The cat just looked at me as though I’m from Mars.
Wilber eats dinner every single day at 5PM. On the dot. When I served him his evening meal on this first day of daylight savings time, he was utterly confused.
To him, it was still 4PM. He walked away without even a lick of his Fancy Feast!
How’re you adjusting to the time change? Hope you’re easing into it better than Wilber😉
I just returned from New York City where I met with a number of Women on Fire, which is always so uplifting. I love hearing about your hopes and dreams, challenges and struggles, and sharing what is easier to do together than alone.
Lucky me in the middle of this Women on Fire sandwich with style consultant Holly Getty and finanical expert Manisha Thakor, who was featured in last month’s Women on Fire membership CD package. (Photo by Meredith Schoenberger)
While in New York, I also attended a conversation with Gloria Steinem and women who created Makers, the inspired stories of women trailblazers.
(I invite you to check it out. Warning: once you go down the slippery slope of watching and reading about these fascinating women, you can’t stop! My favorite so far is Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run in the Boston Marathon. You can’t believe what happened.)
.
Gloria Steinem, who is 78, in the center of conversation about the 50-year history of the Women’s Movement with producers and subjects in the “Makers” series.
Nearly everywhere I went last week, including in the conversation with Gloria, people were talking about two women in the national news: Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg.
Marissa Mayer, the chief executive officer at Yahoo, made headlines when she announced her company would end the worker-friendly practice of telecommuting.
Her reasoning is that it is bad for a collaborative company to have so many employees losing out on interacting and participating in experiences “that are only possible in our offices.”
Then there is Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook. She has a big week ahead: she is on 60 Minutes, on the cover of Time Magazine (with the sexist perpetuating headline ‘Don’t Hate Her Because She’s Successful’) and on Tuesday her new book is released.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead explores what is keeping women from rising to the highest echelons of power.
“We hold ourselves back, in ways big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in,” she proclaims.
This 43-year-old working mother of two small children believes that women underestimate their abilities and “lean back and sit on the sidelines.” She herself admits to times of fear and holding back, and urges women to “lean in.”
Critics accuse her of making women feel as though failing to get ahead and achieve at the same rate as men is their fault. Others attack her because she is a billionnaire and don’t believe her advice resonates with the average woman.
I am eagerly awaiting my copy of the book. But after reading pre-publication excerpts and interviews, I whole-heartedly support her.
“The time is long overdue to encourage more women to dream the possible dream and encourage more men to support women in the workforce and in the home,” she says.
Well, that is for sure.
Check out this brief video of what she hopes the book will inspire and tell me what you think? You also might watch her famous 2010 TEDx talk about why women are not making it to the top anywhere in the world.
In her ideal scenario, “I believe this world would be a better place if half of our companies and half our countries are run by women and half our homes are run by men.”
When I think of leaning in, I also think how easy it is to tip over.
So, I also applaud Sheryl Sandberg for creating a foundation for Lean In Circles to support “a program for professional women that encourages them to review social-science research, share stories, receive instruction on career development, and “lean in” to (as opposed to opt out of) their careers.”
At Women on Fire, we’ve been doing just that for 10 years. We’ve leaned in, listened, supported, shared information, resources and opportunities, and cheered each other on. We know how it works for you to have your dreams. Now it’s time to spread it to the world!
For a decade Women on Fire have shared and cheered each other on in circles of support. Pictured at a New York City gathering last Friday: Janina Sebesky, Holly Getty, Elle Celeste, me! Miriam Posner, Shannon McCaffery and Meredith Schoenberger.
Marissa Mayer and Sheryl Sandberg are blazing trails by igniting conversations that need to take place about women in the workplace.
Billionnaire or no, it takes a lot of guts to stand up and be criticized for leaning in to speak their truth.
Maybe one of them might even become powerful enough to ban Daylight Savings Time. 😉
