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circle of supporters, collaborators, and friends and then let the “ripple effect”
take place. It will spread.
There is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women.
Madeline Albright
I love the quote by former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, “There is a
special place in hell for women who do not help other women.” Ideally, “helping
each other” means creating opportunities, mentoring, and developing. It is also
important to recognize when helping a woman means “helping her understand”
that she may not be ready for an opportunity. It is important to handle these situ-
ations so that it becomes a developmental experience rather than a detrimental
one. As you share your perspectives regarding her suitability to seek an oppor-
tunity, if you don't feel she's ready, be sure to propose developmental activities
that can help her establish the needed skills, credibility, or relationships. To the
degree possible, offer to be a part of her developmental plan as this will increase
the likelihood that she understands you are in fact helping her, despite the fact
that the perspective you have doesn't move her to where she desires today.
Establish a Diverse Circle of Women Supporters
Diversity in gender, nationality, culture, and perspectives is not just a good idea,
it really makes a difference in the creative activities of a team and an organiza-
tion. It's important that all women, particularly women of color, understand the
importance of this principle. Establish a diverse circle of female supporters, and
enhance the quality of your leadership and innovation by broadening your inner
circle and increasing the audience that recognizes your capabilities. Include
women of different disciplines, careers, race, culture, ethnicity, religion, and
leadership styles. Interacting with diverse individuals will require you to learn
about different cultures and therefore add to your knowledge base regarding
interaction with different cultures. This can raise your value as a leader, help
you develop a style that allows a circle of support that is representative of the
individuals you want to lead, and help you gain an appreciation of the unique-
ness that all will bring to the team.
Test your Commitment to the Team!
To give us an idea of how we are doing in the support of women, I have devel-
oped a quiz to assess ourselves (
Figure 7.3
). To rate your level of “commitment
to the team” answer the following questions using a scale from 1 (not at all
describes me) to 5 (describes my behavior extremely well).
If you scored an A or a B - congratulations!!! We need more women operat-
ing like this on the team. However, my education and experience leads me to
believe that over half of the women who take this test will score in the failing
category. That's largely the reason we are where we are today. The good news is
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