The stories we (might) tell

International Women's Day 2023

March 8, 1910. Raymonde de la Roche, daughter of a plumber and sports and motored vehicle enthusiast, became the first woman to take to the air and earn her pilot’s license.

March 8, 2023. I’ve talked to two global companies this week already on The Grit Factor, and how it is that we can work together to ensure all people have the opportunity to contribute their best for the best possible outcomes.

What do we need for this more equitable world to emerge? There are many structural aspects of ensuring interviews are unbiased, sponsorship is equal, and much more— but today I want to focus on the foundation of equity: what stories we tell, and to whom.

Much has happened since my days wearing the uniform. Women have served in positions leading high level combatant commands. There are women flying every aircraft in our inventory. These are blips in our news, occasionally compiled and celebrated by a veteran related organization, but the true legends are still all men. The same is true in the corporate world.

When I think back to my days in the military, the stories that are told and retold, the mythology that continues to form and direct the camaraderie, all heroic stories are told about men. There are a lot of men who have indeed been heroic, facing fear, risking or losing their lives for others. They are stories worth telling.

We tell stories because narrative is one of the most powerful sources we have for inspiration and direction. Neuroscience shows us that we process information best in the form of story. The moment a story begins to emerge, we stop what we’re doing. We pay attention. We look for the shape of a plot, for what can be learned. This is the kind of formal and informal information sharing that moves the needle, that changes our perceptions about ideas, about people, about possibility.

Once upon a time…those words, or words that stand in for them, immediately transport us to the realm of wonder, of curiosity, of learning.

At the same time, if we recognize there is much work left to do to equalize opportunity, leaders must work to change the stories they tell— or add on new stories. Are those stories available? Absolutely they are.

What if, as athletes, soldiers, and others were trained in courage— and trainers themselves were trained— they were told about 23 year old Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester.

Hester was a member of a military police unit providing security for a supply convoy in Iraq in 2005. The convoy hit an ambush; bullets rained down around them, and a rocket propelled grenade launcher hit a vehicle and threw it into the air. Hester led her team through what is called the “kill zone” to set up a position on the flank, then leading an assault against the ambush with grenades and grenade launchers. Every member of her unit survived the attack, and 27 enemy were dead by the end.

SSG Leigh Ann Hester became the first woman to be awarded the Silver Star since WWII.

The latest on the channel on Youtube— check out the short Gritty segments from our podcast interviews, too!

Or what if, when we talked about courage, we talked about PFC Monica Lin Brown, a combat medic in Afghanistan in 2007 also a part of a convoy targeted by enemy.

When Brown noticed the trail vehicle in her convoy hit by a rocket propelled grenade, she ran through a hail of bullets from automatic machine guns and mortars to the vehicle, and protected the occupants with her body while treating them. In the midst of her work, the ammunition in the back of the vehicle began to explode from the heat. Brown describes chunks of metal the size of softballs flying through the air. She saved the lives of the crew in the midst of the bombardment.

Brown was later removed from operations because women weren’t supposed to be serving in places where there would be close contact with the enemy (this restriction has since been lifted.)

Brown receives The Silver Star from Vice President Dick Cheney

Or what if, when we talked about vision and hutzpah, the first story we shared was of Frances Hesselbein.

Hesselbein was a homemaker asked to fill in leading a Girl Scout troop for six weeks. She ended up running Girl Scouts for the state of Pennsylvania, trained herself in Peter Drucker’s management techniques, and took the helm of the national organization, utterly transforming and reviving it despite constant criticism that the world wasn’t ready for a more diverse girls organization, and perhaps the scouts had become irrelevant. Hesselbein had a vision. She trained herself on what had to be done. And she made it happen, despite the naysayers. Today, Girl Scouts continues to grow and thrive as a result of her work; Hesselbein continued to work in the leadership space even past the age of 100.

What if, when we shared stories of purpose driven business success, we told the story of Indra Nooyi.

Nooyi who at a time when girls in India were educated solely for the purpose of marriage, worked toward her vision of further education and business leadership. She took over Pepsi and grew the company year over year, expanding into China, addressing pay parity— and operating from a true position of corporate responsibility. Nooyi is known for both her humility— her willingness to ask questions and work on active learning—and her purposeful leadership while taking care of her people. In 2006, when Nooyi launched her Performance with Purpose initiative, recognizing the responsibility a company as large as Pepsi had to contribute to communities, reduce its environmental footprint and produce healthier offerings, she was widely derided, and analysts predicted Pepsi’s demise. She persisted, and under her leadership the company grew 80%. That’s a case study for anyone.

Diverse stories are available, but women often don’t share their stories as often, and our culture doesn’t lift them up with the same interest as we do the stories of men, at least not in a way that stays with us.

If you’re looking to expand your knowledge of these stories and fill up your quiver with those stories to share to teach, to instruct, to inspire, start with The Grit Factor. Two new books are out this month you should take a look at as well, all included in The Grit Institute’s women veteran reading list: A-10 pilot (and Grit Factor podcast guest) Kim Campbell’s Flying in the Face of Fear and Laurel Kay Johnson’s memoir The Fine Art of Camouflage.

What will you do to examine the stories you tell: through what you read, the photos on your walls at work and in marketing materials, and the formal and informal stories you learn, internalize, and recount? How can you work to ensure these stories are as diverse as the workforce you want, and the customer base you have and are working toward?

International Women’s Day— and Women’s History Month, is an opportunity to focus on those stories, and find a way to take them into every day.

I’d love to hear from you: how are you changing your understanding of story? How are you changing the stories you read? How are you helping your organization hang the stories you tell? What results are you seeing?

Reply to this email and let me know— I read every response.

To YOUR story of leadership and grit,

Shannon

Creative Inspiration

“There is Smoke in Brooklyn,” my essay about family and fire, is out in the latest issue of the Tahoma Literary Review! Until you receive your copy, you can listen to my reading of it here.