Still Work to Be Done

This month as I reflect I am encouraged by the progress that women have made and continue to make in the workplace. This month I met Lt Gen Stayce Harris, the highest (ever) ranking African-American female in the Air Force and Carly Fiorina, the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company. I completely enjoyed being in their presence and learning from them. They serve as examples to inspire the rest of us to soar. Their journeys were not without struggle but they persevered and succeeded.

There is still work to be done.

This month I also reflect about two other encounters with people that I know. I had a female friend describe to me a meeting where she was the highest ranking person in the room and no one responded to her when she asked the group a question twice. However, when a male asked the same question a few minutes after she did the second time, he immediately got a response. Also, this month, I found myself recommending to another female that she not be alone in a room with a male peer because he tries to intimidate her. 

It is time for the leaders to rise.

Recently, I had to complete “Bystander” training where the focus was teaching and empowering bystanders how they could respond when they see another Airman entering into a situation where they could become a victim of sexual assault. For the rest of this month and going forward, I would like to implement an additional version of “Bystander Training” where we encourage bystanders to speak up when they see any mistreatment of co-workers. In the original bystander training, we were given techniques so that we could actively or passively defend a fellow Airman. I assert that these same principles could be applied to ensure that everyone is respected at work. I am not saying that assault and disrespect are the same. However, we need to speak up more to change this status quo. I suspect that in most situations someone else is in the room when these things are occurring. We need to foster environments where people feel obligated to take action for Airmen whether inside or outside the workplace so that everyone can soar as high as they want.

In the words of Carly Fiorina, “Challenging the status quo is hard. Leadership is all about challenging the status quo. Change the order of things for the better.”