Leaving a Legacy
When I started the series last month, I thought that ‘Leaving a Legacy’ would be a great topic for women in leadership positions, for it encourages us to consider not just who has made it easier for us to lead today, but also how we are making it easier for the women who follow us.
When I think about women who have broken new ground for women to be successful in Silicon Valley, I consider the first women in traditional male career, like the first certified American doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, one of the first women pilots, Amelia Earhart, and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. It must have been so much more difficult for them to overcome the physical and intellectual demands of their positions while facing the doubts, fear and resistance of people motivated to maintain the status quo and people who are fearful of change.
I also consider the work of suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Emmeline Pankhurst, and of course freedom-fighters like Harriet Tubman. They dared to make a stand for the rights of men and women, suffering person hardship, but ultimately changing our policies, our laws and even our social norms.
I am also grateful for Silicon Valley women in leadership today – from the early women VCs to the heads of major corporations, to the senior executives we have each worked with in our career. And to each of you, if I have had a conversation with you, there was something that I took away from that conversation which has impacted the way that I communicate and lead. Thank you.
With the success of yourselves and many other women, we as leaders can stand on their shoulders and see farther, dream bigger and reach higher.
I have invited Ann Tardy of LifeMoxie and Jennifer Rowe of Community Foundation Silicon Valley to help us as we think further about who has broken the ground for us in our personal and professional lives and how we will leave an impression and forge a new path for those who follow us. Below is my advice, along with that of Ann and Jennifer for Leaving a Legacy:
When I think about women who have broken new ground for women to be successful in Silicon Valley, I consider the first women in traditional male career, like the first certified American doctor, Elizabeth Blackwell, one of the first women pilots, Amelia Earhart, and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride. It must have been so much more difficult for them to overcome the physical and intellectual demands of their positions while facing the doubts, fear and resistance of people motivated to maintain the status quo and people who are fearful of change.
I also consider the work of suffragettes like Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Emmeline Pankhurst, and of course freedom-fighters like Harriet Tubman. They dared to make a stand for the rights of men and women, suffering person hardship, but ultimately changing our policies, our laws and even our social norms.
I am also grateful for Silicon Valley women in leadership today – from the early women VCs to the heads of major corporations, to the senior executives we have each worked with in our career. And to each of you, if I have had a conversation with you, there was something that I took away from that conversation which has impacted the way that I communicate and lead. Thank you.
With the success of yourselves and many other women, we as leaders can stand on their shoulders and see farther, dream bigger and reach higher.
I have invited Ann Tardy of LifeMoxie and Jennifer Rowe of Community Foundation Silicon Valley to help us as we think further about who has broken the ground for us in our personal and professional lives and how we will leave an impression and forge a new path for those who follow us. Below is my advice, along with that of Ann and Jennifer for Leaving a Legacy:
- Legacies don't have to be big gifts.
- It's the little things that you do that could leave a legacy - The things you do for your spouse, parents, children, co-workers, grocery store workers, etc.,
- Consider who you would use for your reference. What would they say about you and what do you hope that they say about you?
- Take a leap of faith, a chance to live a tale-telling life, a story worth telling! Don't put on blinders.
- A legacy is not always positive. But when it's not, forgive yourself, and forgive others who have left negative impressions on you.
- Dare to dream a bigger dream.
- Celebrate your progress together.
- Share your stories.
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posted by Linda Holroyd at 8:25 AM
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