Let’s celebrate women leaders and recognize the incredible influence they have on the world – not just in March on International Women’s Day and during Women’s History Month – but every day.
• They don’t allow the underrepresentation of women in the business world to prevent them from taking the place they deserve at the table.
• They do not conform to limitations, societal guidelines, or someone else’s opinion of who they should be, or become.
• They are the architects of their own lives.
According to Catalyst.org, women make up around 5.4% of CEO positions in Fortune 500 companies. There are less than 1 in 5 women on the seats of corporate boards. Although that number is improving, with female MBA students exceeding 1/3 of all MBA students, we have a long way to go.
The woman who chooses to raise responsible, loving children who will grow into contributing members of society in lieu of a career is also a leader, and arguably may be the most important one of all.
One thing is certain: Women have the power to mold our world, and make a deliberate and conscious effort to create and live the life they want, whether that is in the workplace, at home, in the community, or in any other way that aligns with their own lives.
“Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying anyway.” - Mary Kay Ash, Founder Of Mary Kay Cosmetics
We can definitely say that these women (and many others) are role models of leadership, courage, and the perseverance that it takes to reach beyond any and all limitations to achieve at the highest levels.
Every mom who has dedicated her life to raising her children
Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo (the second-largest food and beverage business in the world by net revenue)
Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Germany
Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube and Google
Kristen Griest and Shaye Haver, first-ever female U.S. Army Rangers
Lori Robinson, Air Force General, and leader of U.S. Air Force Northern Command (the highest-ranking woman in U.S. military history and the first female service member to lead a unified combatant command)
Erica Gunter, Corporal US Army, the first woman of 13M military occupation to become a launcher chief
Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors
Harriet Tubman, American abolitionist, humanitarian, and spy for the United States Army during the American Civil War
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, former Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
Janet Yellen, United States Secretary of the Treasury
Arianna Huffington, Founder of Huffington Post
Meg Whitman, Former CEO of eBay
Dana Walden, Chair-CEO of Fox Television Group, Twenty-First Century Fox
Michelle Obama, former First Lady of The United States
Melinda Gates, co-chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Donna Langley, chair of Universal Pictures, Comcast
Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Nikki Haley, former Governor of South Carolina
Reshma Saujani, founder and CEO of Girls Who Code
Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of Girl Scouts USA
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
Alicia Garza, Patricia Cullors, and Opal Tometi, Co-Founders of Black Lives Matter
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund
Rosie Batty, founder of the Luke Batty Foundation
Gina Raimondo, United States Secretary of Commerce
Tory Burch, CEO of Tory Burch
Amina Mohammed, Minister of Environment, Nigeria
Arundhati Bhattacharya, chair-managing director of State Bank of India, India
Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO
“Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules, and build a life you’re proud to live.” - Anne Sweeney, former President of Disney-ABC Television Group
NOTE: Best effort was made to include the current titles/positions of the women leaders.
Sources
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
