Lead-HER-Ship

Posts Tagged ‘women leaders’

It is very easy to find biographies and pictures of famous women who were in politics or who are celebrities but can be difficult to dig and find information on lesser know, but every bit as important, women from around the world.  Creative Quotations has taken the lead and created a list of Creative Women in many different professions including photography, composers, poets, etc.  This is a lovely list.  Take a look at Creative Quotations.

March is National Women’s History month. Known and unknown women have spoken up and out for their families, their communities, and their world. We are at a tipping point now where uncivil discourse, name calling, and a general disregard for women is growing.We despair that government will move forward in any kind of meaningful way to get us out of the economic whirlpool and we watch programs being cut for children and the elderly while a convoluted tax code gives breaks to people who need it least.

According to Vladas Griskevicius**, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Minnesota McKnight Land-Grant Professor, in experiments when men feel there are lots of other men around, they tend to pose more, they tend to talk tough, they become shortsighted, they take bigger bets.  Think of the stalemates at the national budget hearings.  Does any of that sound familiar? What is  the percentage of men in the U.S. Congress? Answer :83%

Is there any kind of answer?  Get more women from either party in Congress. Watch this video:  http://www.winwithwomen2012.com/womans-voice

** By the way, Vladas has some pretty high credentials. He has an extensive background in psychology and evolutionary theory.. His work has been published in top marketing and psychology journals, and has been awarded honors by the Society for Consumer Psychology and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. His research has been featured in the Discovery Channel, Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC News, FOX News, CNN, and TIME magazine. Griskevicius recently received several teaching honors and two major grants from the National Science Foundation.
.

Dateline: Washington DC, March 4 2012

Two years ago, March 9, I stood at the base of the swooping spires of the Air Force Memorial and sobbed as the screaming jets flew over in the missing (wo)man formation.  A lone voice sang the national anthem and one-by-one, 38 roses were laid in the center of the memorial.  The tribute was the first ever for 38 WWII Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) who died serving their country in that war.

They would never know that the next day, March 10, I would join my siblings, representing our Mother, for the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to the 1074 women who collectively flew 60 million air miles domestic wartime duty.  The 38 women would never know that once disbanded in December 1944, women would not be allowed in the cockpits of military plans until the late 70s.

The WASP defied convention, believing that it was not gender but rather their service, skill and dedication that would make a difference to their country.

And it did.

Today I come to Washington, DC to address the 25th Annual Sea Service Leadership Association Women’s Leadership Symposium. It’s the largest gathering in the United States of women in uniform from all branches.

Like their sisters, the WASP, all these women come to support each other in the recognition of the worthiness of their work and the determination to defy conventional thought and bias.  Through the power of the collective, individuals make history:

- Army Lt. General Ann Dunwoody becomes the first woman promoted to four-star  in 2008.

- First Lady Michelle Obama christened the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton in 2010, named in honor of Captain Dorothy Stratton, Director of the SPARS during WWII.

- In 2011, Lt. General Patricia D. becomes the first woman and nurse to be appointed as the 43^rd Army Surgeon General.

- Lt. Col Nicole Malachowski, the first female Thunderbird pilot, now commands the 333^rd Fighter Squadron at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.

History is made by women and men who are willing to step forward and make a difference in their corner of the world. Because the military has been such a dominant male bastion, the rise of women to greater roles and responsibilities serves as a hallmark to possibilities.   Join me in celebrating the contribution of women from the past as we look forward to what women can accomplish in the future.