Speak Up to Change The World in Business and Life

I entered the Syracuse Peace Inc. office on Sunday afternoon to lend my support to five amazing young women from Christian Brothers Academy who are organizing the March for Our Lives event in Syracuse on March 24th, the same day thousands of students will march on Washington DC to end gun violence that occurred in Parkland, Florida. I have never been more impressed by five 16 year old girls then I was at that meeting especially when they were addressed by mothers who had lost their sons to gun violence on the streets of Syracuse and have wanted for a long time for the public to care more about this issue.

Not knowing which way the conversation was going to lead due to the frustration on the part of the mothers, I studied these young women’s poise and answers as they agreed with the mothers that they wanted the march to not be just about the deaths of the 17 Parkland Florida students lost a month ago today or Sandy Hook or Columbine but by average every day gun violence in the streets of the community.

I was there to support these girls from a promotion and event planning perspective since I worked with a couple other women to produce the Syracuse CNY Women’s March in January. I didn’t realize I would be witnessing such intelligent young women with a strong passion to change the world, not only for their generation, but for others. Within them, I saw myself when I was their age, not necessarily fighting for gun laws, but taking major leadership roles in high school.

By the time we are middle aged women, we might forget how we felt in high school or whether our leadership skills as 16 year olds translate into our personal lives. Not every woman wants to or can create, run and lead a company even though too many of us who do probably take it for granted. We might not be fighting the government about changing gun laws but we may be interested in lobbying our state government for changes in laws that affect our businesses or clients. It takes a person with great passion in wanting to change the world for the better that pushes them towards lobbying, marching, protesting or demanding vital transformation to make the world different.

Next week I have been invited back to Albany to participate in a roundtable discussion on women’s issues. The woman who nominated me to the state leader running the program was someone who has attended a couple Women TIES programs and remembered my feministic attitudes about life and business. I am attending and bringing with me any ideas my members have about issues that face them today in New York State so make sure you send me a private email if you have something you want me to share.

If I wasn’t so vocal about my desire to change the world for women entrepreneurs and women in general, I wouldn’t have received the invitation. Sometimes we must speak up if we want to be heard on topics essential to our life work. Believe me people listen.

Today’s Wednesday Wisdom is to inspire you to speak up more about the topics that lead your life or business. I think we have responsibility to ourselves and our community to share our unique perspective, voice and desires with the world. In the process we will discover others who agree with us and want to join our journey to make changes. We will also discover people that disagree and have alternate opinions. It is important to be open enough to listen to them and see their side although it doesn’t mean we have to change how we feel.