Rep Image: courtesy of Laura Osteen
Featured photo: via thecenter.fsu.edu
The Women’s Leadership Institute is a program hosted by the Center for Leadership and Social Change to foster the development and encouragement of women at Florida State University. The Institute strives to engage up to 49 undergraduate women by enhancing their identity as a leader and leadership capacity, and increase their awareness of personal abilities and emotions through honest self-understanding and authenticity, as well as the role they play in developing relationships and capitalizing on differences.
The Institute began on Friday, October 24th with a dinner in the Werkmeister Reading Room in Dodd Hall. While there, the participants had the opportunity to meet each other, the Institute facilitators, as well as many distinguished guests picked from the myriad of incredible Florida State women. Among these guests were Provost Garnett S. Stokes and Sherrill Ragans (yes, the woman Ragans Hall is named for).
Pictured: Sherrill Ragans and WLI Participants (Image courtesy of Laura Osteen)
For me, the highlight of the evening had to be listening to Provost Stokes give a speech about being a female leader. She spoke personally about the gender discrimination she has faced, particularly while acting as Interim President of the university, and what she has done to overcome that adversity. In reference to a particularly controversial decision she made this semester, she told us that she experienced extremely personal and hurtful attacks on Twitter and other social media sites. “You have to remember that personal attacks are not really about you. They’re about the decision you made or the position you stand for.” She said.
The following morning, the participants and facilitators all met in the Center for Leadership and Social Change to get into the nitty-gritty of the Institute. The most poignant activity was called “Reframing Leadership,” in which the participants were divided into three groups and asked to plot points on a continuum between two words based on society’s stereotypes and expectations. Each group had to plot points to describe a different word: man, woman, or leader (i.e., According to society, is a woman strong or weak? Is a man strong or weak? Plot the point appropriately.). When we looked at where each group plotted their points, the results were shocking: the points for “man” and “leader” were almost identical – men and leaders are strong, direct, active – while the points for “woman” were the exact opposite of those. Women are weak, facilitators, passive, and listeners. Women appeared to be everything that a leader is not. Notions like this are engrained into us from an early age which is why the Women’s Leadership Institute and programs like it are important.
The main focus of the Institute was on Emotionally Intelligent Leadership (EIL), which allows us to be aware of others’ feelings as well as our own, develop our leadership skills, and help us be more effective leaders. EIL has four capacities: honest self-understanding, authenticity, developing relationships, and capitalizing on difference. The participants, myself included, responded most to honest self-understanding, or being aware of our own strengths and limitations. We asked ourselves, “What is my identity as a woman and a leader, and how does this identity affect my actions?” What we found was that no matter what we brought to the table, we are exactly what the world needs from us. We are different, diverse, incredible women with different leadership skills, but we don’t have to change to suit what the world needs. We are already what the world needs.
At the end of the Institute, I took a moment to reflect on what meant the most to me and what I would carry with me from now on. My most meaningful lesson was this: the “Superman” idea of leadership is a fallacy. If you can do it by yourself, it’s not really leadership. As women, we are told that we need to “have it all” – the home, the kids, the career, while somehow having free time, and also to be the boss, be the lover…be everything. It’s impossible for us to be everything, and we don’t have to shoulder every responsibility alone. In fact, we shouldn’t shoulder every responsibility alone. Leadership takes collaboration, and leaders can’t be at the front all the time. An effective leader knows how to follow, and knows when it’s appropriate to take a step back. Leadership is a process, not a position, and relies more on the efforts of the group than the skills of one person. As women, it is important to stand together. As women leaders, it is absolutely necessary.
Pictured: Cohort Four, led by Estee Hernandez (Image courtesy of Laura Osteen)
Pictured: WLI Guest Leaders (Image courtesy of Laura Osteen)