Post by the amazing Issy Ennever from our Blogger Team.
I love being a leader.
I enjoy finding a goal that unites a group of people and developing a way to reach it. I feel comfortable and confident with problem solving and admire how our diverse experiences shape our perspectives. It is incredible to observe unique mindsets working together to find innovation, creativity and progression.
I am passionate about inclusion, justice and equality and, when I am leading, whether that be in the lab for science class or representing my school in my academic pursuits, I feel joy. I feel optimistic. I feel empowered. When I am encouraging the best out of others, I find myself embodying my values and love the happy, ambitious person I become.
“Somebody’s bossy.”
“Don’t be so pushy.”
“Try-hard.”
As a determined and driven young woman, I hear these words quite a lot. They used to make me feel uncomfortable and out-of-place. They made me develop the infamous ‘Imposter Syndrome’ and, although I really wanted to embrace leadership and the amazing experiences that came with it, I held myself back – all because I hated hearing that word.
People use the word ‘bossy’ as if women should be ashamed of being empowered. In comparison, when a male peer steps up and embraces a leadership position, he is taking initiative, he is courageous and strong, he is a leader.
How will this change?
Having more female representation in leadership positions is the first strategy, which can be achieved by beginning at a community level. By contributing funding and resources to the development of leadership programs for passionate, rural girls, they learn the skills needed to become effective and confident leaders from an early age and become informed of the rewarding challenges and experiences involved in leadership. Local councils could develop unique mentorship programs to involve young women in political processes, encouraging them to strive for places like Federal Parliament by introducing fundamental tools like critical thinking, empathetic communication and decision making.
Calling women ‘bossy’ is a form of casual misogyny, but can be defeated by normalising successful women. We should perceive an ambitious woman as the rule, not the exception, and only then are we one step closer to deconstructing the harmful, sexist stereotypes in the school, workplace and community. Inspire young girls to have a judgement about the issues that impact them, give them a safe space to learn to use their voice and exhibit pride when they remove themselves from their comfort zone to take a leap of faith.
These are all important strategies to help alter the social culture that makes ‘bossy’ such a negative word, but what can we do as individuals to overcome the adversity? Personally, I have overcome this casual sexism by adopting a particular mindset: you cannot wait for permission to achieve. If we stand back until someone else says that it’s ‘okay’ to say our opinion or step outside our comfort zone, we risk going our whole lives making ourselves smaller than we are to appease others.
We must give ourselves the opportunity to succeed, excel and challenge both ourselves and the world around us. It has taken me a long time to break down my Imposter Syndrome, and although it attempts to crawl back every now and then, the journey of overcoming it has shown me the strength, tenacity and resilience I didn’t know I had. I am now a Vice Captain at school and have had the opportunity to explore so many incredible leadership experiences, such as attending C2C On Screen. So now, every time someone calls me bossy, I smile and raise my head up high, push my shoulders back. I then attempt to engage them in a meaningful and educational conversation about gender inequality in leadership, utilising the opportunity to discuss the absence of adequate female representation and what we can do as individuals to improve the statistics.
Next time somebody calls you ‘The Bossy Girl’, do not shy away or feel ashamed of that characterisation. Use those words as a badge of honour, hold your head high and show the world what an empowered woman can achieve. Because bosses become CEOs of companies that produce the next artificial intelligence or help develop ground-breaking renewable energy plans. Bosses become world leaders who can end world hunger or unify a group of people in times of war, poverty and natural disaster. Bosses become scientists who cure diseases, artists who provoke conversation and emergency responders who provide a lifeline in the most traumatic situations.
Bosses are everyday women that make beautiful, real and inspiring impacts on this world.
So be that Bossy Girl… you never know how far your potential could go.