Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Global Perspectives on Women and Leadership | Episode #488

Transcript

Global Perspectives on Women and Leadership | Episode #488 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make your
0:26
Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, passionate
0:33
Speaker 1: inspirational speaker, author, poet, and entrepreneur. Welcome to Legacy Living
0:41
Speaker 1: Make your Life Count. I want to give a great
0:45
Speaker 1: big thank you to those of you who are listening today,
0:49
Speaker 1: and here's a great big shout out to all of
0:52
Speaker 1: you listening around the world. I'm delighted and so grateful
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Speaker 1: that you tuned in. I sure hope you are enjoying
1:00
Speaker 1: a fabulous day to day and that you're having a
1:03
Speaker 1: fantastic week, because you know what, in the grand song
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Speaker 1: of the universe, life is very very short. It's short
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Speaker 1: and sweet and oh so precious. So I hope you're
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Speaker 1: making a difference in your own life, because when you do,
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Speaker 1: you also make a difference in someone else's life. Now,
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Speaker 1: a lot of folks want to make their life count
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Speaker 1: for something, and they ask me, how do you do that. Well,
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Speaker 1: it's really very simple, very simple. You make your life count,
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Speaker 1: day by day, step by step, moment by moment, every
1:45
Speaker 1: single day. Three sixty five twenty four to seven. That's
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Speaker 1: what Legacy Living, Make your Life Count is. All about
1:56
Speaker 1: You can learn more about legacy living make your life
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Speaker 1: count by visiting the Gloria Burgess website. That's g l
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Speaker 1: o r I A b as in boy you r
2:08
Speaker 1: g e s s dot com. That's the Gloria Burgess
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Speaker 1: website g l O r I A b u r
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Speaker 1: g e s s dot com. Or by visiting Facebook
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Speaker 1: and that's Facebook dot com. Forward slash d R for
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Speaker 1: doctor d r g l o r I A b
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Speaker 1: U r g e s s p h d forward slash.
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Speaker 1: So today I want to talk with you about leadership,
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Speaker 1: a topic that's near and dear to my heart. Specifically,
2:44
Speaker 1: we're going to focus on women's leadership and forming your
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Speaker 1: own identity as a leader. In other words, today's show
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Speaker 1: is all about asking yourself two very important questions. The
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Speaker 1: first question is who am I? And the second question
3:03
Speaker 1: is whose am I? So? Who am I? And whose
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Speaker 1: am I? As a leader. Now, to help us address
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Speaker 1: those burning questions, I have a very special guest on
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Speaker 1: my show today. Her name is Melanie Cremona. She is
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Speaker 1: a person of influence and she is very very inspiring. Now,
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Speaker 1: Melanie is a leader who makes a difference in her
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Speaker 1: own life and in the lives of so many others
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Speaker 1: throughout the world through her work with the United Nations.
3:38
Speaker 1: She works at the UN's Institute for Training and Research,
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Speaker 1: which is called UNITAR for short. At UNITAR, she heads
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Speaker 1: up the women's Leadership program. I met Melanie last fall.
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Speaker 1: We were both attending a women's leadership conference in Stockholm, Sweden,
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Speaker 1: and when I heard her speak about her work, she
4:00
Speaker 1: was positively supercharged about it. So to simply say that
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Speaker 1: she's interested in her work would definitely be an understatement.
4:10
Speaker 1: This young woman is truly passionate about her work, and
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Speaker 1: I must say she is most definitely a woman with
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Speaker 1: a mission. She is on fire to change the world,
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Speaker 1: and in particular to change the world for women leaders.
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Speaker 1: When you hear her story, you'll learn why she's so
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Speaker 1: passionate about making a difference about changing the world in
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Speaker 1: this way. I was struck by her passion, But you know,
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Speaker 1: this is just one of the many wonderful qualities that
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Speaker 1: drew me to her, and I should say that drew
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Speaker 1: me and all the other women to Melanie at this
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Speaker 1: conference and to her work. Indeed, we were blessed to
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Speaker 1: have her there as one of our honored mentors. Melanie
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Speaker 1: is t twenty three years old, and she describes herself
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Speaker 1: as a Lebanese Greek expat. Her work at unitar is
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Speaker 1: focused on women and women's leadership. Her specific mission is
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Speaker 1: to strengthen women's participation in multilateral conferences and decision making forums.
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Speaker 1: She's also in charge of organizing high level events with
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Speaker 1: prominent leaders and personalities, including Nobel Prize winners. Melanie attended
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Speaker 1: the University of Paris seven and the University of Copenhagen,
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Speaker 1: obtaining her degree in Sociology and Anthropology. She also obtained
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Speaker 1: the International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University. Melanie
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Speaker 1: says that she's always dreamed about making a meaningful impact
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Speaker 1: in the world and often likes to question conventional norms. Well,
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Speaker 1: during my conversation with her, you will hear more about
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Speaker 1: her dream. You'll also hear about how she was shaped
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Speaker 1: and formed as a leader, all with a particular focus
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Speaker 1: of serving other leaders. You know. In many ways, Melanie's
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Speaker 1: outlook on life and in her work pulls together the
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Speaker 1: many threads of what my own life and work are
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Speaker 1: all about. You've heard me talk about some of these
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Speaker 1: threads and themes on this show the themes of gratitude, authenticity, generosity, strength, passion, presence, hope,
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Speaker 1: and possibility. I just love it. Two women, Melanie and me,
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Speaker 1: from very different backgrounds, very different cultures, very different in
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Speaker 1: age and lifestyle, and yet so many common threads. Can
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Speaker 1: I just tell you something. We had a fabulous conversation
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Speaker 1: and I'm I'm so excited to have this amazing leader
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Speaker 1: with us today. This is going to be a fabulous show.
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Speaker 1: You don't want to miss a single word of it.
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Speaker 1: So put on your walking shoes, grab your earbuds, or
7:14
Speaker 1: just relax in your favorite chair and grab yourself a
7:18
Speaker 1: cup of coffee or tea or a nice cool glass
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Speaker 1: of water. You're going to want to take notes today.
7:25
Speaker 1: We're gonna have a good time. But before I jump
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Speaker 1: into today's show, I just want to take a moment
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Speaker 1: to welcome you. If you're just joining us, I'm your host,
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Speaker 1: Doctor Gloria, and this is Legacy Living, Make your life count.
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Speaker 1: I'd like to extend a special welcome to those of
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Speaker 1: you who are joining my show, or if you're joining
7:48
Speaker 1: Talk Network Radio for the very first time, You're in
7:52
Speaker 1: for a real treat. I'm excited to have you listening
7:56
Speaker 1: in today, and I'm deeply honored that you've allowed me
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Speaker 1: to be part of your day so you can be
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Speaker 1: inspired by the ideas and resources to make your life count.
8:09
Speaker 1: Today's program is all about women's leadership and developing your
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Speaker 1: own identity as a leader, with my guest Melanie Cremona.
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Speaker 1: Welcome to the show. Melanie. I'm so glad that you're
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Speaker 1: here and I can't wait to talk with you about
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Speaker 1: your passion for women's leadership.
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Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Gloria. It's such an honor for
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Speaker 2: me to be with you, and thank you very much
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Speaker 2: for giving me this opportunity and for taking the time
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Speaker 2: as well, because we're both talking from different countries, so
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Speaker 2: it's such a pleasure as well. Thank you so much.
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Speaker 1: Yes, this is really a blessing for me, and I
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Speaker 1: know it's going to be a blessing for our listeners. Melanie,
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Speaker 1: again by asking you, you know, when I met you,
8:54
Speaker 1: you were just so passionate about what you were doing.
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Speaker 1: And you know the way that we met was through
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Speaker 1: a women's leadership conference, and I'm just wondering what made
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Speaker 1: you realize you were so passionate about social problems including
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Speaker 1: women's rights, gender equality, and women's leadership.
9:16
Speaker 2: Well, yes, I mean I must say that from a
9:19
Speaker 2: young age, I realized I had a very strong empathy
9:23
Speaker 2: towards people in need of help, and I always felt
9:27
Speaker 2: very sensitive and would always make people's problems my own problems.
9:32
Speaker 2: I must say it was a blessing and occurs at
9:34
Speaker 2: the same time because it developed a sense of guilt
9:37
Speaker 2: and purpose in me, and it need to feel useful
9:40
Speaker 2: and to contribute something to our society. So I was
9:44
Speaker 2: passionate about philosophy, sociology, about the way society can affect
9:48
Speaker 2: a person's life, and this was the reason why I
9:51
Speaker 2: decided to pursue a degree in sociology. And during my degree,
9:56
Speaker 2: I had to take a gender and sexist course which
9:59
Speaker 2: was mandatory, and I was very skeptical and a bit
10:04
Speaker 2: weirded out about it because I was a firm believer
10:07
Speaker 2: at the time that there was no need to work
10:09
Speaker 2: on feminism, and I was very judgmental, so I believe
10:12
Speaker 2: that anyone who wanted to be equal to men clearly
10:15
Speaker 2: lacked a lot of ambition. So I realized I was
10:18
Speaker 2: really stubborn as well. During my degree, and I learned
10:22
Speaker 2: so many things that brought me back down to Earth,
10:25
Speaker 2: so so many things really made more sense as well
10:29
Speaker 2: around my identity as a woman, and I started understanding
10:33
Speaker 2: how my Lebanese backgrounds play a major role in shaping
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Speaker 2: my identity as a woman, and how badly feminism was
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Speaker 2: needed in our society, especially coming from a Middle Eastern
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Speaker 2: country where it's true that compared to other Arabic countries,
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Speaker 2: women might have a bit more right, but there are
10:49
Speaker 2: still so many loopholes in the law and so many
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Speaker 2: issues that no one talks about. I also had the
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Speaker 2: chance to do an exchange in Copenhagen for one year,
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Speaker 2: and at the time the prime Minister was a female,
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Speaker 2: and there is also the Queen who plays an important
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Speaker 2: role in the society there. So all these things opened
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Speaker 2: up my eyes and made me realize I was really
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Speaker 2: passionate about gender issues and really wanted me made me
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Speaker 2: want to work for the UN and do something about
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Speaker 2: all these problems.
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Speaker 1: Well, thank you, that's that's quite a background that you
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Speaker 1: have there, Melanie. Thank you for sharing that with us.
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Speaker 1: Can you talk with us a little bit about some
11:27
Speaker 1: of the challenges that you faced as a woman. You
11:30
Speaker 1: mentioned your Lebanese background and how did your background shape
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Speaker 1: your identity in that perspective.
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Speaker 2: So yeah, I grew up in a society where paradoxically
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Speaker 2: can find many women holding leadership positions in the workplace
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Speaker 2: and being very equal to men. And yet there are
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Speaker 2: still many many loopholes and paradoxes. So if I can
11:53
Speaker 2: give you in examples, women could get loans for plastic
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Speaker 2: surgery and religion, the age for marriage is still nine,
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Speaker 2: and in the law, men can rape women as long
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Speaker 2: as they marry them afterwards. Also, women are not able
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Speaker 2: to give their nationality to their children, and there is
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Speaker 2: no clear distinction between sex and rape during marriage because
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Speaker 2: a wife needs to fulfill their her duties and religion
12:17
Speaker 2: and patriarchal norms still persist. So let's say there are
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Speaker 2: still a lot of patriarchal problems and issues towards gender
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Speaker 2: equality and respect for women, which makes things really difficult
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Speaker 2: to understand. And given these facts, it has become very
12:33
Speaker 2: difficult to find my identity because women are over sexualized,
12:38
Speaker 2: but at the same time there are sexually liberated and free.
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Speaker 2: There they still face a lot of judgment. And I
12:44
Speaker 2: grew up myself being a tomboy and I still struggle
12:47
Speaker 2: to this day to be very feminine. This means that
12:50
Speaker 2: I was often asked why I was wearing men's clothes
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Speaker 2: or didn't wear enough jewelry or makeup, or that I
12:57
Speaker 2: should probably find husband instead of working and focusing on
13:00
Speaker 2: my own growth. So I have to also, I have
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Speaker 2: listened to a lot of women while growing up being
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Speaker 2: beaten by their husbands, raped or forced to abort. I've
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Speaker 2: listened to women who were scared to talk about their
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Speaker 2: relationships or to this day are still very much afraid
13:16
Speaker 2: to talk about sex, relationships or anything related to it,
13:20
Speaker 2: simply because it is taboo. So these perceptions of how
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Speaker 2: women should be and behave were the main challenges I faced,
13:28
Speaker 2: and it's only when I was able to travel and
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Speaker 2: educate myself that I became more comfortable with my feminity
13:34
Speaker 2: and to become a tomboid without worrying about it. So
13:37
Speaker 2: I still face some comments from time to time, even
13:39
Speaker 2: about the fact that I consider myself a feminist, but
13:42
Speaker 2: it affects me less and less, and I also do
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Speaker 2: feel bad for many of my friends in Lebanon and
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Speaker 2: in other countries where the rights of women are oppressed,
13:50
Speaker 2: I mean, where women are pressed who still struggle to
13:53
Speaker 2: be free women and liberated women. So nowadays I do
13:58
Speaker 2: feel a bit more comfortable to be direct involved in
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Speaker 2: contributing to the enhancement of women's leadership. And the fact
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Speaker 2: being given the chance to work on the women's Leadership
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Speaker 2: program was a blessing that came into my life at
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Speaker 2: the right time and in the right moment. But the
14:13
Speaker 2: challenge I face as well as seeing all these women
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Speaker 2: still struggling, I must say.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, thank you. That's amazing. The many, many contradictions
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Speaker 1: and what you call paradoxes in your culture, and I
14:26
Speaker 1: think you actually speak for many women around the world.
14:31
Speaker 1: I get to travel and speak in various countries, and
14:35
Speaker 1: although you know on the surface it seems one way,
14:38
Speaker 1: when you just go like one or two layers deep,
14:41
Speaker 1: you find all of these paradoxes in these various places elsewhere.
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Speaker 1: So thank you for addressing that and for naming those things.
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Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Let me ask you, in your opinion,
14:53
Speaker 1: what are some of the challenges that women face specifically
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Speaker 1: with regard to leadership. And if you could change one thing,
15:02
Speaker 1: you know, if you could just make it happen, what, yes,
15:07
Speaker 1: the things which you change, could you just talk to
15:09
Speaker 1: us a little bit about that.
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Speaker 2: Yes, it's a very difficult question, and it's actually really
15:16
Speaker 2: interesting at the same time, because there are so many
15:20
Speaker 2: things that need to change, and there are things that
15:24
Speaker 2: can be easily changed and some things that are very
15:26
Speaker 2: difficult to change. So if I could, first of all,
15:30
Speaker 2: I would change the law and everything related to law
15:34
Speaker 2: and religion, because in Lebanon, for example, at least, law
15:38
Speaker 2: is mainly based on religion, and there are so many
15:42
Speaker 2: patriarchal norms that still persist in religion. But then again,
15:47
Speaker 2: you may want to change the law, but there's still
15:50
Speaker 2: the culture that persists. So it's hard to really tell
15:53
Speaker 2: at first because someone want we want to change the law,
15:56
Speaker 2: But the most difficult thing to change nowadays the culture.
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Speaker 2: And if I could change the way the culture is
16:02
Speaker 2: and how the way we communicate with each other's because
16:06
Speaker 2: I believe nowadays there is a lot of there is
16:09
Speaker 2: actually a lack of meaningful conversation in society, and people
16:13
Speaker 2: who want to talk about subjects that are as taboo
16:17
Speaker 2: really fear to be judged. And I still struggle a
16:21
Speaker 2: lot with the culture and the communications. So if I
16:24
Speaker 2: could change this, I would change definitely the way people
16:29
Speaker 2: think about women, and because there are so many people
16:32
Speaker 2: I talk to who do not believe gender inequality is
16:35
Speaker 2: such a big deal, and to focus on it would
16:38
Speaker 2: probably bring more positive discrimination or even worse, make gender
16:42
Speaker 2: distinction persist. Yet gender equality is such an easily achievable
16:47
Speaker 2: goal compared to war, for instance, and to this day,
16:51
Speaker 2: culture is the number one obstacle we all face. So
16:54
Speaker 2: if I could change things, I would definitely start with
16:57
Speaker 2: the law, which is the basis of everything in their
17:01
Speaker 2: society nowadays, and the culture especially because I would change
17:07
Speaker 2: this as well through communication, and that's why I try
17:09
Speaker 2: to do every single day and try to really talk
17:12
Speaker 2: and dare to talk about subjects that people are afraid
17:16
Speaker 2: to talk about. I don't know if that makes sense.
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Speaker 1: Oh, it makes It makes all kinds of sense. And
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Speaker 1: I appreciate you bringing in the fact that culture, you know,
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Speaker 1: culture is such a it's like a multiplier, you know, yeah, exactly,
17:32
Speaker 1: very difficult to do. It's like, I don't know that
17:34
Speaker 1: much about your culture, but as I hear you talk,
17:36
Speaker 1: I'm imagining that there's so many things the past for
17:40
Speaker 1: hundreds and maybe even several millennia that are so deeply
17:44
Speaker 1: rooted in the culture that you know, changing those kinds
17:47
Speaker 1: of things is just very very daunting, not impossible, but daunting.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So thank.
17:56
Speaker 1: You again, Melanie for shedding the light on some of
17:59
Speaker 1: these areas that you care about, that you're passionate about.
18:04
Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, I know that you work at the UN,
18:06
Speaker 1: and can you tell us a little bit about what
18:09
Speaker 1: you're currently working on there and what drew you specifically
18:13
Speaker 1: to work on the Women's Leadership Program?
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Speaker 2: Okay, yes, for sure. I mean it's certain that my
18:20
Speaker 2: passion for human rights and sociology and contributing to the
18:24
Speaker 2: enhancement of our world brought me to work for the UN.
18:27
Speaker 2: It was certainly a childhood dream and I specialized in
18:31
Speaker 2: humanitarian assistance initially, but life brought me to Geneva at
18:35
Speaker 2: the heart of multilateral diplomacy, and the Women's Leadership Program
18:39
Speaker 2: was handed out to me. It was a very fresh
18:41
Speaker 2: and broad new program and that was launched in twenty
18:45
Speaker 2: fifteen by my colleague with the Men Day to enhance
18:49
Speaker 2: women's participation in negotiations. So, myk, my current task and
18:54
Speaker 2: my positions are quite broad. Though. I organized high level
18:57
Speaker 2: events inviting high level personalities such as Nobel Peace Price
19:02
Speaker 2: and with the purpose to deliver inspirational stories talking about
19:07
Speaker 2: leadership and how civil society can lead also the way
19:13
Speaker 2: things are in our society and the Women's Leadership Program
19:17
Speaker 2: is a specific program that has the mandate to build
19:21
Speaker 2: the skills, knowledge and capacities of women and government officials
19:26
Speaker 2: accredited to the UN and its entities, as well as
19:28
Speaker 2: civil servants and people from the private sector. The core
19:31
Speaker 2: activity under the Women's Leadership Program is to provide capacity
19:35
Speaker 2: building for self reflection, learning and development and increase women's
19:39
Speaker 2: participation in decision making and in politics. It has been
19:43
Speaker 2: expanded to people from other backgrounds who wish to undertake
19:46
Speaker 2: leadership positions too. And I believe this is how we
19:49
Speaker 2: met through a Women's Leadership workshop and retreat that was
19:52
Speaker 2: done in Stockholm. Yeah. So yeah, it's all about communicating
19:58
Speaker 2: developing capacities of w men and also providing inspirational stories, uh,
20:05
Speaker 2: so that people can can also be part of major
20:08
Speaker 2: changes on a global scale.
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Speaker 1: M I know, when I met you at the at
20:14
Speaker 1: the conference in Sweden, your presence just seemed to radiate.
20:19
Speaker 2: Oh thank you it did you know?
20:22
Speaker 1: And I think, as I recall Melanie, many of the
20:25
Speaker 1: women in that in that circle commented to you, you
20:29
Speaker 1: know something similar, and I just you know, your position
20:35
Speaker 1: and the work that you're doing there is so so
20:39
Speaker 1: needed and so necessary. Uh. And it's just like you said,
20:43
Speaker 1: it's a blending that you're able to be there to
20:46
Speaker 1: help lift these women leaders into a new place so
20:50
Speaker 1: that they can shine a light for for the rest
20:53
Speaker 1: of us. So thank you for that work.
20:54
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, thank you.
20:57
Speaker 1: You're so welcome. And the question I'd like to ask
21:01
Speaker 1: you in relation to the work that you just talked about,
21:05
Speaker 1: you know, because this is this is big work. You know,
21:07
Speaker 1: this is not something that's going to happen overnight, of course,
21:11
Speaker 1: And so I'm wondering, Melanie, what what are the things
21:13
Speaker 1: that you think that would help you achieve some of
21:16
Speaker 1: the goals that you laid out.
21:18
Speaker 2: Yes, so well, mainly since I work on the Women's
21:21
Speaker 2: Leadership program, I use the un as a platform to
21:26
Speaker 2: really reach out to as many people as I can.
21:29
Speaker 2: That's my starting point in a way. I want to
21:34
Speaker 2: be able to use this platform to be able to
21:37
Speaker 2: reach out many people. And since UNITOR is an entirely
21:40
Speaker 2: self funded organization, independent from the Secretariat of the United Nations.
21:46
Speaker 2: This means that we rely on donor contributions and our
21:49
Speaker 2: main donors are governments permanent missions, mainly who wish to
21:53
Speaker 2: associate their names to this project and who believe in
21:55
Speaker 2: the impact of capacity building in gender equalities. As I
21:59
Speaker 2: do not have a person, no brand on my own
22:01
Speaker 2: to advertise, which I would love to have in the future,
22:04
Speaker 2: I wish to appeal to donations with this interview perhaps
22:07
Speaker 2: and invite whoever wishes to contribute or discuss solutions and
22:11
Speaker 2: projects or even partnerships to reach out to me to
22:15
Speaker 2: be able to discuss these things. I believe in partnership
22:18
Speaker 2: union to help achieve a larger impact. So far, this
22:22
Speaker 2: program has been struggling to be implemented because of lack
22:26
Speaker 2: of contributions, and one of the major issues we face
22:30
Speaker 2: is that organizations want to do these workshops, want to
22:35
Speaker 2: enhance the skills of their women's but always blame the
22:39
Speaker 2: fact that there is no funds or it's not their
22:43
Speaker 2: decisions to send women to participate to conferences. So there
22:48
Speaker 2: are so many excuses out there, but the fact the
22:51
Speaker 2: way to partner and to contribute would really be something
22:55
Speaker 2: very helpful and I can say that because well, first
22:59
Speaker 2: the the action you gave me as well yourself, was
23:02
Speaker 2: that it really had an impact on some of the participants.
23:05
Speaker 2: But I do realize the impact myself as well when
23:08
Speaker 2: other participants come to me and telling me, oh, this
23:11
Speaker 2: workshop finally helped me not being shy anymore, and we
23:16
Speaker 2: made me realize how shy I was, or made me
23:19
Speaker 2: realize how many careers I was imposing on myself, and
23:23
Speaker 2: how nice and polite I was before, and how I
23:26
Speaker 2: need to be more assertive and believe in myself. So
23:30
Speaker 2: I believe that capacity building and education is something really
23:34
Speaker 2: everyone needs to focus on, and help from partnerships would
23:39
Speaker 2: really it's really needed. So this is how I shape
23:44
Speaker 2: my identity myself through education and through capacity building. And
23:48
Speaker 2: I believe as well that what would help is communicating
23:52
Speaker 2: with other people. So in my daily life, I try
23:55
Speaker 2: as much as I can to believe I can make
23:57
Speaker 2: an impact. So what would help is for people to
23:59
Speaker 2: really communicate and discuss about gender inequality and stop being
24:03
Speaker 2: so judgmental in a way, I believe in communication, capacity
24:08
Speaker 2: building and just re having discussions with people, creating new
24:13
Speaker 2: partnerships and highlighting the importance of women's participation and negotiations
24:20
Speaker 2: or gender equality or the benefits of gender equality would
24:23
Speaker 2: really be something that is needed. So I hope I
24:27
Speaker 2: answered the question correct.
24:29
Speaker 1: You did. Thank you. Now, you mentioned many things in
24:33
Speaker 1: this question, so I just kind of want to unpack
24:35
Speaker 1: it a little bit. You mentioned UNITAR. Can you tell
24:38
Speaker 1: us what that acronym stands for, Melanie.
24:41
Speaker 2: Yes, it's the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. Okay,
24:46
Speaker 2: it's the training arm of the NF.
24:49
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, And so that's UNATAR. And you talked about
24:52
Speaker 1: building a platform so that you can reach more people.
24:56
Speaker 1: You talked about funding. You talked about kind of the stigma,
25:01
Speaker 1: you know, which is connected to funding. I think there's
25:04
Speaker 1: still a general sense that women are less than and
25:08
Speaker 1: we have to do, you know, more to get to
25:10
Speaker 1: the table. That kind of thing about the importance of
25:14
Speaker 1: capacity building and communicating and having conversations with one another. Yes, yeah,
25:20
Speaker 1: did I get most of those things in yes?
25:23
Speaker 2: Yes, okay, Yes.
25:26
Speaker 1: And you know, I think as you were talking, I
25:28
Speaker 1: was thinking about I think Margaret meads that you know,
25:30
Speaker 1: never doubt that a small group of people can change
25:33
Speaker 1: the world. It's the only way to change happens. Yeah,
25:38
Speaker 1: And these conversations that you're talking about. It really is
25:42
Speaker 1: one woman, one circle, one group at a time, and
25:46
Speaker 1: I'm just again, just delighted that you are involved in
25:49
Speaker 1: this work. So thank you again for what you're doing
25:53
Speaker 1: and what you're sharing. And I'd love to ask you
25:56
Speaker 1: a question. We talked about this several months ago when
25:59
Speaker 1: we chatted about the show, So this is a more
26:02
Speaker 1: personal question, not about your work per se, but a
26:05
Speaker 1: more personal question, Melanie, is that Okay if I ask
26:08
Speaker 1: you one of those.
26:09
Speaker 2: Of course, of course, okay.
26:13
Speaker 3: I would love for you to just talk a little
26:15
Speaker 3: bit about one or two or you know, some of
26:18
Speaker 3: the women in your life, women leaders in particular, who
26:23
Speaker 3: have influenced you and your leadership.
26:28
Speaker 2: Wow, it's really it's really interesting, is a question I
26:32
Speaker 2: must say, And it's very hard as well to answer
26:36
Speaker 2: because there are so many women at the same time,
26:40
Speaker 2: and paradoxically enough, there's not many women leaders that are
26:45
Speaker 2: portrayed in society, which makes people sometimes a bit lost
26:51
Speaker 2: when they have this question. So I don't want to
26:54
Speaker 2: sound cliche by saying this, but it's true that my
26:57
Speaker 2: mom was one of them, made her female figure I
27:02
Speaker 2: had growing up, and it could really sound cliche because
27:07
Speaker 2: everyone grows up with a female figure that is close
27:11
Speaker 2: to their family in a way. But my mom was
27:16
Speaker 2: really a very strong woman, and she really had a
27:20
Speaker 2: very tough background because she had to take care of
27:23
Speaker 2: her parents alone. She had to really work hard and
27:27
Speaker 2: set aside her education to be able to really provide
27:31
Speaker 2: for her own parents. And I've never seen her cry
27:35
Speaker 2: or being devastated, and I'm not saying that's a good
27:38
Speaker 2: thing at the same time, but I've seen her always
27:41
Speaker 2: very strong and very resilient, which really inspired me in
27:45
Speaker 2: my leadership journey because I realized that it's true that
27:50
Speaker 2: life will give you a lot of lemhon it's really
27:53
Speaker 2: how you deal with them that will shape you your
27:56
Speaker 2: personality in a way. And her and her sister were
28:01
Speaker 2: quite strong women and they were very My aunt as well,
28:05
Speaker 2: was very involved in protest as when she was young,
28:08
Speaker 2: and she's very she's a leader in her own heart,
28:12
Speaker 2: and those two women influenced me a lot. But if
28:15
Speaker 2: I have to speak about famous figures, I must say
28:18
Speaker 2: that maybe Rosa Parks and Oprah were two female leaders
28:25
Speaker 2: that inspired me for their determination for embracing their challenges
28:30
Speaker 2: and doing something about it, and Also, it really might
28:34
Speaker 2: sound silly, but when I was younger, I grew up
28:37
Speaker 2: watching a lot of TV shows, and these TV shows
28:41
Speaker 2: had a lot of female protagonists. There were goofy and
28:44
Speaker 2: who were embracing their goofiness and crumsiness and at the
28:47
Speaker 2: same time being comfortable with it. And I do believe
28:51
Speaker 2: this is needed because it really allowed me to be
28:53
Speaker 2: very comfortable with my own self. So I also grew
28:57
Speaker 2: up watching The Power of Girls, which is an animated cartoon.
29:01
Speaker 2: It might sound really innocent, but the fact to see
29:03
Speaker 2: that women had powers while at the same time being
29:06
Speaker 2: feminine and embracing their own seminity and characters was really
29:11
Speaker 2: inspirational for me because I really wanted to grow up
29:14
Speaker 2: being a superwoman and this helped a lot and my determination.
29:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, and what I think you're saying is that it
29:22
Speaker 1: helps to have role models, you know, as a you know,
29:26
Speaker 1: as a child, you don't think about your mom or
29:28
Speaker 1: your aunt or these figures that you're watching on TV.
29:33
Speaker 1: You don't think about them as role models, but they
29:35
Speaker 1: impress you in some way, something about their spirits, something
29:38
Speaker 1: about you know, as you mentioned, how they overcome challenges,
29:41
Speaker 1: their determination. There it's just ignites something within us.
29:45
Speaker 2: Doesn't it, Yes, exactly. I mean it's it's very silly
29:49
Speaker 2: to say and to talk about cartoons and TV shows,
29:53
Speaker 2: but it actually really plays a major role. I mean,
29:55
Speaker 2: if you grew up watching tales where there are princesses
29:59
Speaker 2: where for their princess you might have a different perspective
30:03
Speaker 2: than watching girls who have powers and are saving the
30:06
Speaker 2: world before bedtime. So I was really always uh inspired
30:13
Speaker 2: by that, and I do believe that nowadays we really
30:15
Speaker 2: need more figures like that to to to provide to
30:19
Speaker 2: young women because I discussed a lot with women that
30:22
Speaker 2: were younger than me, and the fact that I highlighted
30:25
Speaker 2: all these things about masculinity and being afraid and shamed
30:30
Speaker 2: of your clumsiness or your goofiness or things like that
30:34
Speaker 2: really talked a lot to them. And they were like, oh,
30:37
Speaker 2: thank god, someone is thinking the same as me. And
30:40
Speaker 2: we're really tend to hide all these problems, but they're
30:43
Speaker 2: quite important in my opinion, And yeah, so we're the same.
30:49
Speaker 1: You know what you're what you're saying is right in
30:52
Speaker 1: my sweet spot because the images that we project, whether
30:56
Speaker 1: they're through cartoons or TV shows or movies or you know,
31:00
Speaker 1: magazines or whatever. We are what we consume, and if
31:03
Speaker 1: we're consuming images of women that are stereotypical and that
31:08
Speaker 1: keep us bound and repressed and restricted, that's what we're
31:12
Speaker 1: going to matabolize for ourselves and imagine for ourselves. I'm
31:18
Speaker 1: reading a book by Thomas Moore right now that I
31:21
Speaker 1: love for a number of times. That's called Care of
31:23
Speaker 1: the Soul. And you know, one of the things he
31:27
Speaker 1: talks about that just really grabs me. He says being
31:30
Speaker 1: being follows imagination. And so when you say that you
31:35
Speaker 1: saw these images that you know were goofy images that
31:38
Speaker 1: allowed you to be comfortable in your own skin, and
31:40
Speaker 1: that makes so much sense to me. I think we
31:42
Speaker 1: talked about the arts and leadership and how we can
31:46
Speaker 1: use the arts to really help transform those images into
31:51
Speaker 1: images that are women who are innovative and imaginative and creative,
31:58
Speaker 1: all of those things. So thank you again for sharing
32:01
Speaker 1: that bit about yourself.
32:03
Speaker 2: Thank you for listening and not judging as well, because
32:07
Speaker 2: I mean, people can say, oh, well, out of all
32:09
Speaker 2: these female leaders, these are the ones that she could
32:12
Speaker 2: come up with. But as you say, I mean, we
32:15
Speaker 2: are shaped by what we watch and see when we
32:18
Speaker 2: grow up so I do believe it's important to address.
32:21
Speaker 1: This issue absolutely. Thank you. So I'm wondering if there's
32:26
Speaker 1: a project that you're working on right now or something
32:29
Speaker 1: that's coming up for you that you'd like to make
32:32
Speaker 1: sure that our listeners hear about. Yeah.
32:35
Speaker 2: One of the projects I currently work on is the
32:38
Speaker 2: Women's Leadership Program. As I previously said, this program is
32:41
Speaker 2: really important and dear to my heart because I do
32:45
Speaker 2: believe in capacity building. I do believe in education and
32:48
Speaker 2: enhancing skills that many women need. And I know this
32:53
Speaker 2: because of the feedback I've received from lots of participants
32:56
Speaker 2: who took took these workshops and who came to me
32:59
Speaker 2: and told me that it really changed their lives in
33:02
Speaker 2: a way, and it really opened up their eyes and
33:04
Speaker 2: it made them more confident in themselves. And this acts
33:07
Speaker 2: as a multiplier effect because they can go back to
33:10
Speaker 2: their capitals in a way, or to their countries and
33:14
Speaker 2: provide trainings on their own to other women. And I
33:17
Speaker 2: think that this program is really important and people can
33:20
Speaker 2: reach out to me at any time at Leadership at
33:23
Speaker 2: unitar dot org to discuss to even share experiences, to
33:28
Speaker 2: discuss possibilities of partnerships or contributions. We really want to
33:32
Speaker 2: be inclusive in the un try to really work on
33:36
Speaker 2: partnering with other organizations to provide more workshops and on
33:39
Speaker 2: a larger scale. So this is my professional project, which
33:43
Speaker 2: is also a personal project. But as a personal project,
33:47
Speaker 2: I've been trying as well to really tell people about
33:51
Speaker 2: the importance of women's leadership and gender equality. So I
33:55
Speaker 2: do a lot of communication with people. I tried to
33:58
Speaker 2: really open conversation, and I would really like to invite
34:02
Speaker 2: the audience to listen to do that in their own
34:04
Speaker 2: lives and to really take a step back and see
34:08
Speaker 2: how their unconscious bias can affect as well their own actions,
34:12
Speaker 2: because they did for me, and it's only through communication
34:15
Speaker 2: and open mindeds that I was able to really see
34:19
Speaker 2: how judgmental eye was and how women can also be
34:22
Speaker 2: very discriminatory towards others. I mean, it's important to communicate.
34:28
Speaker 2: So these are the personal projects to really try to
34:30
Speaker 2: have an impact on a very small scale at first,
34:34
Speaker 2: and try not to really be too ambitious while being
34:37
Speaker 2: scared not to do anything. But it's just my main
34:40
Speaker 2: message is to also say that there's a saying that says,
34:44
Speaker 2: I wonder why sometimes no one did anything about it,
34:48
Speaker 2: or someone should have done something about it. And it's
34:51
Speaker 2: important to realize that you are that anybody, and you
34:53
Speaker 2: are that something someone, and you can do something about anything.
34:57
Speaker 2: And it doesn't have to be major impact or something
35:02
Speaker 2: that is really big. It can be really a conversation
35:05
Speaker 2: or a communication with someone, or a remark or taking
35:09
Speaker 2: a step back towards our own beliefs and our own
35:12
Speaker 2: judgments to try to be more open. And anyone can
35:17
Speaker 2: make a change at any time. And yeah, I do
35:21
Speaker 2: believe that this is really important.
35:23
Speaker 1: So yeah, yeah, well thank you. What you're saying is
35:27
Speaker 1: so important. Many people that I meet in my leadership travels,
35:31
Speaker 1: I work with leaders of all ages and lots of
35:34
Speaker 1: different cultures, women, men, young people, et cetera. And a
35:39
Speaker 1: lot of times they go, you know, you know, I'm
35:42
Speaker 1: just one person. What can I do to change the world.
35:45
Speaker 1: And as you just said, Melanie, it doesn't have to
35:48
Speaker 1: be huge, it doesn't have to be written across the sky, right,
35:51
Speaker 1: it's exactly quite a small thing in your world that
35:56
Speaker 1: makes a difference in somebody else's world. And that really
36:00
Speaker 1: is I think the heart of this work of leadership work.
36:06
Speaker 1: You know, there's some things that are that are very
36:08
Speaker 1: large in scale, and there's some things that are that
36:11
Speaker 1: are fairly fairly small that are you know, within our reach,
36:15
Speaker 1: within our graphs. So thank you for making that distinction,
36:18
Speaker 1: for for our.
36:19
Speaker 2: Listeners and even and even given your example having a
36:23
Speaker 2: radio show to discuss all these things. And it's really
36:27
Speaker 2: inspiring in a way because it's it's definitely through listening
36:30
Speaker 2: to people and through exchanging ideas that we can make
36:34
Speaker 2: a change and get even inspired to do new things
36:37
Speaker 2: as well. So thank you as well for for doing
36:39
Speaker 2: this yourself and for giving me the opportunity to speak
36:42
Speaker 2: up as well.
36:44
Speaker 1: You are so welcome and to your point, you know,
36:47
Speaker 1: there there are so many people in countries that don't
36:51
Speaker 1: have the kind of infrastructure communications infrastructure that we enjoy
36:56
Speaker 1: in various parts of Europe where you are, uh and
36:59
Speaker 1: the United States and an other well funded and you know,
37:02
Speaker 1: so called developed countries definitely, and but but everybody seems
37:07
Speaker 1: to have a cell phone, you know, and you have
37:12
Speaker 1: a cell phone, you can have access to a show
37:15
Speaker 1: like this. And one of my secret goals, just so
37:18
Speaker 1: you know, is to have this kind of conversation so
37:21
Speaker 1: that people all over the world can can tune in
37:26
Speaker 1: and listen, because that's how we grow. Without access to
37:29
Speaker 1: this kind of information, you know, you're just kind of
37:31
Speaker 1: stuck in your own, your own little world, and you
37:34
Speaker 1: may not know what's happening out there. What's possible for you.
37:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
37:40
Speaker 1: Again you for the work that you're doing, for the
37:43
Speaker 1: passion that you have, for bringing your your background into
37:47
Speaker 1: play and being inspired by those women in your life
37:52
Speaker 1: who made a difference for you when you were younger,
37:55
Speaker 1: and that you're now able to radiate that and do
37:59
Speaker 1: the same for other for other women. Thank you so.
38:01
Speaker 2: Much, Melanie, Thank you, thank you for giving me the opportunity.
38:05
Speaker 1: You're so welcome. I wish you a good rest of
38:08
Speaker 1: your It's evening there now for you, and it's morning
38:11
Speaker 1: for me. Good evening, and I can't wait to introduce
38:17
Speaker 1: you to my listeners and great.
38:20
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, and thank you also for the
38:22
Speaker 2: audience who are listening as well.
38:25
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, fantastic, wonderful nuggets. Thanks again to
38:33
Speaker 1: Melanie Cremona for being my guest today. If you'd like
38:37
Speaker 1: to learn more about Melanie's work, or, as she mentioned
38:41
Speaker 1: during today's conversation, if you'd like to donate to unis
38:44
Speaker 1: hoarers programming to support women leaders. You can reach out
38:48
Speaker 1: to Melanie via this email address and that's leadership at
38:54
Speaker 1: unitar dot org. Leadership at unitar dot org and remember
39:00
Speaker 1: for unitar is niar dot org. So if you want
39:05
Speaker 1: to reach out to Melanie, she'd be very happy to
39:07
Speaker 1: hear from you. Now, if you missed any part of
39:11
Speaker 1: this week's broadcast about women's leadership, developing your own leadership identity,
39:16
Speaker 1: you can listen to the podcast right here on Talk
39:20
Speaker 1: Network Radio Now. You can also find me on itune, SoundCloud, Alexa,
39:26
Speaker 1: and many many other places. Now, before I close today's show,
39:32
Speaker 1: I just want to give a shout out to all
39:33
Speaker 1: the women, all the women all around the world, and
39:38
Speaker 1: to my mom, who just celebrated her birthday. Yay, love
39:43
Speaker 1: you Mom. When Melanie mentioned her mom is one of
39:46
Speaker 1: the women leaders who influenced her, you know I was
39:49
Speaker 1: thinking the very same thing as I know many of
39:51
Speaker 1: you were too, Because you know what, I asked this
39:54
Speaker 1: question a lot of people all over the world. I
39:58
Speaker 1: was just presenting a keynote a few days ago, and
40:01
Speaker 1: this was one of the questions I asked the folks
40:03
Speaker 1: in the audience. Who inspired you when you were a
40:07
Speaker 1: young girl or boy? Who did you look up to?
40:09
Speaker 1: Who did you admire and why? And you know what,
40:14
Speaker 1: no matter where I am in the world, the response
40:16
Speaker 1: to that question is always the same. Who inspired you?
40:20
Speaker 1: Who influenced you? This is what I hear, Well, my
40:24
Speaker 1: mom or my dad, or my grandpa or my grandma. Right, So,
40:31
Speaker 1: you know, it's amazing how much impact we have as
40:34
Speaker 1: leaders in our own home. Now. Most parents don't think
40:38
Speaker 1: about themselves as leaders, right, They're just kind of scratching
40:41
Speaker 1: their head figuring out this parenting things. But we are.
40:44
Speaker 1: That's what we are. We're leaders for our children and
40:47
Speaker 1: we have so much influence and impact in our own
40:50
Speaker 1: home with our own children. So, moms and dads out there,
40:55
Speaker 1: even when it seems like your daughter or son isn't
40:58
Speaker 1: paying attention, let me tell you something. They are. They're listening. Okay,
41:03
Speaker 1: they're listening, and they're soaking it all in. And more
41:08
Speaker 1: than anything else, they are watching you. Let me be
41:13
Speaker 1: really clear. They are scoping you out. They are observing
41:18
Speaker 1: every single thing you do, every little nuance. Right. More importantly,
41:23
Speaker 1: they're watching you because they want to see if what
41:26
Speaker 1: you say and what you do line up right, Our
41:32
Speaker 1: actions really do speak much louder than our words. A
41:36
Speaker 1: good friend of mine who's a former CEO, she says this,
41:41
Speaker 1: you know, whether your parent or whether you're in the boardroom.
41:44
Speaker 1: As a leader, in any context, your walk has got
41:49
Speaker 1: to talk louder than your talk talks. That's great, isn't it.
41:54
Speaker 1: Let me repeat that, she says, your walk has got
41:57
Speaker 1: to talk louder than you're talking. Now, why is that?
42:03
Speaker 1: Because that's how we build the bridge called trust, right,
42:08
Speaker 1: That's how we strengthen our bond with those we love.
42:13
Speaker 1: That's how we deepen our relationships one step at a time,
42:17
Speaker 1: inch by inch, mile by mile, and smile by smile
42:22
Speaker 1: at home, at work, and in any area of our lives,
42:26
Speaker 1: every single day. Three sixty five twenty four to seven.
42:32
Speaker 1: So ask yourself, how is your walk lining up with
42:36
Speaker 1: your talk? You know what, It's never too late to
42:40
Speaker 1: get your walk and your talk lined up, to get
42:43
Speaker 1: your act together, so to speak, so you can take
42:45
Speaker 1: it on the road and make a difference in someone's life,
42:50
Speaker 1: the difference that only you can make. Remember this, how
42:56
Speaker 1: you live is how you lead. How you live is
43:02
Speaker 1: how you lead. Now, if you happen to miss any
43:06
Speaker 1: part of this week's broadcast, or if you missed last
43:09
Speaker 1: week's show, you can listen to a podcast of the
43:12
Speaker 1: show at your convenience. You can even listen to it
43:15
Speaker 1: on the go. How about that.
43:18
Speaker 4: Check us out at www dot Talknetwork Radio dot com.
43:25
Speaker 4: Forward Slash Hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living. That's Talknetwork Radio
43:32
Speaker 4: dot com. Forward Slash Hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living.
43:39
Speaker 1: Before I close today, I want to thank each of
43:44
Speaker 1: you for tuning in to today's show and for allowing me
43:48
Speaker 1: to share just a bit about my journey with what
43:51
Speaker 1: Legacy living is all about, not just living and learning,
43:55
Speaker 1: but living and learning and serving so that you may
44:00
Speaker 1: a difference in your own life and in the lives
44:02
Speaker 1: of others. It's about being on purpose every single day.
44:09
Speaker 1: Three sixty five twenty four to seven. Legacy Living is
44:14
Speaker 1: one of the many ways to make your life count.
44:19
Speaker 1: Once again, thank you for joining me for today's show.
44:23
Speaker 1: I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this has
44:28
Speaker 1: been Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. Please join me
44:32
Speaker 1: again next week right here on Talk Network Radio for
44:37
Speaker 1: another show of Legacy Living. Make your Life count. Don't
44:42
Speaker 1: miss it and don't just count the days in your life.
44:49
Speaker 1: Make the days in your life count. That's what legacy
44:53
Speaker 1: living is all about. Have a fantastic day and remember,
44:59
Speaker 1: make the days in your life count. God bless you.
45:17
Speaker 1: That's our show to day. I'm your host, doctor Gloria
45:21
Speaker 1: Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll join me again next week.
45:26
Speaker 1: Until then, don't just count the days in your life,
45:30
Speaker 1: make the days in your life account. That's what legacy
45:34
Speaker 1: living is all about. Here's to you. Have a fantastic day.
45:40
Speaker 1: Be sure to make it a yes kind of day
45:43
Speaker 1: and remember, celebrate, celebrate the music of your life. Make
45:50
Speaker 1: the day in your life count