Friday, April 02, 2010

my challenges as a young female leader...

Serving as a leader for the past couple of years indeed opened my eyes, widened my knowledge and experiences. The saying is true. Walking a thousand miles gain you more experience than reading a thousand books.

I notice a very strange trend.

For the younger generation, they prefer young, bubbly, energetic leaders who motivates and encourages. They don't really care whether the leader is male or female. They accept all.

For the older generation, there seems to be a greater resistance to accept leaders who are younger than them, more intelligent, more capable. To make things more difficult, I am young, single, female, wears trendy clothes with lots of makeup. Somehow, older males tend to equate females who wear trendy clothes and lots of makeup to a bimbo. In their generation, maybe good looks and brains did not go together. Well, the fact is, in their generation, females did not have much opportunity to be educated. Many end up being a homemaker. Maybe that's the perception of females in their era.

As a female, I find that I have to strive doubly hard to earn respect from the older generation. To make things worse, I'm the outspoken kind. If I do not agree with certain policies or issues, I will voice out my opinion. Oh well. Sometimes, I wish I were a guy. Life would have been much easier.

Then again, maybe I should thank God put me through struggles and trials. Without them, I would not become stronger. Without struggling to get out from the cocoon, the caterpillar will never become a butterfly.

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