women as visionaries

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onto today’s topic: women as visionaries 🌠 

i’m currently attending the harvard wecode conference in boston and i particularly enjoyed the product management panel where kathy pham’s response deeply resonated with me. she expressed that women often fall into the “get-it-done” role and are only sought out when initiatives need to be executed. they’re never really asked about their vision for a company or long-term objectives — those questions are pointed toward their male counterparts.

one example is how women tend to be executive assistants or chiefs of staff, but it’s much rarer to find a woman in a ceo or cto position. women, in the workforce, are made to focus on checkboxes, rather than zooming out and being able to exercise their muscles of having a gut for product. 🚀 

of course, this was said in the context of women in product management roles; however, i firmly believe this sentiment is applicable to all women in leadership roles.

women don’t have the same freedom to dream big dreams as men do. you might disagree with me, but it’s true. undeniably, women are faced with much more criticism and are nit-picked for every small move — it’s too risky to be a visionary, and that’s part of why there aren’t enough women in leadership roles. 📈 

so many factors are held against women in positions of power, and it’s an unreasonable burden to carry. something as uncontrollable as age was made to be a ridiculous point of criticism for female doctors where a physician shared: “i am middle-aged, and men my age are seen as mature leaders and women my age as old,” (source).

get stuff done, but be bold enough to assert your vision too. 💫 

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