In a world where women are not only women but are working mothers both in and out of the house, we need to educate our children about how far women have come in the last 100 year. As a mother who works at home with two small children, I think that it is important to reflect upon and show my children that women are just as capable as men to be leaders in their fields.
We are soon approaching the 100th anniversary of women earning the right to vote. Of course this was a major change in history but we cannot forget the many women that have also had an impact on our lives today. Many of them did the unthinkable and unexpected to go against what men thought was proper for women at that time and became pioneers in their field.
As the CEO of Living My MoMent, reading Women Count: A Guide to Changing the World by Susan Bulkeley Butler gave me the opportunity to remember all the great women in history who fought for their rights so that I am able to do what I do today. If not for many of these women, I would not have my own business and I definitely would not be a housewife and mother who is sitting around in her sweatshirt and yoga pants typing on her laptop.
In fact, I’d probably be cleaning up the kitchen making sure that it sparkled, preparing a dirty martini for my husband who worked so hard today, and wearing proper clothing with a nice white apron. Instead, I’m forging ahead like those in history before me and proving to the world that even though I’m a mother, I am capable of running both my family and a successful business all out of our home.
Ms. Butler also wrote Be the CEO of You, Inc. In this book, her premise is take responsibility for you, and make things happen for you rather than let things happen to you.
Here is her “make it happen” model: Develop your strategy for who you want to be and ask yourself how will you achieve it? Answer the following questions, preferably by writing them down so they will become real to you.
- What do you want to say you have achieved in five years? Begin by writing “I am…” This is about defining your “end in mind.”
- Who is in your Board of Directors to “help you achieve your goals?” No one achieves their goals by themselves.
- How will you develop your plan – with your goals and expected results – for the next 12 months? In order to achieve your aspirations, these goals and expected results are essential.
- How will you work with your plan every day, beginning now, to move towards meeting your goals?
Both Women Count and Be The CEO of You, Inc are great women empowerment books that help us realize that we can be in charge of our destiny and futures. Even though women make up half of the work place, there are very few of us that hold leadership positions in our jobs.
If you want to be a CEO of a your own company then do it, own it! Because Women Count!
Disclosure: Living My MoMent received a copy of Women Count for free from Susan Bulkeley Butler and I chose to write a review on the book as a thank you to her.
