I have lots of ideas, and not all of them hit the mark. Luckily, I have thick skin and a laser focus on my mission: to shape women leadership.
When I reach my eternal resting place, I want one thing to be known about my contributions… “She was instrumental in defining and shaping women leadership.”
A few years ago, I sat in James Malinchak’s Mastermind with 97 men and 2 other women. I mentioned the idea of The Women’s Code and the entire room suddenly went quiet. I had every man’s attention. They loved it.
Yet, it wasn’t until Bart Christian, a successful corporate trainer and owner of Simple Solutions, said the one sentence that sticks in my head even now. Bart asked, “Did you ever think that this is the reason God put you here? Because it will take someone like YOU to do something like THIS.”
I freaked out
And then I did it anyway. Because that’s what I do. It’s been a wild ride with lots of twists and turns, but I am getting closer to my goal.
Yes, I am a little bit nuts
Then again, you have to be if you want to make an impact.
LinkedIn remains a hotbed of comments about me in response to the articles I post. There are hundreds of suggestions about what I can do better and how I can “fix” myself.
I don’t blame these responders. After all, I must be having problems of ALL KINDS to keep speaking out about topics like LinkedIn not being a dating website, and women wanting equality and equal opportunities.
Something MUST be wrong with ME to have the opinions I do. Otherwise, why would so many other women be so quiet about it all?
I do this because I can
And so can you.
I’m not so special. Other women get beat down, too. And for what?
Oh, for things like taking care of ourselves because it makes us feel good. For taking a stand for things we believe in. For pushing hard to get somewhere and make our mark. For fighting for the right to speak, using our voices, and pointing out what is right and what is not fair. And (my favorite) for the fact that I can, I will, and I want to speak for myself.
It’s just an opinion
But if it’s JUST an opinion, why do men and women get so shook up about it? Am I too loud, too brazen, too in your face?
Do the words I say make you look at your own stuff? Do I remind you of someone you hate, and you feel safe unleashing your hatred about one person by redirecting it to another—to ME?
Go ahead
There’s a classic movie with Sophia Loren where her attorney asks her to show up for a court hearing looking modest. Instead, she shows up in her most attention grabbing outfit. Why? Because she is not going to pretend to be someone she is not.
That’s how you shape women leadership
We are not going to play a part that we are not. Certainly not I.
My message is clear: wear the red dress and your heels, look your best, be your most brilliant, speak up, say something, point it out, put your finger in the wound, shout it from the rooftops.
Women leadership is coming and it’s here to stay for all of us, despite the current leadership of this country and the many attempts to take our rights away from us.
It’s not going to happen
We are not good girls. We are brilliant and unapologetically bold WOMEN. Some of us are loudmouths (like me), some of us work in the background, and most of us are somewhere in between.
But we are all shaping women leadership. This is our time and we are not willing to wait anymore. Each of us is finding her spot in this movement.
Creative Director Ross Sutherland was my boss once upon a time. He said that when working with me, you either get on board, have a better idea, or get out of the way.
Nothing has changed. I’m still raising hell.
Which side of her STORY are you going to be on?
At her lowest point, Beate Chelette was $135,000 in debt, a single mother, and forced to leave her home. Only 18 months later, she sold her image licensing business to Bill Gates in a multimillion dollar deal. Chelette is a nationally known ‘gender decoder’ who has appeared in over 60 radio shows, respected speaker, career coach, consummate creative entrepreneur, and author of Happy Woman Happy World. Beate is also the founder of The Women’s Code, a unique guide to women leadership and personal and career success that offers a new code of conduct for today’s business, private, and digital worlds. Determined to build a community of women supporting each other, she took her life-changing formula documented it all in a book Brian Tracy calls “an amazing handbook for every woman who wants health, happiness, love and success!”
Through her corporate initiative “Why Acting Like a Girl Is Good For Business” she helps companies with gender diversification training, and to develop and retain women.
If you’d like to book Beate as a speaker on New Leadership Balance or Creative Entrepreneurship for your next event please connect with me.