Nancy Pelosi says “Know Your Power”
Nancy Pelosi has just published a new book, already on the bestseller list, called Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters. On August 13th, she was in conversation with Sydnie Kohara about the book to an audience of approximately 400 women leaders at the Oracle Auditorium. The conversation was an intimate fireside chat with Nancy talking about her experiences with her family, in politics, and of being a leader.
When I read her book, there were two messages that really resonated with me — building confidence and building collaborations.
I often hear stories from women who are presented opportunities that are a significant challenge or step up from what they are currently doing, and the first reaction is, “I couldn’t possibly do that, I’ve never done that before.” A man’s reaction is typically - “YES!” and then privately they think the same thing. Women need to learn to just say “YES” and have the confidence to know they’ll do a great job.
I learned that whatever opportunity I was presented, I would be likely to succeed as I had the confidence to know that through collaboration, I would find someone who’s either done this before who could share their experience, or find someone I could partner with who would help me take the opportunity to a new level.
Forums like ours exist as we, as women leaders, know the true power of collaboration. Power means influence leading to action. What actions can we take today and who can we collaborate with today to make a real difference?
