Female Leaders Would Like a Word
Are we ready to drop the gender preface before the title?
Have you been on LinkedIn lately? Something is happening with female leaders.
There is a movement afoot. A movement where founders, leaders, and innovators don’t feel the need to have their titles prefaced by their gender. Ashley Sumner is currently at the forefront but I’ll tell you more about her in a minute.
I came across this post a month ago from Lindsay Tjepkema, CEO & Co-Founder at Casted.
I’m not a boss babe. I’m not a girl boss. I’m not a “She”EO. I’m not a mom-preneur. I’m the CEO and co-founder of a successful, fast-growing SaaS company and have the honor of leading an incredible team of talented humans. …And I am a woman. Can we stop with the cutesy names for women leaders? It doesn’t lift us up or help shatter any glass ceilings. Quite the contrary, actually. Recognizing and encouraging diversity (not just women) in leadership? ABSOLUTELY. Using cute names for the people in those roles? Let’s be done with that.
The first time I saw this post I read it like five times. YES. THAT’S IT! I wanted to yell. I thought about it for days. I wanted to open a great big discussion about it but I didn’t quite have all the pieces together yet. Nicknames for women professionals always irked me, but why?
I kept looking.
A quick internet search on girl boss leadership names that are marketed as inspiration led me to this gem: Look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, work like a boss. What does any of that even mean? It made me feel gross. Is that supposed to be motivating?
I have always stayed away from those nicknames because they just didn’t feel right to me. There is no need to give nicknames to people no matter what you do for work. You are a: barista, leader, CEO, engineer, cashier, VP, whatever. Do we still need to preface it by color or gender?
It makes sense if this person is the first. Kim Janey just became the first Black and woman mayor of Boston. That is huge. That is newsworthy. Boston has had a white man running the city for 91 years. So yes, that is a big deal. Also, read her story because it is remarkable. However, for leaders in our everyday lives, we need to scrap the gender and race descriptors before the title.
I’ve grown up brainwashed by TV and American society. All of the actors who played doctors, lawyers, and people in leadership positions were white men. When I meet someone now that has one of these occupations I (almost always) still expect them to be white men. It is crazy. That is why diversity and representation matter so much.
We need to be able to see ourselves in these jobs; we need to be able to see each other.
A career in retail was always where I was going to land if I’m being honest. The retail industry amassed more female leaders than other fields did twenty years ago but still — the CEOs were white men and so were a lot of the people in upper management positions.
Okay, back to Ashley Sumner.
Ashley Sumner is the CEO and founder of Quilt. Defined as, according to their website, the supportive audio social network for real-time, feel-good conversations — just like hopping on the phone with a friend when you need it most.
Sumner had a striking post recently on LinkedIn.
The photo is of Ashley sitting facing the camera, straight on. She’s wearing a sharp, black blazer and crisp, white shirt underneath. Above her photo are the words, I am a female founder, the word female crossed out. It was followed by this explanation:
“I am a founder. By putting my gender in front of what I am belittles what I’ve accomplished, and reminds women how few of us get to where I am. I’m ready to drop the gender and get right to the work I’m doing.”
It sparked a larger conversation and other female leaders have chimed in about what we are and are not ready for and why the preface may still be necessary. Women in a variety of different fields have now made similar posts with their photos and the word female crossed out before their title. It’s a movement.
The New York Times just published a story about Sumner and her LinkedIn post which became an internet meme. A great read.
It seems to me that so many women were so ready for this. I know I was. It was something that I was reaching for but I just couldn’t put words to it. Lindsay Tjepkema nailed it when she said that cutesy names do not lift us. They don’t shatter any glass ceilings. They don’t help anyone. Let’s go forward and call people by their title. It’s enough.
In one photo and less than five words, Ashley Sumner was able to convey something that, for so many of us, was long overdue. Female leaders are leaders. It’s as simple as that. We no longer have time to make you feel comfortable with our position. There is work to be done.
