Leadership Equity: A New Paradigm for Power

Leadership Equity

The way power is playing out right now is just not working.

Our current power structure is based on an old model that was designed to reflect the needs and the desires of just a small representation of humanity. Our view of power has become distorted and unhealthy, and it’s not inclusive of the voices and perspectives in our world today.

What we want is equitable, equal, just, and compassionate power. Not power over, but power with.

What we need is a new system of power that best reflects our shared humanity.

Leadership Equity is personal, community-driven, and systemic power that is used for the service of others and is representative of our diversity.

What Is Leadership Equity?

Similar to financial equity, Leadership Equity is a balance sheet of assets; yet, instead of financial assets, we’re talking about our influential assets: our clout, influence, and position in our communities and the world.

It is the value we’ve built through our work in current leadership platforms.

Yet the definition of equity doesn’t just speak to what we own — it also refers to how we use what we have in this world. The true definition of equity is: “the quality of being fair and impartial.”

True Leadership Equity isn’t used to benefit ourselves and our own communities. Leadership Equity is best used when helping to level the playing field for others.

The three ways in which we can build leadership equity within ourselves and out in the world are within the realms of:

— I
— We
— The World

Our growth, development, and impact in all three dimensions are what creates our Leadership Equity. How we use this equity within these three realms is how we shape our vision of the world.

Leadership Equity in the Realm of I

Everything starts inside the Realm of I.

All ideas start as whispers from our inner voice. These ideas are influenced and birthed by our values and belief systems. What matters most to me?

My truth. My acceptance. Celebration of my stories.

Our individual wholeness is the root of our personal expression in the world. All of us have personal power. Just by being here and taking up space.

For many, drive comes from overcompensation for our not-enoughness. We’re motivated ‘to become’ to hide our fears and vulnerabilities and to un-become what we don’t want the world to see.

But when we source our drive from deep, deep, radical self-acceptance, we can give up the war we have with ourselves, our not-enoughness, and our falling-shorts.

Leadership in the Realm of I starts with self-compassion. When our drive begins with self-compassion instead of a ‘covering-up’, only then can we risk vulnerability, failure, and hard lessons.

Leadership Equity in the Realm of We

We cannot be fully expressed as human beings in isolation. To what end are we doing this work on ourselves if not to take that representation — those ideas, truths, acceptance, and stories — into the world, into our relationships and communities?

When we emerge from our dark night of the soul, we are inspired to lead with the truth of who we are, and to do so with others. Our natural impulse is to share ourselves with others so that we may feel the power of belonging. Belonging is not about fitting in, it’s about fitting with – lending our unique imprint as we fit together with others to make a whole.

We must ask ourselves, “How can we connect with and support others as we are reaching for the stars ourselves?”

But sometimes people are scared of too much ‘We’ space. We’re afraid the people around us will dull our unique gifts or we will go unnoticed by the world.

This can happen – when there’s not enough diversity in the people around us.

If you find yourself scared of ‘We’ space, if you’re finding your gifts dulled within your communities, ask yourself:

Am I swimming in sameness?

While there may be comfort in surrounding yourself in people like yourself, sameness doesn’t have the same chemistry, spark, innovation, and grit as a diverse group.

The antidote to sameness is reaching for differences.

Reach for differences to build teams and communities with as much diversity in terms of:

— Race
— Gender
— Socioeconomic background
— Identity
— Perspective

Encourage new patterns, new solutions, and new thinking, and you’ll foster true innovation.

When we’re in the ‘We’ space, we need to pay attention to our language, set our intention, and welcome the gifts of curiosity. But above all, we need to place checks and balances on ourselves to ensure we’re creating an inclusive environment when we’re in this space.

Leadership Equity in the Realm of the World

I + We = The World

The Realm of the World represents whole-person leadership, relationships, communication, influence, and impact. The I and

The We create The World we live in.

Our old idea that The World just ‘happens’ and we respond to it is just not correct.

All the roads, the buildings, all the systems that support the functioning of our World are all direct results of efforts put forth by ‘The I’ and ‘The We’. Systems produce the results they were designed to produce. If we’re not getting the results we want, we need to change the system.

This is good news because we have more control than we think to make the world around us reflect what we want.

Leadership in the Realm of the World builds systems that reflect what we want and produce the outputs we desire.

Leadership in the Realm of the World means ensuring our systems are set up for inclusion and equality.

We need to evaluate every system (from our talent evaluation meetings to our hiring processes and our political landscape) to ensure they’re inclusive and that all races, genders, cultures, and bodies have a seat at the table.

We all have some level of clout, influence, and position (even if it’s only within our own families and communities). Our Leadership Equity is the value we’ve built up through our work in current leadership platforms, but also the work we have done on ourselves and in our communities.

What are you doing with the Leadership Equity you’ve built?

Leadership Equity Starts with Connection

Leadership Equity should be used to help level the playing field for others.

Doing so not only benefits others — but it benefits all the realms, from The World to The We to The I.

And Leadership Equity starts with connection.

First with the connection to yourself, to your truth, and knowing who you are. Then with your connection to others. Connection to your teams and to your community and connection to the earth, our world — and all of life. Emerging into being is so much more powerful when we do it with others.

When we structure our lives this way, Leadership Equity stops being the topic of conversation and just becomes the natural order of things.

Leadership Equity is the natural order of things.

The Radiant Leader: Authentic Leadership for Influence, Visibility and Fulfillment

As a former woman in technology, Emerging Women CEO Chantal Pierrat understands what it means to be “the only woman in the room.” When she was head of marketing and sales for an OEM product, she often found herself pitching mostly to men in white lab coats.

I know what it’s like to be underrepresented – both in terms of the business side but also on the tech and innovation side. And what that costs us in terms of the depth and the breadth of the solutions that are coming to the table.

Being that fly on the tech wall helped inform me of the challenges women face in the industry. Which is why when I was asked to speak at the Grace Hopper Celebration this year, I already had my topic: authentic leadership.

Why Is Authentic Leadership Important?

Both men and women must be themselves at work to be the best at what they do. But women are often viewed as a problem to be “fixed” for a “better fit” instead of a resource for a new paradigm for leadership.

When we are allowed to be our authentic selves, we radiate confidence and purpose. We come alive through our bodies. And this energetic power is the strongest differentiating quality in any leader.
But when we are pressured to fit in? We suffer from burnout, from fatigue. We don’t see the value in advancing our careers. And we rarely make it to the tech executive level.

The Problem in the Tech Industry: When Women Don’t Feel Valued

Mid-career is an especially challenging time for women. Most of us become discouraged from advancing onward when we:

  • Don’t see any evidence that our skills and contributions are recognized.
  • Cannot see a clear future path when so few women have forged those paths before us.
  • Are encouraged to spend our time fitting-in instead of innovating and streamlining products and services.
  • Suffer from low input, high burnout and lack of self-confidence.
  • Become isolated from those who would advocate for our success and advancement.
  • Have growing family commitments and are expected to “do it all” in order to “have it all.”

Mid-level burnout isn’t only a “tech problem” either. It spans across nearly all industries — from business to finance to farming.

The Solution: Connection-Based Radiant Leadership

Conscious, feminine leadership is changing the world for the better. But we still have a lot of work to do.
If we want to become our authentic selves in the office, we need to first believe we are worthy. Radiant leadership is all about the expression of love, confidence and happiness. But more importantly, the love, confidence and happiness we draw from within.

When we are whole, we are using our hearts, minds, bodies and souls in unison.
The result? Resilient women and men, working together to influence the world through a strong sense of purpose and making an impact on their industry.

When you are connected, you are:

  • Coming alive through your body.
  • Using intentional self-talk to override critical or negative thought patterns.
  • Visualizing your goals and creating your inner reality in the outer world.
  • Listening to your heart, checking in with your body and tuning into your intuition.
  • Following your highest truth (your purpose in life).
  • Connecting with yourself first and using storytelling to connect with others; it’s the specificity that makes all stories universal.
  • Changing hearts and minds with your charisma.

Case Study: HP

How do we know it works? This isn’t our first rodeo. When it comes to radiant leadership, we’re all for conversation — but we’re all in for more action.

In a collaborative partnership with HP delivering programming to 1,000 women (and men), we were able to measure the following in our participants :

  • Increased confidence
  • Higher instances of speaking up
  • More clarity of purpose
  • Reduced attrition
  • Recruitment savings
  • Increased engagement
  • Higher rates of advancement

When we support women, everyone enters a greater position of power. Everyone becomes free to innovate and create. We can all benefit from radiant leadership — on personal to societal levels.

How could radiant leadership change your industry? What could you build or streamline if you were fully supported? For more information, contact Emerging Women at [email protected].

What is Unconscious Bias?

We live in a world where our minds constantly process information — in fact, it’s probably happening to you right now! How many of you have multiple tabs open, are reading this in the middle of writing an email or are waiting for your child to put their pajamas on so you can tuck them in?

We do A LOT without being fully and consciously aware. The world that we live in is a fast one — and when we’re operating at full speed,unconscious biases flood our thinking and interactions, influencing the ways we participate in the workplace, our social groups and elsewhere.

Man or woman, young or old, affluent or lower class, we all have unconscious bias. It doesn’t make us bad or evil, it simply makes us human. We’re taught to trust our instincts, but sometimes in doing so, we take shortcuts and the trajectory of our decision making and our thought patterns end up (mis)judging people.

Unconscious biases are formulated and reinforced by the multitude of facets that make up our cultural norms, our personal experiences and our environments. But it’s time to lift the veil.

Leading social justice scholars believe that unconscious bias can lead to gender discrimination and negative racial stereotyping, prompting discriminatory attitudes and actions towards women and people of color. So they, too, are working alongside corporations and entities in addressing unconscious bias to ensure it doesn’t undermine daily operations, strategic planning, hiring and promotions.

Google is talking about it. Geena Davis is talking about it. It’s a significant topic, and we want to start a discourse with our community on it. We will continue to unpack unconscious bias, and will be taking the topic all the way to Emerging Women Live, October 8-11, in San Francisco, where Rosalyn Taylor O’Neal will be discussing it alongside Erica Fox and more.

To get a head start, check out this video: Making the Unconscious Conscious. And let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Why you can’t afford to miss Emerging Women Live 2015

“How can we go to this? Women just like us! This needs to happen!!!”

That was the commentary I sent, along with the link to register for Emerging Women Live 2014, to my buddy Nat on April 5th last year.

Little did I know, this was the start of a journey that would change everything…

(This is a picture taken on my iPhone, when Nat and I accosted Danielle LaPorte in the lobby at EWLive14 to tell her that we came all the way from Vancouver – where she also lives – to see her in New York City.)

And I almost didn’t buy my ticket.

In the months leading up to the Early Bird registration deadline, I went through a huge personal shift.

That July, I walked away from a toxic business partnership that was supposed to have been my solid plan after leaving my 6-figure corporate job in December 2013. I had no income and only a seedling idea for a business called “Secondhand Therapy.”

Paying for my ticket to Emerging Women Live was terrifying. I had to take money out of my retirement savings to pay for it. I kept worrying that I couldn’t afford the conference and the trip.

Thankfully, I listened to that tiny whisper inside of me that said I should just go.

My weekend MBA in NYC.

It is almost impossible to capture the lightening bolt that hit my soul during the four days I immersed myself in the Emerging Women Live experience. I have since joked that I learned enough to qualify for an MBA during that long weekend.

I sat on the edge of my seat as Brené Brown said the world needed more “badassery” and challenged us to discover what we needed to give ourselves permission to do and be.

Right then and there, I gave myself permission to be “little kid” excited, make new friends and play Show & Tell with other entrepreneurs. I still write myself new permission slips when I am scared.

Over the next few days, I was overwhelmed by the wisdom from women who had learned from their battle scars.

I learned how to “snatch back my dignity” (Wokie Nwabueze), to create my own “I have to’s” list (Arianna Huffington), to play bigger and “share what I already know” (Tara Mohr), to “know the season I am in” (Kris Carr), and to trust that the NO’s I say will be the key to my success (the inimitable Danielle LaPorte).

In the midst of all this was this woman, Chantal Pierrat. As Chantal introduced various speakers, she shared parts of her own story. I was in awe of how she created this Emerging Women Live experience through her passion, determination and her belief that we must surround ourselves with incredible women.

The new friends.

Although I came to NYC with my dear friend Nat, I was excited about the opportunity to meet new women who were on similar journeys.

During the Power Circles that kicked off the conference, I met Katy, who just two weeks ago told me that it was time to enjoy a new phase in my business because of what I had accomplished. She insisted that I pitch this blog idea to the Emerging Women team – and it worked!

I also met Chelsea, who was also on the verge of “going live” with her business. We had regular check-in calls after the conference to encourage each other to take brave steps.

During dinner on Friday, I met Dawn. I ended up having to take my glasses off because I was sobbing as Dawn shared how her husband had passed away a month prior, and her brave next step was to head to this conference. For the record, I don’t cry in public, but this weekend changed that permanently.

Dawn is a kindred spirit who has brought me light and encouragement and joy in the most unexpected ways. I feel as if we have known each other for decades.

And there were so many other smaller interactions with like-minded women who left their fingerprints on my life…

The after-math.

Simply put: I became a woman who stepped fully into her calling.

Within weeks of the conference, I was published in both The Huffington Post and Tiny Buddha, a self-improvement blog with 1.5 million followers.

I used my new status as “Huffington Post contributor” to start a series of interviews with inspiring authors such as Gail Larsen (speaking coach for Danielle LaPorte and Kris Carr) and Shasta Nelson.

I went on to secure several speaking engagements, appear on a couple of podcasts, become an official blogger for my local TEDx event, contribute to the Tiny Buddha book being published by Harper Collins in Spring 2016, and write bi-weekly for Vancouver’s largest blog, Vancity Buzz.

I built and launched my own website, and hustled to complete an 8 module “Introducing You” eCourse. I developed a workshop called “The Seduction of Stress,” which I presented to 200 women this past May, and was recently booked to transform the presentation into a full day workshop this coming October.

My email list had 60 people on it when I showed up at Emerging Women Live 2014. It now has over 1600 subscribers on it, without having to spend any money on advertising.

None of this was due to extraordinary talent or connections or luck. It was a direct result of putting into action everything I learned at the Emerging Women Live conference.

I decided to be brave and hustle and pitch and trust and relax, and most importantly be the woman I want to be.

Reflecting back.

“What if we had not gone to EWLive14? It scares me to think of how small our lives would be,” I recently observed during happy hour with my buddy Nat.

It is frightening to think how close I came to deciding I couldn’t afford to attend.

I would be a shadow of myself if it weren’t for those four days.

I wouldn’t have known what I was capable of. I wouldn’t have connected with the women who are now my biggest cheerleaders.

Am I going to Emerging Women Live 2015? You bet!

I couldn’t risk missing out on another life-changing weekend.

How about you? What impact did EWLive have on your life? Please share with us in the comments below…