4 Inspiring and Empowering Women Leader Quotes
Growing up, I had opportunities to witness the power of female leaders, whether was it from school, extra-curricular activities, or even externally. Also coming from an all-girls school of a decade, I never understood the “male dominated society” until I was much older. I’ve put the keywords in quotations simply because as the world progresses, we have seen a gradual shift towards equality and female voices being heard much more than the previous generation. Yet, we know that there is so much more to be done, and as I reflected on my own leadership journey, I took some time to revisit some of the inspirational people and quotes that have guided and served as pertinent reminders when things get tough (and they always will!).
"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard." - Malala Yousafzai
Being the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate at 17, she has paved the way for females to get educated. Truly inspirational as a young female advocate of her time and my key takeaway from this was that often enough, we take things for granted and do not fight harder for things that truly make sense. Putting this into a corporate setting, the loudest voice tends to win. But why? The aim shouldn’t simply be ‘to win’, but it should be tailored towards ensuring we’re doing the right thing for the people, or the customers for that matter. Or at times, people with opinions but are intimidated by the ‘noise’ tend to lose out simply because. And hence, it’s on the leader to ensure that he/she listens, appreciates, and provide the necessary feedback and support for each member.
"You can’t please everyone, and you can’t make everyone like you." - Katie Couric
Being an award-winning journalist, mentioned in Television Hall of Fame, a documentary filmmaker, best-selling author, and founder of her own media publication, she’s someone that I’ve followed for awhile because of her sheer passion in so many different areas. The never ending hustle and bustle through her career has been simply aspirational to many, and one of the key learnings from her was that if we please everyone, we please no one. Being a people-pleaser will only get you this far, but to break through the clutter, you have to make a stand and make decisions, and sometimes this may not sit well with everyone. Yet, the trick is doing it smartly and humanely without being an a**hole (I’m sure we’ve all been through situations like this!). How does one do it? Empathy. Again, it’s all about not being a stickler for being the nicest, but don’t simply become an a* *hole because you want to make a stand.
"We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions, that we’ll screw up royally sometimes—understanding that failure is not the opposite of success, it’s part of success." - Arianna Huffington
Founder and CEO of Thrive Global, she’s no doubt one of the greatest women voices and influential people in the world. But this quote particularly stuck with me because of the nature of my current work. We’re not going to always succeed, but if we don’t even step out of our comfort zones to try, we’re never getting to where we want to be. And this goes back to being uncomfortable every single time you feel a plateau, because that will push you again, make you fail, reflect, and try again. That is what success looks like - to me at least. Not money, not fame, but continuous growth and learning in things that you like/want to become, because that will lead you to a natural growth path for money or fame for that matter.
"Success is not about how much money you make; it's about the difference you make in people's lives." - Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama needs no introduction for sure, and this quote nicely flows from the previous commentary simply because it’s something I truly stand by as well. As with many encounters in our lives, we’re not going to remember ‘how much revenue you brought in’, but what you’re going to remember are the memories and the impact that someone has made on your own personal growth. That being said, targets are targets and they are very much integral in every corporate success metric, but that’s not just it. Many parallel attributing factors can lead to that eventual ultimate corporate goal, such as mentoring and grooming potential talent, taking time to actually understand individuals’ goals, figuring out best path for team members, unblocking someone’s struggle..the list goes on. The overarching point is that I’m sure struggles will always be imminent in every aspect of our lives (corporate or personal), how do you make it better for yourself and the people around you?
Of course, these are simply nuggets and thought-triggering words that came from somewhat famous people, but I do believe that each and everyone of us can make that small difference to someone else’s growth by simply adopting empathy and awareness around us.