Bringing in cake to celebrate successes...something girl leaders love to do! When I started writing and collecting stories under the banner "Lead Like a Girl," I thought it was a fun way to let people know the stories were about women in leadership and make it a positive spin on the old adage, "You hit like a girl!"
Along the way, I've found people either love it or hate it...there doesn't seem to be a middle ground. On the positive side, the feedback I've gotten is:
--It's fun
--It's youthful
--I love it...I want to learn more!
On the opposite spectrum, I've also gotten some people who are a bit miffed by the name. These folks tend to focus specifically on the "girl" word. Some of the feedback I get from people who don't like the name is:
--It's demeaning
--I'm skilled and knowledgeable...I'm way past the "girl" stage
--I prefer to be called xxxxxxx (insert woman, lady, chick, female, or your choice of word here)
I'm intrigued by the polarization the word girl seems to cause. My intent was to take women back to a time when they weren't so focused on trying to fit in to a "man's world" and just did what came naturally to them as leaders.
For example, when my best friend & I were co-editors of the yearbook our senior year in high school, we baked a cake for each person's birthday as it came up throughout the year. This seemed to me to be something a girl was more focused on...remembering birthdays and celebrating. People loved the attention (or maybe they just wanted the cake) and seemed to genuinely appreciate the effort we made which was our way to say, "Thanks for being part of the team and all your hard work…even on your birthday!"
So good or bad, I'm sticking with "Lead Like a Girl."
What do you think? Are you a girl? A woman? A lady? A chick? Or do you have the ability to be each of them when you need to and enjoy your unique ability to do so?
