Several years ago when I was first asked to speak at local events I decided I could handle something like this about once a month. And ever since I have had about one request a month come trickling in. Some months have none; last June I had four events. But it pretty much averages out to one a month, and I have very seldom turned anyone down, and we all lived happily ever after.
But in just the last few days I suddenly got splashed with about six different speaking requests, plus there's a few more with which we're still in discussion mode. I have no idea why this is happening, and I'm trying to figure out if I can portion these out to last six months, or if I need to start saying no.
Paul's comment about this flurry of fame was an amused smile and the comment, "No glass ceiling for my wife, eh?"
Which brings me to what I'm actually talking about here. The "glass ceiling" term gets batted around a lot, like it's an indisputable feature of the work world for women, and I think I've especially heard it since Sarah Palin's nomination.
Whenever I read about the "glass ceiling," I always wonder what's really with that. I have never had to compete in the big business/political world out there (thank God) so I don't really know what goes on.
But I've often wondered, what would happen if women pursued excellence and servanthood instead of position? What if they made themselves indispensible? What if they tried to make everyone around them successful?
Paul has (oh dear, what is she? Gotta draw a diagram quick...ok...) a second cousin who grew up just down Powerline Road and who was born Lela Fern Kropf and eventually became the much-more-sophisticated-sounding Lee Snyder, who for a number of years was president of Bluffton College in Ohio. Lee is smart and confident, but she is also physically tiny, with a warm, gentle personality. I am told that as she rose through the ranks in the academic world, she never applied for or sought any position. Each time, it was offered to her because of the credentials that people saw in her.
I find that very interesting. I think we could all learn from it whether we are career women or not.
P.S. And since I am supposed to teach a Sunday school lesson tomorrow on Jesus' example of servanthood, to young ladies who are or will probably soon be employed, does anyone have wise insights into how servanthood relates to the real work world and specifically to a situation such as Mary Kay Ash's (see Naomi's comment)?
Quote of the Day:
"What do you call a disgustingly bad author? Charles Sickens!"
--Ben
You knew this would get a response from me, right? :) When I think of glass ceilings, I think of Mary Kay Ash's experience selling soap and brushes (before she started her cosmetics company). She was a single mom of 4, holding at least three shows a day and raising her children--with no child support. But even though she was working circles around others, the company persisted in promoting guys with far less seniority and experience than Mary Kay had, because, they said, the men have families to support. I don't know what they thought Mary Kay was doing.
ReplyDeleteI don't credit the success I experienced during my run in the business world to self-promotion, but after 3 1/2 years I realized (after being told so many times) that I wouldn't get much farther if I didn't become more aggressive with my negotiation skills. It was a disappointment in so far as I had thought hard work was all I needed to succeed. So I handed in my resignation and got an humble English degree. :)
Unlike Mary Kay Ash's situation, I wasn't held back because I was female, but I realized that becoming a hard-nosed negotiator was going to require more personality change on my part than I was ready for. Sadly, I wasn't one of those brilliant few who can drive a hard bargain AND be nice at the same time. :)
Nice try, Dorcas, but these women already exist. They are called secretaries. Love your work.
ReplyDeleteJoyce
Secretaries, huh?
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't think I have anything to tell you from a working woman's position (other than that I own my own business, rather than cow-towing to others).
But I will offer you up my blessed husband as an example. Whatever job he has worked at, he has worked at with all his might. He is smart and morally strong, but he is not bossy. He moved up through the ranks in the company he worked for until he reached management (aka 24/7 slave, attached to pager and cell phone back when they weighed 4 pounds). My daughter and I begged God to change his job and He did. The next company he worked for was a computer company, and he again moved swiftly up through the ranks. He diversified his abilities, learning all he could about the products the company made and keeping up on the technology, and because he was so in dispensible, he was one of the last ones to be let go when the company started laying people off. In fact, the company relocated and he did not want to, so he came to work for my company and now I could not run my company without him.
He has never asked for a raise or a promotion. They have always found him. He has never been fired, except when he was injured and had to be gone for more than 6 weeks...(but that was when my daughter and I were fervently praying for him to get another job).
I'm assuming it works for women. It's how it works with God. You don't get (or at least SHOULDN'T get) leadership positions in the church becuase you aspire to them, but because that is your gift and and you are already doing that job. You get the title because it is your calling, and hopefully it is what you are already doing.
if women (or men) are hitting a "glass ceiling" it is because they are aspiring to be something that God has not called them to be.
Teaching young women to be successful? I suggest you teach them to develop a mentality of "How can I help you?" and run with it.
ReplyDeleteWe operate a business which sells directly to the public. So when you ask the customer "can I help you?" with a cheerful attitude, it goes a long ways in producing a pleased customer which will return. Now if you are an employee and do the same to your employer, he/she will love you and be so pleased which will make you almost indispensable.
Sandra
WOW! Karabeagle's last paragraph says it all!
ReplyDeleteNaomi, even with you having a humble English degree, you still (apparently) pronounce humble as umble committing the typical Amish/Mennonite/PA-Dutch mispronunciation. :-D (Sorry, I couldn't resist. I feel far too delightfully ornery at the moment.)
ReplyDeleteJoyce--my husband would agree with you. He said when he read my post his first thought was of all the men he knows who wouldn't be nearly so successful without their secretaries.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have made your day, Hans. My grammar books tell me it can go either way. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for Dorcas' question, I don't think that hard work and ambition are necessarily mutually exclusive. The issue is how you go about it. I've worked with ambitious people/women who are some of the most generous, warm-hearted people I know; they excel at their jobs while still keeping a savvy eye on the politics of the situation. And then there are others who work hard and are ambitious and plow over/insult/bully everyone in their path.
It sounds corny, but I think if more of us saw negotiation situations as opportunities to problem-solve and reach mutually beneficial conclusions instead of as adversarial battles, we'd take a different approach. If, for example, in a salary negotiation, the two parties can agree that workers deserve a fair day's wage for a fair day's work, they have a basis for a reasonable, workable solution and there's no reason for either person to get nasty about it. The hard part is when you're trying to be reasonable with an unreasonable person.
Naomi, I'm glad to learn that. I was always under the impression that when a noun starts with a consonant sound, that "a" should be used and when it starts with a vowel sound "an" should be used. Is "h" an exception to the rule? Or how does that work? (Or did you just find a "contemporary" dictionary that gives "umble" as an alternate pronunciation?)
ReplyDeleteI'll bet she was checking an ENGLISH (British) source (like Oxford?) as opposed to an American one?
ReplyDeleteI have learned and have taught that "an" goes before a vowel sound too, and "a" before a consonant sound. My spell checker always questions me on this...and I have to wonder who programed it!
Hans/Naomi--Maybe we Amish/Menno/PA-Dutch people base our pronunciation on the old hymns we grew up with: "an humble, lowly, contrite heart. . ."
ReplyDelete"What if they tried to make everyone around them successful".
ReplyDeleteThat line is a good one I want to remember !
"if women (or men) are hitting a "glass ceiling" it is because they are aspiring to be something that God has not called them to be."
ReplyDeleteI've been banging this around in my head ever since I read it...and while I think I know what karabeagle was saying, and I don't want to stir up controversy, I'm afraid I disagree.
The "glass ceiling" is not a God ordained thing. It is the result of perceived or real inequities in pay scale or career advancement by people who do the same thing as others and receive less pay or are overlooked for promotion because of gender of color,etc.
I'd loosely call it oppression, and that is sin by the employer who does such a thing.
I won't dispute that God can use such things to point us to a different place, or He can bless us mightily as He does this, the thing that brought us to that place is nevertheless sin. It is only right that each person is paid a fair day's wage for a fair days work,that equal opportunities for advancement be given regardless of gender, color, or other diparities.
I have no argument with what you said...I was just thinking more of leadership than pay equality. (I suspect pay is not an issue for Dorcas, as she can probably set whatever fee she wants.)
ReplyDeleteIt's been my experience that God provides more than we need. He does not always supply all we "want", but He does supply all we need. Therefore, there is no glass ceiling when you are in a relationship with God and when you are sensitive to doing what HE wants you to. It's when we step out of that that the "glass ceiling" becomes an issue.
You are right on in the leadership part of things!
ReplyDeleteI was looking at your comment with the glass ceiling of pay issues and lack of advancement point of view. And unfortunately that is something done to humans by humans which God does work to for good to those who love and serve Him. I'm so thankful that He does and He is faithful to His promises!