while they can allow for input, need to make a decision.

We heard from Andrea Learned that people connections matter. She as an example, will connect with the person first, then because of the personal connection become involved if the subject is one she is interested in.

We heard from Jodee Bock that women do take time to respond and that we need to spread the Synergy link around to make other more aware of it. This will be a viral activity. As we get more people involved (by reaching out to them to make the personal connection) they can help to spread the link.

We heard from Yvonne Divita that women are all about 'we'. When did a women do something alone? Actually, women do quite a bit alone. Women are more likely to do something alone if they have a support group available. They are not afraid of taking charge. They are not afraid of leading.

We heard from Rosa "with blogging, you can just skip ahead to the good part, just getting the job done on your terms within your own circle of influence, pushing your circle bigger at every opportunity, without ever wavering about your own sense of ethics, integrity, and personal truth."

Felix let us know "It was Jacques Lacan who interpreted communication as the process leading from wandering words to an open confession." I think this is a wonderful concept. The ideas become words, sharing the words makes a conversation, the conversations develop and lead to an open confession.

Going back to Dr Judie Pairan who commented on the first posting, she said that women are there but women are busy doing things. I can accept that. It will also help me tie things together.

Because women are busy, we need to reach out and make the connection. Having made the connection they will get involved if we keep the posts short rather than long. Shorter posts will let them digest it more quickly and leave them room to comment to fill out the conversation. We will need to be mindful of the subject matter. If we keep it more personal, more story, less jargon, we are likely to get more involvement.

We just can not build the Synergy blog and expect the women to (1) find us and (2) participate. We will need to reach out and invite them in.

Thanks to all who commented. To Phil and Trevor for your interview postings! And to all the women who participated.

Will this close the topic? For now perhaps, but I am not sure we will ever complete the discussion. The dialog needs to remain alive. It is not a 'male versus female' world or an 'us versus them' world. We need to be respectful of each other, to help each other to grow and develop. We can and need to do this together!

As Lja1228 wrote in her comment on the initial posting:

And finally, WE will look back. On all that WE have done, those WE have helped, the relationships WE have nurtured, the growth WE have inspired ... and WE will say, "What's next?"

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