Forces beyond our control can take away everything we possess except one thing, our freedom to choose how we will respond. While it is true that we can never fully control what life throws at us, we own the power to determine how we will respond.
Our ability to embrace and master the art of the pivot will prove vital to our survival and relevance. In its simplest form, to pivot means to shift, oftentimes from concepts or ideas that is no longer providing value in favor of ones that will. With every seeming failure or setback, I have learned to harness the knowledge of the lesson, gather my skills and redeploy them in other areas that hold greater promise. The pivot allows one to rescue and make use of every single life lesson. Rather than to shrink back pivoting allows us to move forward and embrace what is still possible.
Considering the current state of our society and the harsh realities that face women at every turn in business and industry we must be nimble and wedded to nothing. Thus, allowing flexibility and adaptation we are armed and ready to embrace whatever challenge life throws our way. Heretofore, women have had only two options: lean in or opt-out of various leadership roles. Today, a growing number of us are refusing those limitations. We can now be seen hard at work reshaping and remolding the rules of the game while at the same time crafting pathways for those who are bringing up the rear. Redefining success and its meaning involves being able to align ourselves with new priorities while moving away from limiting beliefs and past failures.
The work is to redefine the various metrics of success in business while at the same time increasing the power and place of women in corporate America. In fact, the two ideas are mutually reinforcing. When we reframe the definition of success in a way that better includes and celebrates women executives in leadership roles in business and industry, we curate an ecosystem that is more likely to inspire and nurture women changemakers. This increased presence, in turn, inherently leads our metrics closer to a positive frame about the unique ways in which women lead and create impact globally.
Regardless of the context as women, we are still in the position of having to fight for what we deserve while maintaining our executive presence. We must gracefully accept the obligation as female business leaders to assist and lift up our female leaders of tomorrow.
The glaring gender biases such as wage gender disparity, representation inequity, and under-representation of senior-level women in the boardroom will not be enough to deter our resolve to pivot in new directions. Through our collective power, we must set out and build a platform capable of reaching and shattering the glass ceiling that dares to hold us back. We have the power.
