A tribute to strong women

My mother sat late one night at the kitchen table with just one dim light on and counted out her wages for the week. Everyone else was asleep, but I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. Before I went back to bed, I noticed that she kept looking at the cash in her hand and then the slew of bills laid out on the table. I was a clueless kid, but even I could figure out that something was wrong.

My father was struck down by a severe heart attack and had been out of work for five months and she was trying to fill in the gap. There wasn’t enough money coming into the house to match the bills going out. Before my father’s heart attack, we were far from rich, but things were getting worse.

My mother worked as a seamstress for a large sewing factory, and her workplace was hardly a Forbes 100 Great Companies to Work For or a Fortune Magazine 100 Best Companies to Work. Her workplace treated their female workers without much care. They were cogs in an assembly line. If one cog couldn’t keep up, they’d push her out of the way and fill the line with another one that could do the work. Female workers made a pittance of what male workers made and had few actual benefits. When my dad was ill, it was hard for my mom to get off work. The place was the closest thing to a sweatshop without breaking the law, but my mother didn’t have a lot of real choices and she wasn’t about to leave because it still brought some money into our house.

A call to action

When I think about International Women’s Day and how it celebrates the achievements of women and serves as a catalyst for global gender equality today, I think of my mother sitting at that table, trying to create a miracle appear out of nowhere. (Oh, I think of her also leaving the Amish church as a young girl to seek a new way of life, but I still come back to that table and how she kept our family afloat during a very tenuous time. Without her, things could’ve very easily took an even darker turn.)

International Women’s Day is a global call to action marked by celebrations and demonstrations around the world, ranging from lobbying efforts to peaceful protests. Some celebrate the economic, social and political achievements of women, while others urge governments to guarantee equal pay, access to healthcare, justice for victims of gender-based violence and education for girls.

Leadership in practice

Besides my mother, I think of many other women. They may be in different situations, but the challenges are still the same, it’s about fairness and equity and simple right and wrong. I think of forgotten trailblazers and advocates who continue to push for women’s rights and financial equity. I think of one of the best bosses I ever had. She was a new mother, but she knew our business better than anyone and outworked everyone, found ways to increase productivity and efficiency, and and she still was empathetic and caring about her team.

When I would ask how she managed everything and made it look easy, she would always downplay her role and give the credit back to the team. I have no way of knowing what she brought home each year, but I’ve often wondered how her pay compared to men in the same role. I suspect it came up short.

In addition, I’ve often wondered how some of those same male bosses would respond to my question about keeping all the balls in the air and the team on the straight and narrow. Sadly, I’m not sure all of them would have given credit back to the team. Oh, I’ve been lucky and have had some great male bosses who would have spread the wealth. However, I suspect many would have talked about what a great leader they were.

Yes, International Women’s Day is a good thing, if nothing more than to recognize the strong women leaders in our lives and make sure their voices are heard and that they have a seat in the boardroom and the places where key financial and salary discussions are being discussed.

Yes, I learned that one from my mother!