3 Leadership Lessons Learned at the United State of Women Summit

3 Leadership Lessons Learned at the United State of Women Summit I just wrapped up an incredible weekend in Los Angeles at the secondUnited State of Women Summit, a gatzu siching of over 5,000 women from across the country who are standing up to make their voices heard and take action in their communities.On Day 2, Bossed Up joinedShe Should RunandPlatform Womento provide a day-long training on how to clarify and communicate your vision like a boss. Our practical, tactical training came on the heels of a day full of inspiring speakers and rallying calls to action.Here are some of my favorite moments and key lessons I took away from day oneCheck yourselfStanding arm-in-arm with Patrisse Cullors-Brignac (the co-founder of Black Lives Matter), actress and activist Jane Fonda took the mic and was the first to admit that her understanding of race and intersectionality had been lacking, so Im studying, she said, to a round of deafening applause.It was wonderfully refreshing to hear this ki nd of admission from a white woman with so much power to lend to the feminist cause. She demonstrated that no one expects perfection from our leaders, and in fact, admitting to a shortcoming was a vulnerable, authentic, and humanizing moment. By telling us what she was doing to improve herself, she set a model for anyone who feels like they dont have a good practice of intersectionality in their feminist arsenal.Your existence can be you resistanceTarana Burke, creator of the MeToo Movement, gave a stirring call to action centered on self-care for all the activists, organizers, and leaders in the crowd. Putting away her prepared remarks, Burke went off-script and got real about the need forsustainabilityin the movement.Theres a lot of work that we have to do, she said, Theres always going to be a lot of work for us to do. But you have to take care of yourself. And so I charge you to not let your life be consumed by the work, cause taking care of yourself is part of the work.She chal lenged the crowd to find joy on the long road to justice, and pointed out that simply living our lives can sometimes be rebellion enough. Let your existence be your resistance, she said.Youve got to walk the walkIn a wonderful dialogue with Tracee Ellis Ross, Former First Lady Michelle Obama stirred up the crowd in talking about the dichotomy too many leaders men leaders, in particular live with. On the one hand, they whisper into their daughters ears that you can be anything you set your mind to, and then on the other, they walk into the geschftszimmer not realizing that the status quo perpetuates a very different reality.If we want our daughters to be able to achieve their full potential, we need to examine our own practices at work and our societys continued, underlying discomfort with women weilding power.Otherwise, she said, Weve sold them a bill of goodsAnd its not just on the shoulders of men to examine this hypocrisy, Obama contended, its on us as women, too. If we as wome n are still suspicious of one another, she said, if we still have this crazy high bar for one another than we have for menwe have to have that conversation with ourselves as women.