Who Cares About Community?

As you know if you’re a woman business owner - or maybe even if you’re not - March is Women’s History Month. And I think it’s great for women, entrepreneurs or not, to reflect on the things that got us here.

I know some people are thinking, when’s men’s history month? (We went through this last month when some white people were asking when they get white history month.) Well, I remember when I was about six years old, on Father’s Day I asked my mom why there was no Children’s Day. She replied, “Because every day is children’s day.”

So there’s your answer, white people and menfolk. Every month is white people’s month, and every month is men’s month. Also, you should feel ashamed for asking stupid questions like that - I was SIX. You’re an adult. Ask better questions.

Do we really need a women’s history month?

In an ideal world, no. (Nor would we need a Black History month.) If everyone was treated equally in actuality, not just by the letter of the law, then there would be no need for regular reminders that women/Black people/people of color/neurodivergent people are humans too and have contributed to history and culture and technology and whatnot.

But that’s not the world we live in. A Missouri state congresscritter wrote a bill that will not allow abortions in the case of ectopic pregnancies. If you forgot your basic science, let me remind you that an embryo that implants outside the uterus cannot survive. The mother can, if the embryo is removed. Otherwise she could die from internal bleeding.

The only way to get rid of ectopic pregnancy is with an abortion. I firmly believe that if you’re perfectly fine with killing someone by not preventing a pregnancy that could kill her, you can’t call yourself pro-life. Since the embryo has no chance of survival, the anti-abortion crusade is revealed for what it really is: anti-woman. 

Not to mention all the state-level bills out there that criminalize personal medical decisions, and also put a bounty on alleging that someone is even thinking of obtaining an abortion or aiding someone who is. I don’t know how you square the concept of “rugged individualism” with “snitching”. Unless of course you only count men as people who have the right to autonomy over their own bodies. 

Not allowing women to have personal autonomy or believing that they don’t deserve it leads to domestic violence and sometimes even domestic terrorism. All the men who don’t get as much sex as they believe they’re entitled to and then go shoot up a massage parlor or a classroom or whatever. They end up in an absolute rage because women say “no” to them. If they want a woman’s body, then they believe that by god they should get to have it.

On the flip side, there are people who lean more feminist who don’t believe in setting aside special months or meetings or sessions for women, because it puts women in a pink ghetto. 

The intent in setting aside spaces for women is to promote women and give them a platform, which is a laudable goal. But if the result is that there’s a completely separate lane for women, because they’re diverted into the women’s space and the “regular” one continues to be primarily male, then the goal hasn’t been achieved. 

We get the same old people who get to go on the same old stages and spout the same old stuff, and we don’t get the diversity that we need.

Why diversity is important

I can’t say it often enough, but McKinsey Consulting’s research shows that companies with more diversity in their leadership and their boardrooms have better performance. 

Diversity doesn’t just help boards and C-suites look more like the country they operate in, which helps them understand their companies and their customers better. I’ll never forget at my first job out of college my supervisor, who was a woman, was laughing about how the rest of the guys in management couldn't figure out why the women’s restroom required a higher budget. They were just absolutely clueless. 

How can an old white guy, who’s had his wife to take care of the house and the kids and the errands all his life, understand what young mothers who are trying to work go through? Older people also fail to understand that the nature of work has changed, and that one salary just isn’t enough anymore. (It never was for people of color, but that’s a different point.) 

Having more diversity in the leadership means there might be someone who has a clue, and therefore the company can make better decisions.

On top of that, having diversity in the boardroom means less groupthink. People can poke holes in the terrible ideas instead of just agreeing to go along with everyone else. The failure of the orbiter Challenger in 1986, which killed everyone aboard, has been linked to groupthink at NASA. That’s how dangerous the pressure to agree with others instead of voicing your opinions can be. 

When you introduce people who have different backgrounds and experiences to the company, they may be able to see the things that people who think all alike can’t see. And you need to have more than one “token” at the table, because the core group won’t listen to the outsiders.

Diversity is still pretty far away, unfortunately. Some Congresscritters of a particular political party are trying to block the nomination of a Supreme Curt nominee because she’s a, well, she, AND she’s Black. Quelle horreur. She has a strong record as a justice and has made consequential decisions as a judge, yet the critters are blathering on about “wokeness” as if her identity is her only qualification.

Women’s entrepreneurial community

Given that diversity hasn’t quite arrived yet, it’s a great idea for women to band together themselves and support each other. Hey, isn't there a country whose motto is “e pluribus unum”? Huh, think I heard of it once in a history class.

E pluribus unum, in case you forgot, means “out of many, one” and shows the power of people uniting with each other. Which women (and others) still need to do, in order to ensure that we have a seat at the table and have power in important decisions.

Just as it’s important for women in general, it’s critical for women business owners too. When I worked in finance in NYC in the late 90s, the atmosphere was very competitive. I wore suits and boxy Brooks Brothers button-down shirts (which don’t actually work that well when you have boobs). I definitely got the impression that there was room for exactly one woman at the table, and she was not giving up her seat until you carted her out of there feet first.

It’s different in SoCal. I’m not sure if that’s an east coast-west coast thing or whether it’s a new-century thing. But everywhere I’ve gone, the women have been very supportive of each other for the most part. Business is abundant, and there’s room for all of us.

A rising tide lifts all boats. By supporting each other in the community, everyone gets to rise. I love to talk to people about productivity and how to have a better work/life balance - even if the person I’m talking to is also a consultant or works with productivity. 

To me it’s a no-brainer. We all do things differently, and what works for one client may not work for another. I’ll gladly refer to someone else if the client isn’t a good fit for me, and I think a lot of us operate this way.

So happy Women’s History Month and support your favorite woman entrepreneur today. If you can’t buy from her, share a post or refer a prospect. Give back and your community will give back to you too. 

Recap:

Unfortunately, since many women are still - STILL - being treated as less-than, women’s history month and women’s communities are still critical. Especially for female business owners. Rock on, do no harm - and take no shit.