Fired Up from SHE Summit? Here are 10 Things You Can Do
Rhea Beddoe, Lex Schroeder, and I had the pleasure of participating in SHE Summit earlier this month in New York. After two inspiring days, more than anything else we heard people saying they wanted help on what to do after the event.
In the spirit of what we at Take The Lead call #powerTO, and with thanks to the SHE Summit team, here are 10 things YOU can DO NOW to act on your inspiration:
Make dates with five people you connected with at S.H.E. Summit that you want to follow up with and follow up! There’s no science to it. Be yourself.
Make an intention to collaborate with at least one person you met. Set an agenda for your meeting and agree on something to do.
Grow the movement for women’s equality and gender parity in leadership by asking who wasn’t in the room at SHE Summit. Who can you share information with, invite to attend with you next year, or sponsor to attend?
“Choose a movement and get involved” as Claudia Chan encouraged us all in her opening keynote. Once you know what issue matters most to you (or where you can best help), find the organization that does something about it and get behind it.
Be a sister and choose to collaborate rather than compete with like-minded individuals and organizations! Expand the leadership pie.
Take Erin Vilardi’s advice and tell a woman you think should run for office that she should run! (Note: sometimes that woman is you). Get help at http://voterunlead.org
Advocate for yourself! Tell one senior leader at work about your good work. Leaders like Marlene Gordon of Bacardi and Lisa Gersh of GOOP spoke candidly at SHE Summit about how no one is going to promote you for doing your job well or offer you a promotion or a raise purely based on merit. Make a point to tell senior level ally at work about the work you do – either a project you’ve already done that you’re proud of or a passion project you’d like their support on.
Write an op-ed and publish it in the widest circulation outlet you can get Need help? Take a workshop with the Op-Ed Project. Pitch a piece or publish a blog. Whatever you do, use your voice and be a thought leader.
Use your #powerTO. There was a ton of talk about “women’s empowerment” at SHE Summit. One of the best ways to get going is to entertain the idea that you already have power. Need help figuring out and using the power you already have? Work with us.
Whatever you are inspired to do, create an intention that is bigger and bolder than you ever imagined. Then find your collaborators and go do it.
It’s great to be inspired, but the purpose of inspiration is action. What action items would you add to the list? What actions have you taken? Let us know in the comments!
About the Author
Gloria Feldt, Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead, is the author of No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power. She teaches "Women, Power, and Leadership" at Arizona State University and was named to Vanity Fair's Top 200 women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers.