I’ve started this over and over again multiple times. I know what I want to say, but I also know that I run the risk of getting it wrong.
I’m a white, Jewish woman and while I love, respect, appreciate, and value people of all races, creeds, origins, and cultures, I know that I can never fully understand what people of color have experienced on a daily basis.
What I can do is say it out loud. I see you. I support you. I stand with you.
And I can state this as clearly and plainly as possible…
Black lives matter.
If your response to reading those words is “all lives matter” let me try to reframe this for you.
When you break a bone and you go to the orthopedic surgeon, he’s not focused on the 205 bones that are not broken. He’s focused on the one that is. It doesn’t mean the others don’t matter. It just means they don’t need attention right now.
Same thing here so I’ll say it again.
Black lives matter. That’s where our attention is needed right now.
Of course in the grand scheme of things all lives matter, but all lives aren’t at risk for jogging through their own neighborhood, birdwatching in a public park, getting pulled over during a routine traffic stop, or any number of other everyday routine circumstances. That’s the problem.
“All lives” don’t matter until black lives matter.
Our attention and focus as a nation are needed in important areas right now. On important (but sometimes difficult and often uncomfortable) conversations about the systemic racism that has been a part of our culture for longer than any of us have been alive.
And while our attention is needed there, I was left wondering how to handle the planned promotion of Living With Grit and Grace.
I considered closing the doors and letting those 4 seats go unfilled because it felt wrong to draw attention to anything else right now.
But then I realized that at its CORE, Living with Grit and Grace is a leadership program and personal leadership is needed more than ever right now.
You don’t know this, but months ago when I decided I would offer this program, my team and I had multiple conversations about what to call it and how to talk about it.
I’ve always thought of it and seen it as a course in personal leadership, but the word leadership didn’t resonate with a lot of the women who need this program the most. They didn’t see themselves as leaders because they weren’t a CEO, a community organizer, or the leader of a movement. The word leadership had a professional leader connotation.
But Living With Grit and Grace doesn’t address professional leadership at all. Its focus is entirely on personal leadership.
I believe that all women are leaders.
You lead your family, your friends, and ladies… you lead yourself.
Right now we are entering a time when difficult conversations are necessary for the change that we all want to see in the world. Finding your voice and the confidence to engage in those conversations, privately or publicly, takes personal leadership.
If you have wanted to speak up, but haven’t known what to say, or have been concerned about saying the right thing the wrong way, personal leadership skills will help. Living WIth Grit and Grace will help.
If you have a cause or a candidate that you feel passionately about and want to advocate for in the coming election, the personal leadership skills taught in Living With Grit and Grace will help.
No, Living With Grit and Grace is not a “how to become an activist” or “how to take a stand online” course (and I am certainly not the person to lead the conversation as it pertains to these topics). But it will help you to uncover what values you hold deep, it will give you the framework to do some deep introspection, it will give you the tools to manage your mind as you challenge subconscious beliefs you didn’t even realize you’ve held. it will help you to find and use your voice with confidence.
I believe that there has never been a more important time in our lifetime for women to learn and use personal leadership skills. Learning to care for yourself so that you can support and care for others is crucial right now. Finding the confidence to stand up for what you believe and speak your truth is more important than ever.
