Ambition not dirty word

IN the early 2000s I attended a function where Anna Bligh was the guest speaker. She recounted a funny story about a colleague who needed to speak with Anna.

People were starting to talk because the then Deputy Premier had appeared on the front page of a Brisbane newspaper under the headline “Ms Rising Star”. The colleague said in hushed tones that people were saying that Ms Bligh was “ambitious!”, as if that were the worst thing you could say about a woman. As we know, Ms Bligh succeeded Peter Beattie as Premier in 2007 and went on to lead Queensland for five years.

More than a decade later and people are saying that Julie Bishop was somehow flawed because she dared to believe that she, too, had what it took to be leader of the Coalition Government and Prime Minister of Australia.

So what can we do to get more women into leadership positions? At SCU, I encourage women to apply for leadership roles, for better positions, to think of themselves as leaders. I coach them and mentor them.

But most importantly, I encourage women to think of themselves as leaders and not to say they don’t really care about the title or the money. I tell them to admit to ambition.

And I encourage men to imagine a woman when they think of a boss, a leader, a manager, a mentor.

So on this day, tell your daughter that she can aspire to be anything she wants. And tell your son that he should be proud to work for a fine leader – that she’ll be strong, fair and he’ll learn something from her.