Sitting at the Table.

I just got done watching this speech about why there are too few women leaders. I think there is a lot of merit behind the speaker's first reason: that too few women "sit at the table."

"Sitting at the table," in a nutshell, means participating like you deserve to be there: not selling yourself short. The term has reference to a conference room--you know the type. The one where there is a big conference table with chairs all around it. As supplementary seating, there are chairs that parallel the borders of the room.

Now take that image of that conference room and apply it to the work place. Or to an educational setting. Or to a relationship. How often do women sit on the outskirts and watch the important decisions be made? How often are women's ideas considered the "supplementary" ones to the conversation? Far too often.

I'm not saying that all of the blame is on the men. Because it isn't. But not all of the blame lies with the women either. The simple truth is that men and women both need to allow and expect women to speak up more. They need to expect that women have valuable and important things to contribute. Because guess what, they do.

I have a question to ask. How many times has the phrase "men think differently than women," been said. A lot. But it's true. They do. So why not utilize that difference instead of just recognizing that it exists? I'm convinced that it's a wonderful thing that no two people think the exact same. Different perspectives and outlooks bring differing opinions and from those differing opinions a whole lot of new opportunities can be discovered. Problems that were never thought of before can be found and solved. Innovation can occur. Progress can be made. Great minds don't think alike, they think for themselves; the mind that thinks identical to the one sitting next to it is a waste.

So women, sit at the table. Participate. Express your opinions. Make yourself heard. Because you're important too, and what you have to say does matter.