By Cathy Simpson
Day 5 of the SeeMore.BeMore UP+GO blog campaign and WOW! WOW! WOW! You could spend hours and hours this weekend (and I have) reading about incredible stories of women of all ages on International Women’s Day. It’s mesmerizing. I see nothing but possibility.
With all of this incredible content sharing, what’s really stirring me up is the collective action that is being taken by so many different people and organizations and the economic and community lens that’s being shone on the conversation.
When you reflect on the 2020 campaign theme of #EachForEqual, it is focused on the premise that gender inequality isn’t a women’s issue, but an economic one – as gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive.
I am thinking about the leadership that’s required in our boardrooms, around our government offices, in the classrooms, with lawmakers, and our community centers. Do we have leaders who are doing exactly that – LEADING their people and organizations through this #EachforEqual time for change?
There is this simple approach I take to change that I see playing out in so many of these stories. A dear friend and former T4G colleague, Kathryn Tector (now Senior Vice President, Strategy and Chief Client Officer, Atlantic for NATIONAL, https://www.national.ca/en/our-firm/ ) reminded me often when we were burning the midnight oil on client projects. It was, and I am paraphrasing, that change happens in 4 phases with a series of activities under each one of those important phases to create movement towards the desired outcomes and goals. These phases are Awareness, Education, Inspiration, and Action.
To this day, when I am thinking about a problem I need to solve or a new initiative I want to launch and need to gather collective action, I think in these 4 phases; whether it be in a boardroom or a classroom.
Let’s give it a try.
With this year’s theme, we are talking about equality in many different ways that creates AWARENESS of the problems with inequality. We then move to EDUCATION where we dig into the global issues and challenges and why equality matters. If our audience is with us, we tell more stories and show even more compelling reasons why this is so important to all of us. Through education, we get more information out there so every person can start to form an opinion to make their own decisions. We should be seeing our audience now getting fired up and INSPIRED and ready to go! Then, we share that each of our voices matters and that each of us can do our bit (yes, that’s the ACTION piece, you doing your bit!). We leave you ready to make and action your plan of what YOU WILL DO! You’re acting, sharing, listening, speaking, and leading through the change. You’re deciding what’s right for you to ACT ON! Thus, the beautifully articulated #EACHforEQUAL call to action at an individual level that can grow and grow.
Because we have been celebrating women’s achievement, raising awareness, calling out inequality, and showing how so many have taken action, we are moving EVERYONE along this continuum of realizing that they can bring about CHANGE.
Let’s keep being bold in our leadership to create the economic and social impact.