So, women, what did you think of Sarah Palin's first interview? Today's buzz is all about whether Charlie Gibson was too tough on her or not. What do the pundits think we're supposed to be, whiny marshmallow chicks who can't hold our own in high positions?
Here's my Victorious Woman perspective - NO!
Sarah Palin is running for the second highest office in the US. Most of us know little about her and want to know who she is. Journalists should ask tough questions, to Palin...and all the candidates. You can't run for the highest offices and expect a pass because of gender...or race.
And therein lies the problem, as I see it. Barack Obama wasn't vetted much more than Palin before he stepped onto the national stage. When people wanted to know more, the press (who we should be able to trust to be unbiased) went crazy. Media coverage became so obviously Obama-d that (1) the Campbell Brown-hosted debate was parodied on Saturday Night Live (check YouTube) and even (2) the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, Ed Rendell, said the Obama coverage was "embarrassing" and that "certain media outlets were openly partisan, had really bought into Barack Obama as a savior."
Clearly, a real journalist who is doing her/his job, should be asking questions that show us a candidate's character. We all know their canned party line - no matter which party they are. It's the hard questions that show us who the candidate really is.
To all of you who embrace the Victorious Woman in you, and who want the best for all of us, here's my advice for the next two months:
1. Learn everything you can about the candidates. Look at their records. How have they voted and what have they done? Get online and get facts - not some writer's or commentator's opinion. Even if you surf around the political net for just 10-15 minutes a day, you can learn some interesting facts, instead of getting stuck with some cherry-picked soundbites in an ad.
2. Look for the candidate's congruence? In other words, do their current behaviors and history match their past ones?
3. When you hear a candidate speak, listen for their attitudes and beliefs. Find the person behind the words. Why? Because, when elected, that's who you'll see in the White House. When the president and vice-president are in office, they are under extreme stress. When you and I are under stress, we revert to our core values and character. So do they...and that's what you want to watch for in this election.
4. Be wary of preferential treatment, whether it's NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, FOX, NY Times, Huffington Post, Bill O'Reilly...anyplace. If a journalist only gives a candidate softballs, we simply get to know a bunch of words. We don't get to know them.
To my American readers, when you vote in November - and voting is your sacred right - make sure you are voting for the candidate who most aligns with your values and vision.
In victory,
Annmarie
Showing posts with label Role Models. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Role Models. Show all posts
Friday, September 12, 2008
Friday, June 6, 2008
Who Says Women Are Too Catty to Work Together???
I don’t usually blog about my clients, but I’m making an exception today. The client I'm commending is the Space Coast Chapter of FEW (Federally Employed Women). This group of NASA women usually host an annual one-day local conference for their membership. This year, at the same time, they also hosted the FEW Southeast Region’s conference as well. For both conferences, I presented my mentoring workshop, Somebody’s in My Corner: Mentoring Strategies for Women.
The women of the Space Coast Chapter of FEW demonstrated everything that is good about a high-functioning team. Because they did, I think they are wonderful role models for other groups of women. Here are the characteristics they - and every truly good team - demonstrates:
1 – Getting the Job Done
Hosting a conference is a major undertaking…a big deal. It requires a super amount of work. It’s everything from getting sponsors and organizing the venue (including rooms for both the event and the participants, choosing meals, etc.) to selecting speakers, marketing the event, filling the venue with participants, and making sure their participants and their speakers are taken care of and have a good experience. Each one of those tasks is major and has hundreds of smaller, associated tasks. Getting it all done as effectively and efficiently as the Space Coast FEW did was no easy job…but they did it exceptionally well!
2 – Doing the Job Right
There never seems to be enough time to do everything we want to do for ourselves, let alone for others. It seems that it’s easy to cut corners, especially when it gets down to the wire.
The women of the Space Coast Chapter of FEW unselfishly coordinated their time, effort, talent and energy to provide professional learning opportunities for hundreds of other women. They didn’t get to rest until after the conference was over and the last attendee went home – and even then, their job wasn’t over.
In the weeks that followed, they still had summaries, reports, etc. Not every team takes the time to make sure that, even in the post-event work, all the “i’s” are dotted and “t’s” crossed. They did.
Can you imagine my delight when, six weeks after the conference ended, I received a beautiful, personal letter from the Speaker Chair and the Conference Chair thanking me for the job I did and encouraging me to connect with other FEW chapters. They didn’t have to…but I really appreciated that they did.
3 – Keeping the Team Intact
By the end of the first day, I noticed something different about the “FEW ladies” compared to some conference groups with whom I’ve worked. I asked them how they maintained their camaraderie and good humor. They told me that when they had their first meeting, they acknowledged the effect stress could have on their chapter and talked about it. They all knew that conference planning can put so much pressure on the team that it could be destroyed in the process. In fact, they knew chapters that did break up as a result of conference-planning stress.
So, as a team, they made a decision. As one woman said, “We agreed that we were friends before this started and – no matter what happened in the planning - we’d be friends after it ended.” So, even though they admitted that there were tense times during the nine-month planning process, they were wrapping it up together – and were even stronger.
In addition to doing a big job well and growing through it in the process, the Space Coast chapter of FEW even managed to use their event to give back to their community via educational scholarship funds to the Brevard Community College WENDI program, which helps people prepare to reenter the work field after a significant change in their lives.
WELL DONE, Ladies!! You are a special team and great role models for others.
And, to my contact Jean Grenville: thanks so much for making my FEW experience so positive. I enjoyed our many conversations and look forward to seeing you and your colleagues again in the future.
In victory,
Annmarie
The women of the Space Coast Chapter of FEW demonstrated everything that is good about a high-functioning team. Because they did, I think they are wonderful role models for other groups of women. Here are the characteristics they - and every truly good team - demonstrates:
1 – Getting the Job Done
Hosting a conference is a major undertaking…a big deal. It requires a super amount of work. It’s everything from getting sponsors and organizing the venue (including rooms for both the event and the participants, choosing meals, etc.) to selecting speakers, marketing the event, filling the venue with participants, and making sure their participants and their speakers are taken care of and have a good experience. Each one of those tasks is major and has hundreds of smaller, associated tasks. Getting it all done as effectively and efficiently as the Space Coast FEW did was no easy job…but they did it exceptionally well!
2 – Doing the Job Right
There never seems to be enough time to do everything we want to do for ourselves, let alone for others. It seems that it’s easy to cut corners, especially when it gets down to the wire.
The women of the Space Coast Chapter of FEW unselfishly coordinated their time, effort, talent and energy to provide professional learning opportunities for hundreds of other women. They didn’t get to rest until after the conference was over and the last attendee went home – and even then, their job wasn’t over.
In the weeks that followed, they still had summaries, reports, etc. Not every team takes the time to make sure that, even in the post-event work, all the “i’s” are dotted and “t’s” crossed. They did.
Can you imagine my delight when, six weeks after the conference ended, I received a beautiful, personal letter from the Speaker Chair and the Conference Chair thanking me for the job I did and encouraging me to connect with other FEW chapters. They didn’t have to…but I really appreciated that they did.
3 – Keeping the Team Intact
By the end of the first day, I noticed something different about the “FEW ladies” compared to some conference groups with whom I’ve worked. I asked them how they maintained their camaraderie and good humor. They told me that when they had their first meeting, they acknowledged the effect stress could have on their chapter and talked about it. They all knew that conference planning can put so much pressure on the team that it could be destroyed in the process. In fact, they knew chapters that did break up as a result of conference-planning stress.
So, as a team, they made a decision. As one woman said, “We agreed that we were friends before this started and – no matter what happened in the planning - we’d be friends after it ended.” So, even though they admitted that there were tense times during the nine-month planning process, they were wrapping it up together – and were even stronger.
In addition to doing a big job well and growing through it in the process, the Space Coast chapter of FEW even managed to use their event to give back to their community via educational scholarship funds to the Brevard Community College WENDI program, which helps people prepare to reenter the work field after a significant change in their lives.
WELL DONE, Ladies!! You are a special team and great role models for others.
And, to my contact Jean Grenville: thanks so much for making my FEW experience so positive. I enjoyed our many conversations and look forward to seeing you and your colleagues again in the future.
In victory,
Annmarie
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