Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Women Take the Lead | Episode #491

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Women Take the Lead | Episode #491 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your
0:27
Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, international
0:34
Speaker 1: leadership expert and trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make
0:42
Speaker 1: Your Life Count. I am so delighted that you joined
0:47
Speaker 1: me today. I have a very special guest on our show.
0:52
Speaker 1: Her name is Eberet. Acadie Eberet is an entrepreneur, leadership strategist,
1:00
Speaker 1: and a thought leader in leadership development, diversity and inclusion.
1:06
Speaker 1: She is also the founder of two businesses, Rise and Lead,
1:12
Speaker 1: and her second business is called Ataro Foods Now. Many
1:17
Speaker 1: people describe Everray as an inspiring role model and a
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Speaker 1: pace center. Well, that's because she is passionate about helping
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Speaker 1: women in business to elevate their leadership, to lead successful businesses,
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Speaker 1: and to partner with industry leaders in order to increase
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Speaker 1: the number of women who are represented in leadership positions.
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Speaker 1: One of the many ways that Eberet helps women in
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Speaker 1: business is through her company called Rise and Lead. Rise
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Speaker 1: and Lead convenes and hosts inspiring leadership conferences and roundtables.
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Speaker 1: She brings together diverse women in business and accomplish leaders
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Speaker 1: from major global brands such as Aon Accenture, Coca Cola, Insight, Uber, MasterCard,
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Speaker 1: we Transfer, Procter and Gamble, Pfizer, United Nations Ups, and
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Speaker 1: many many more. Ebiray truly believes that leadership development is
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Speaker 1: a tool that helps us embrace our full potential, which
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Speaker 1: inspires others to embrace theirs. Now doesn't that sound like
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Speaker 1: legacy living? I met eBay through a mutual friend ari
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Speaker 1: all of us are mutually passionate about entrepreneurship and leadership.
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Speaker 1: Woila instant connection. Ebray's highest calling is her absolute joy
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Speaker 1: in lifting up and building up women leaders Today's topic
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Speaker 1: is all about that lifting up women's leadership, a topic
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Speaker 1: that is very close to my heart. As you know now,
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Speaker 1: I can't think of a better person, a better leader,
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Speaker 1: a better human being to address this topic than Eberey
3:20
Speaker 1: a Caterie. When she said yes to being on my podcast,
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Speaker 1: I just knew that she would speak soulfully and passionately
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Speaker 1: about her life and her work. Why, because that's who
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Speaker 1: she is. She is simply on fire about God's call
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Speaker 1: on her life. So I can't wait to host my
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Speaker 1: friend and colleague, Eberey a Caterie. Now before I bring
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Speaker 1: Everray in I just want to take a minute to
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Speaker 1: connect the dots between today's topic on lifting up leaders
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Speaker 1: and legacy living. Now, there are many many ways that
4:02
Speaker 1: lifting up leaders connects to legacy living. For now, let
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Speaker 1: me just say that legacy living is a way of
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Speaker 1: being and a way of living in the world. And
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Speaker 1: you've heard me say this over and over again on
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Speaker 1: this podcast. How you live is how you lead. Now,
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Speaker 1: most importantly, legacy living and leadership is a way of
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Speaker 1: serving so that we make the conscious choice to be
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Speaker 1: the difference we want to see in the world. We
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Speaker 1: make the conscious choice right here, right now, not in
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Speaker 1: some distant future. Right we make that conscious choice day
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Speaker 1: in and day out. Three sixty five, twenty four seven.
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Speaker 1: Now let me bring in my friend and colleague, Evere Acatarie.
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Speaker 1: I'd want to welllcome you to my podcast beat if
5:02
Speaker 1: you could say your name for us, where you live,
5:05
Speaker 1: and how you started in this leadership world.
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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me on this show.
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Speaker 2: My name is a Beret Academy and I live in
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Speaker 2: the Netherlands. I'm originally from Nigeria and I started an
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Speaker 2: organization called Rise and Lead Women. The way I started
5:31
Speaker 2: is when I came to the Netherlands in twenty thirteen.
5:35
Speaker 2: I moved with my family and my husband because my
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Speaker 2: husband was transferred to work in the Netherlands. And before
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Speaker 2: then I had a business in Nigeria, a restaurant business
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Speaker 2: that was growing very rapidly with you know, two branches
5:53
Speaker 2: and seven Souls outlets. So when I had to leave
5:58
Speaker 2: it behind as the good wife and moved with my
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Speaker 2: husband to the Netherlands, and arriving here, I was kind
6:08
Speaker 2: of lost, almost depressed, trying to find what else to do.
6:14
Speaker 2: I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do, and
6:19
Speaker 2: in that situation I started. I had some time to
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Speaker 2: reflect to even you know, re examine myself, to know
6:27
Speaker 2: who I am and what my values are and you know,
6:32
Speaker 2: what difference I'm supposed to make on this earth. And
6:36
Speaker 2: it was at that point I kept hearing that voice
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Speaker 2: like teach what you know, teach what you know already.
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Speaker 2: And that was how I started, you know, bringing women
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Speaker 2: together to teach them a little bit about entrepreneurship and
6:53
Speaker 2: then also looking for a network that supports ambitious women
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Speaker 2: who want to build companies. I couldn't find one, so
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Speaker 2: I decided to start off Rise and lead women as
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Speaker 2: you know, as an event, as an event to empower
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Speaker 2: women to to just take up you know, rise like
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Speaker 2: you know, raise their voices and start driving changes and
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Speaker 2: start building, start leading their businesses. And that's how Rizon started.
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Speaker 2: And now it's three years and that we are moving
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Speaker 2: more towards leadership development for women to help them get
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Speaker 2: the seats at the table and also partnering with different
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Speaker 2: corporate organizations to drive changes towards gender diversity and inclusion.
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Speaker 1: M Okay, well, thank you and the world needs your
7:55
Speaker 1: voice now more than ever ever. A so can you
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Speaker 1: talk to us? You know, we talk about leadership a
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Speaker 1: lot in this uh in this world at least you
8:05
Speaker 1: know the work that I do. We talk about leadership
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Speaker 1: a lot, and many of us have our own definitions
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Speaker 1: about leadership. And so I'm curious what does leadership mean
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Speaker 1: to you?
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Speaker 2: Thank you so much. That's a very beautiful question. As
8:22
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I had a webinar recently talking
8:25
Speaker 2: about that topic. I see that when I speak to
8:29
Speaker 2: women in women in business, we talk about leadership a lot,
8:34
Speaker 2: and some people start thinking it's not for them. It
8:38
Speaker 2: all has to be when you get to a certain
8:42
Speaker 2: position at work, that's when you start talking about leadership.
8:47
Speaker 2: But then I started speaking to them about for me,
8:51
Speaker 2: what leadership means, and what leadership means to me. It's
8:55
Speaker 2: about driving changes. It's about taking up you know, the montle,
9:01
Speaker 2: taking up responsibilities, leading changes, using your voices to drive
9:07
Speaker 2: social changes. It's all about engaging, you know, with people,
9:12
Speaker 2: sharing our vision of a better world and inspiring them
9:17
Speaker 2: to come with us on this journey. So that's for me,
9:21
Speaker 2: it's that's what leadership means to me. And I believe
9:24
Speaker 2: that everybody can lead from where they are, and that
9:29
Speaker 2: people can also expand their capacity to lead, and when
9:33
Speaker 2: they do that, they're making space for other people to
9:38
Speaker 2: also start increasing their capacity to.
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Speaker 1: All right, and I love how you talk about leadership,
9:47
Speaker 1: you know, very globally at work for social change, and
9:52
Speaker 1: you also talk about leading from where you are. So
9:55
Speaker 1: can you say a little bit more about that, because
9:57
Speaker 1: a lot of people are, you know, just kind of
9:59
Speaker 1: scratch their about that. What does that really mean?
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Speaker 2: So let's start with you know, even when we talk
10:05
Speaker 2: about the world's definition of leadership, it's about who is
10:09
Speaker 2: in front, who is taking up the lead, who is
10:12
Speaker 2: taking up the mantle or the responsibility to move everybody
10:17
Speaker 2: towards a common goal. So when you are I use
10:22
Speaker 2: this example like if you are in an office environment
10:27
Speaker 2: and then they want you to They are looking for
10:32
Speaker 2: somebody to organize an event, for example, and nobody is
10:37
Speaker 2: raising their hands to do it, but you're gifted to
10:40
Speaker 2: do that. It's important for you to raise your hands,
10:44
Speaker 2: even though it's not part.
10:45
Speaker 1: Of your job description.
10:47
Speaker 2: And as soon as you raise your hands to do that,
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Speaker 2: people will gather around you to support you. At that point,
10:53
Speaker 2: you are a leader. You are leading that initiative. And
10:58
Speaker 2: the more we take up so responsibilities, the more we
11:02
Speaker 2: grow our capacity to lead, the more we grow our
11:06
Speaker 2: leadership competencies, the more we become better leaders, and the
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Speaker 2: more people start looking up to Earth, you know, for
11:14
Speaker 2: solutions to problems. That's how people live from where they are.
11:19
Speaker 2: You don't wait for somebody to appoint you of putting
11:23
Speaker 2: that position of leadership. You know your gifts, you know
11:27
Speaker 2: what you can do. You can start influencing people through
11:31
Speaker 2: your gifts, and that's why it's important to develop yourself
11:37
Speaker 2: as a leader.
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Speaker 1: Yes, okay, thank you. I love this notion of you know,
11:43
Speaker 1: starting from where you are connected to your gifts and
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Speaker 1: what you're passionate about. You know, everybody can do something right,
11:51
Speaker 1: and so why not raise your why not be the
11:53
Speaker 1: one to raise your hand and say, hey, start right? Yeah?
11:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, And sometimes it's because people don't know what they
12:02
Speaker 2: are good at.
12:03
Speaker 1: Yes, yeah, And that's probably a whole different conversation, right,
12:08
Speaker 1: different conversation. Yes, Yes, So every ray, can you talk
12:13
Speaker 1: a little bit about I know that your your organization,
12:16
Speaker 1: Rise and Leaders focused on women and women's leadership. Why
12:21
Speaker 1: do women need to enhance their leadership competency?
12:27
Speaker 2: Yeah? So when Rise and Leads started and we were
12:31
Speaker 2: just focusing on female entrepreneurship, then I remember my mentor,
12:35
Speaker 2: she said, you know, every is going to take one
12:38
Speaker 2: hundred years to close the gender leadership gap. We can't
12:41
Speaker 2: focus only on entrepreneurs We need to go into the
12:44
Speaker 2: workplaces and drive changes. So we started moving into diversity
12:50
Speaker 2: and inclusion space. And if you look at today, the
12:55
Speaker 2: number of women at the top leadership positions so low.
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Speaker 2: You know, from all the reports, from every report that
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Speaker 2: you get, women are underrepresented in every part of the economy,
13:11
Speaker 2: in every institution. Meanwhile, there are so many reports that
13:16
Speaker 2: says that I think it was McKenzie.
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Speaker 1: You know.
13:19
Speaker 2: In one of their leading reports of twenty nineteen, they
13:23
Speaker 2: mentioned that women, you know, get into the workforce, but
13:29
Speaker 2: as they start moving towards the leadership ladder, towards the
13:33
Speaker 2: executive position, they drop from fifty percent to twenty five percent,
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Speaker 2: and as they start moving towards the CEO level, they
13:45
Speaker 2: even go down to seven percent. Why is that? Now?
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Speaker 2: As a leadership strategist, what I can think of is
13:54
Speaker 2: the fact that when you are at the entry level
13:57
Speaker 2: in a workplace, your leader in you know, the way
14:02
Speaker 2: you're working, you're focusing a lot on tactics, all those
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Speaker 2: tactical job descriptions that you're given right but when you
14:11
Speaker 2: start moving into the executive positions, you're expected to embrace
14:16
Speaker 2: strategies like big vision driving a team. And then you're
14:22
Speaker 2: also expected to develop or to display such personal qualities
14:31
Speaker 2: that helps you to inspire people to move the organization forward,
14:36
Speaker 2: and for example, like negotiation skills, like people's skills, even
14:42
Speaker 2: like stakeholder management or stakeholder relationship management. And and the
14:50
Speaker 2: confidence level, you know, you have to stand up and
14:54
Speaker 2: speak up and have a very strong opinion. And then
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Speaker 2: there was another report by your I can't remember his name,
15:04
Speaker 2: but he wrote an article on Have a Business Review
15:09
Speaker 2: saying that men seem to overthink themselves, you know, their
15:14
Speaker 2: competency level, but women women, they found this report, I
15:21
Speaker 2: think I can find it. What is I think Chamaro
15:25
Speaker 2: Primus prem Music. Yeah, you know, he was saying that
15:29
Speaker 2: there's a disparity in confidence level between men and women, right,
15:35
Speaker 2: and he said is the confidence gap because men show
15:40
Speaker 2: up as confident and because of that, everybody believes that they,
15:45
Speaker 2: you know, they are competence. But women tend to be
15:50
Speaker 2: more humble, which is very good quality of a leader
15:54
Speaker 2: because it's related to emotional intelligence. But people or the
15:59
Speaker 2: leader us who are judging us to promote us, don't
16:03
Speaker 2: see that as a great skill to make them promote you.
16:07
Speaker 2: So what am I saying all this background? What I'm
16:09
Speaker 2: trying to say is that my organization Rise and Lead
16:13
Speaker 2: were on the mens to increase the representation of women
16:16
Speaker 2: in top leadership positions. And one of the ways we
16:19
Speaker 2: are going to achieve that is to help women understand
16:24
Speaker 2: develop themselves as leaders, start developing those competencies that positions
16:30
Speaker 2: them to take up leadership rules so that they won't
16:34
Speaker 2: be passed over. While we also you know, advocate for
16:39
Speaker 2: organizations to look beyond those seemingly you know, competencies like confidence.
16:47
Speaker 2: They have to look beyond it and still promote women
16:51
Speaker 2: to build an equitable organization. But it's going to take
16:55
Speaker 2: a long time. So as women, we need to develop
16:58
Speaker 2: ourselves so that can take up more leadership responsibilities, so
17:02
Speaker 2: we can raise allur voices, so we can you know,
17:07
Speaker 2: get there so we can close the gender leadership gap.
17:10
Speaker 2: We all have a role to play here.
17:13
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, and you know, thank you for bringing in
17:15
Speaker 1: that Mackenzie uh study. I know that women's leadership does
17:20
Speaker 1: tend to drop off. And one of the things that
17:23
Speaker 1: I have recognized with regard to confidence is that men
17:29
Speaker 1: tend to overestimate themselves. I mean, and that's not a judgment.
17:34
Speaker 2: That's the report as well, that's what that's one of
17:37
Speaker 2: the reports, you know.
17:38
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's not a judgment about man, it's just
17:41
Speaker 1: you know, a fact, and women tend to underestimate themselves.
17:45
Speaker 1: So they are looking to, you know, have all everything
17:48
Speaker 1: together before they seat that next step, and men are saying,
17:52
Speaker 1: bring it on, you know, I'll build my wings as
17:55
Speaker 1: I as I right, Yes, what are some of the
18:00
Speaker 1: key steps every that women can take to find their
18:06
Speaker 1: leadership voice good.
18:09
Speaker 2: That's a very good question, and that's what our Right
18:13
Speaker 2: to Leadership program, that's, you know what is based on.
18:19
Speaker 2: So for a woman to even start thinking about raising
18:23
Speaker 2: their leadership voice, why do they need to raise their
18:26
Speaker 2: leadership voice in the first place. Number one, if you
18:31
Speaker 2: don't pick up, if you don't use your voice, people
18:34
Speaker 2: are going to bypass you.
18:37
Speaker 1: They will not know.
18:38
Speaker 2: Your competencies or what you're capable of doing, and then
18:42
Speaker 2: that promotion they will give it to the other man
18:45
Speaker 2: beside you, who is like overrating his own competency. And
18:51
Speaker 2: for us to change that, women need to start by
18:57
Speaker 2: true self awareness, you know, like me. There are five
19:00
Speaker 2: steps women need to take first to build up themselves
19:05
Speaker 2: to be able to raise before they get ready to
19:09
Speaker 2: to uh to use their voice, and also to start
19:13
Speaker 2: developing other skills and other competencies. Number one is self awareness.
19:19
Speaker 2: It's about knowing who you are. What do you bring
19:23
Speaker 2: to the table, What are your gifts? What are your talents?
19:27
Speaker 2: You know? What are your values? You know? What do
19:30
Speaker 2: you have? What difference are you here to make at
19:33
Speaker 2: this time? And number two is about core values. Most
19:41
Speaker 2: times we tend to not know.
19:44
Speaker 1: Our core values.
19:45
Speaker 2: Yes, and you know our core values is gonna help
19:49
Speaker 2: us take decisions regarding our careers. It's gonna it's going
19:53
Speaker 2: to help us be sure that we're working in the
19:56
Speaker 2: right environment, the place that will help us grow fast.
20:01
Speaker 2: And our core values, you know, we're going to have
20:03
Speaker 2: like principles that will help us, you know, craft our vision.
20:09
Speaker 2: So the next one is the vision. You know, what
20:13
Speaker 2: is our bold vision? You can become a top CEO
20:18
Speaker 2: if you don't start today to look into the future
20:22
Speaker 2: and see yourself becoming a CEO.
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Speaker 1: M hm.
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Speaker 2: You have to you have to have that bold vision first,
20:30
Speaker 2: you know, like, this is where I want to be.
20:32
Speaker 2: And because with your core values, you also understand your
20:35
Speaker 2: leadership style and also you start understanding only your your
20:41
Speaker 2: your your point of view, like this is what I
20:45
Speaker 2: believe in. This is you know you're speaking of gradually right.
20:49
Speaker 2: And then you have this vision of where you want
20:52
Speaker 2: to be and you start walking from the end backwards
20:57
Speaker 2: to make sure that you can to that vision into reality,
21:03
Speaker 2: breaking it into goals into action steps and at that
21:07
Speaker 2: point you already you will see some gaps. Okay, I
21:10
Speaker 2: want to be the CEO, what step do I need
21:13
Speaker 2: to take what competence is do I need to possess?
21:17
Speaker 2: Who can I reach out to? So at that point
21:20
Speaker 2: you want to find your support team. You have to
21:23
Speaker 2: reach out and find mentors or make sure that you
21:28
Speaker 2: drive that change and make sure there's from a mentorship
21:31
Speaker 2: in your company. If there is no, you can find
21:34
Speaker 2: one for yourself. Get mentors, learn from them, ask them
21:39
Speaker 2: to introduce you, let them know your dreams, your desires.
21:42
Speaker 2: You see, you're beginning to speak up, so people already
21:45
Speaker 2: know what you're bringing to the table. You're telling them
21:49
Speaker 2: this is what I want to do because of this,
21:51
Speaker 2: these are my values.
21:52
Speaker 1: I can do this.
21:54
Speaker 2: And as soon as you get there, then already the
21:58
Speaker 2: fifth step is that you now have a plan on
22:01
Speaker 2: your table, which is your personal growth plan. These are
22:07
Speaker 2: the things I want to be a sea or in
22:08
Speaker 2: five years. These are the courses I need to attend.
22:11
Speaker 2: These are the kind of mentor that I need. You know,
22:15
Speaker 2: these are the things the kind of jobs and need
22:17
Speaker 2: to take. These are the roles I need to occupy
22:21
Speaker 2: to help me get to that my desired destination. So
22:25
Speaker 2: at that point, you see, it comes up naturally for
22:29
Speaker 2: you to start speaking up, start speaking up in meetings
22:33
Speaker 2: because you know what you want. You already have a
22:36
Speaker 2: vision of where you're going to. At that point, it
22:38
Speaker 2: starts speaking up if people start recognizing you, noticing you,
22:42
Speaker 2: and then you start adding values. And it to be
22:46
Speaker 2: so easy at that point to give you some positions.
22:50
Speaker 2: You can no longer hide your voice. Yes, because you
22:54
Speaker 2: now know the values you bring. You have a strong
22:56
Speaker 2: opinion about everything, and you are tributing on every table
23:02
Speaker 2: you find yourself. That's how it stops.
23:06
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, and I love your five steps and
23:09
Speaker 1: I just want to make sure that our listeners get them,
23:11
Speaker 1: so I'm going to repeat them. H And I'm going
23:14
Speaker 1: to stop at three because I want to make sure
23:15
Speaker 1: that I got four and five right. Okay, So I
23:18
Speaker 1: got for number one, self awareness, number two, your core values,
23:24
Speaker 1: number three, a bold vision and what was number four?
23:30
Speaker 2: Told him that vision into reality?
23:32
Speaker 1: What do you need to do? Okay? So breaking it
23:34
Speaker 1: down into your goals and action plans? Yes, yes, so
23:38
Speaker 1: turning the vision into reality. And then number five is
23:41
Speaker 1: to have your own plan, your personal growth plan. Is
23:45
Speaker 1: that exactly?
23:45
Speaker 2: Yes?
23:46
Speaker 1: Okay? Yes, you know I love this. A mutual friend
23:51
Speaker 1: connected us Ari from Ambur Michigan. And now, you know,
23:59
Speaker 1: as I talked you more, I really understand why. I
24:02
Speaker 1: mean you, I could be saying the same things coming
24:05
Speaker 1: out of you, you know, that are coming out of
24:08
Speaker 1: your mouth. So I just love it. Oh yeah, so
24:11
Speaker 1: you mentioned the word you're welcome. Thank you. You mentioned
24:15
Speaker 1: the word empowerment earlier ever, and I know that, you know,
24:19
Speaker 1: sometimes we talk about empowerment, uh, and particularly in the
24:23
Speaker 1: realm of women's leadership, sometimes we mean that, you know, uh,
24:27
Speaker 1: kind of as a stand in for the word leadership, empowerment, leadership,
24:30
Speaker 1: one and the same, but not always. So I'm curious,
24:33
Speaker 1: what do you mean by empowerment?
24:36
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, So you know, right now in twoenty and
24:40
Speaker 2: twenty one, we don't even use that word anymore of empowerment.
24:45
Speaker 2: But when we started, that's what we felt that we're
24:48
Speaker 2: in empower women to provide them with tools, with resources,
24:54
Speaker 2: with networks to really you know, stand up speak of
25:00
Speaker 2: and getting seats at the table. But I think what
25:03
Speaker 2: we should be focusing more on is how are we
25:07
Speaker 2: providing those resources? Is it equitably shared? Are all women
25:14
Speaker 2: having the opportunity call opportunity to assess resources networks? And
25:21
Speaker 2: that's one of the things about Rise and Lead Women.
25:24
Speaker 2: It's one of the most diverse network you ever seen
25:27
Speaker 2: in Europe. Okay, so it's so diverse because you see
25:32
Speaker 2: people from different nationalities, from different races, and so there's
25:37
Speaker 2: this for us. It's about inclusion right now. It's about
25:41
Speaker 2: inclusion and providing the platform well women can actually empower themselves.
25:50
Speaker 2: So whatever empowerment means, so that women, if it is
25:54
Speaker 2: about you know, equipping getting funding for their business, learning
25:59
Speaker 2: business skills, or learning how to curly a leadership capacity,
26:05
Speaker 2: that's what it is.
26:07
Speaker 1: So whatever it is for that particular individual, it sounds
26:10
Speaker 1: like yes, exactly, Yeah, and I love that you talk
26:13
Speaker 1: about you know, for twenty twenty one. You know, empowerment
26:17
Speaker 1: is not what we need. Love, So so let's talk
26:20
Speaker 1: a little bit about leveraging our leadership voice. You know.
26:26
Speaker 1: I love that you said that your mentor reminded you
26:30
Speaker 1: that it's going to take a long time to close
26:33
Speaker 1: the gender gap. I mean that's you know, really that's
26:35
Speaker 1: transformational work. It's not just change, it's transformation. And so
26:39
Speaker 1: in the meantime, how do we leverage our leadership voice
26:43
Speaker 1: as women to ask for top leadership positions and to
26:48
Speaker 1: really take an active role in closing the gender gap.
26:53
Speaker 2: Well, there are different ways we can do that. One
26:55
Speaker 2: is for ourselves. One is also for using that voice
27:00
Speaker 2: to speak for other women who are still trying to
27:03
Speaker 2: develop their own voices. So, if you have the voice,
27:09
Speaker 2: like Michelle Obama said in one of our speeches, if
27:14
Speaker 2: you are on that table and you're not able to
27:17
Speaker 2: use your voice, you need to get out of that table.
27:20
Speaker 2: Let somebody else voice say there ya, that's what it is.
27:24
Speaker 2: So if you have that voice already, first advocate for yourself.
27:31
Speaker 2: If you know that you can fill up any role
27:35
Speaker 2: that can move your closer to the executive position, be
27:40
Speaker 2: bold and brave enough to ask for it. Don't wait
27:44
Speaker 2: for permission. Don't wait for any permission. You have a voice,
27:48
Speaker 2: use it, Advocate for yourself. Let them know what you're
27:52
Speaker 2: bringing to the table. I believe so much that women,
27:56
Speaker 2: as women, it's good to be humble, but it's also
28:00
Speaker 2: good to use our voices. We need to have a
28:04
Speaker 2: strong opinion. We need to share our ideas. We can't
28:09
Speaker 2: be hiding behind anybody. Share our ideas, let people go
28:14
Speaker 2: our point of view. That is very important. So when
28:18
Speaker 2: you start sharing ideas, you're saying something that matters, people
28:22
Speaker 2: are going to stop and listen. And so when there
28:26
Speaker 2: is any vacancy or position that requires somebody with such
28:31
Speaker 2: a strong voice, yes, who, they're going to call you yes.
28:35
Speaker 2: And it's one step. By the time you move to
28:38
Speaker 2: this and you climb to this level, you continue looking
28:41
Speaker 2: for another level, depending on your core values, depending on
28:45
Speaker 2: what you want for your life, because not everybody's going
28:48
Speaker 2: to be at that top leadership position. And not going
28:50
Speaker 2: to force anybody because we have different values. Some people
28:54
Speaker 2: just love to suffort from the back. And then another
28:58
Speaker 2: way to use that voice is to start driving changes
29:02
Speaker 2: in your organization. Start using not just for women, also
29:08
Speaker 2: for women of color. It's important that women who already
29:13
Speaker 2: have the voice can start asking why don't we have
29:16
Speaker 2: women of color in our department because in me, they
29:19
Speaker 2: don't apply for these jobs. Why don't we have black
29:22
Speaker 2: people in this company. Why don't we represent women from
29:27
Speaker 2: minority groups? What is the curiosity and the questioning that
29:32
Speaker 2: you start bringing changes to your organization, and then maybe
29:37
Speaker 2: you can also start mentoring other women, start encouraging and
29:42
Speaker 2: inspiring other women to rise and lead as well. Yeah,
29:47
Speaker 2: So that's that's the way to leverage your voice, leverage
29:52
Speaker 2: it to drive changes.
29:54
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you. So I just want to just a
29:57
Speaker 1: quick summary of that, because they're so much packed into that.
30:01
Speaker 1: You talked about advocating for yourself. You talked about stepping
30:05
Speaker 1: up and being bold to ask for those positions that
30:08
Speaker 1: you really want, that you know that are going to
30:10
Speaker 1: move you closer to that top leader leadership position. Don't
30:15
Speaker 1: wait and don't ask for permission. I love it. And
30:21
Speaker 1: you know, being about driving change in your organization, mentoring,
30:26
Speaker 1: and in particular, you know, reaching out to women of color,
30:30
Speaker 1: because not only is this about a gender gap, it's
30:32
Speaker 1: also about a color. It's also about you know, I'm
30:37
Speaker 1: kind of in this space. You know, the current language
30:41
Speaker 1: is bipoc, right, you know, and I just that is
30:46
Speaker 1: a little bit disturbing to me because what we're talking
30:50
Speaker 1: about are you know, women are the majority in this
30:55
Speaker 1: world on planet Earth. We are the majority, and peoples
30:58
Speaker 1: of color are also of the majority. And so I
31:01
Speaker 1: actually think about this world that you're talking about as
31:05
Speaker 1: the global majority. Okay, and so when we start to
31:09
Speaker 1: reframe like how we think about ourselves, it actually kind
31:13
Speaker 1: of changes how we uh, you know, we see, we
31:17
Speaker 1: see ourselves and how we go about closing that gap. Yeah,
31:21
Speaker 1: I agree. Yeah, So so I just want to also
31:26
Speaker 1: ask you. I know you mentioned this a little bit
31:29
Speaker 1: at the top of our conversation, but could you say
31:31
Speaker 1: a little bit more about what inspired you to start
31:37
Speaker 1: Rise and Lead. I mean, I know that you, you know,
31:40
Speaker 1: transition from Nigeria to the Netherlands, but there's also I'm
31:44
Speaker 1: guessing there some core value that you have, or some
31:49
Speaker 1: experience or some story that you have in your life
31:53
Speaker 1: that really, you know, that's like really the driver for you.
31:57
Speaker 1: And I could be making that up, So tell me, no.
32:01
Speaker 3: You're not.
32:02
Speaker 2: You're not making it up. You know, everything can be connected.
32:05
Speaker 2: There's always a dots connecting to your past. Okay, So
32:10
Speaker 2: my first job, you know, when I was working in
32:13
Speaker 2: a corporate organization. I lost my job when I was
32:17
Speaker 2: seven months pregnant, and I felt it was unfair. Okay,
32:21
Speaker 2: it was was so unfair because I was working so hard.
32:25
Speaker 2: But now I'm pregnant. You know, I couldn't believer as
32:28
Speaker 2: I used to. Of course they couldn't do it now
32:31
Speaker 2: because but then they could do it. And and I
32:35
Speaker 2: left that job, went to start my own business, and
32:39
Speaker 2: even became a food because I had a restaurant business
32:44
Speaker 2: that was employing fifty six people. So I was pregnant,
32:48
Speaker 2: you know, having babies and running this big company, Petrin Operations,
32:53
Speaker 2: and then they now these company to call me back
32:56
Speaker 2: to start managing their caterring. So I was pay back,
33:00
Speaker 2: you know, all the money I felt I lost. But
33:03
Speaker 2: then for me it was like, being pregnant is not
33:08
Speaker 2: a crime. It's not you're not sick, doesn't mean it
33:11
Speaker 2: can no longer deliver. Women are capable of much more,
33:16
Speaker 2: and so that has been at the back of my
33:19
Speaker 2: mind to how to inspire women that they can advocate
33:24
Speaker 2: and fight for themselves and fight for other women. And
33:27
Speaker 2: one of my core values is fairness and equity. I
33:31
Speaker 2: want everybody to have equal opportunity to get to to
33:37
Speaker 2: to maximize their potential in life, without any form of bias,
33:43
Speaker 2: without any form of you know, somebody stopping them from
33:47
Speaker 2: getting what they want. And so for me, my way
33:51
Speaker 2: of making sure that women have that equal opportunity is
33:57
Speaker 2: to use my voice to inspire them. So on my
34:01
Speaker 2: latein page, the only thing I do is inspiration kind
34:04
Speaker 2: of inspire women that you don't need any permission, just
34:07
Speaker 2: get up. Just if you don't even need confidence to
34:12
Speaker 2: start to start it. Can be afraid, but just do
34:16
Speaker 2: it and all of those things we need to hear
34:20
Speaker 2: it and when they see me that I came from
34:23
Speaker 2: Niguria and within seventy years I've built a massive organization
34:27
Speaker 2: in a foreign company country. You know, No, I don't
34:32
Speaker 2: speak the language, and then I'm still able to network
34:38
Speaker 2: with a lot of the locals. I believe that my life,
34:42
Speaker 2: you know, like as a role model, is to inspire
34:46
Speaker 2: other women to do the same thing. And secondly, secondly,
34:53
Speaker 2: when I started, one of my one of my strongest
34:57
Speaker 2: motivation is this believe that if I can't I if
35:02
Speaker 2: you know, if we can be the change you want
35:06
Speaker 2: to see, we can be the change instead of complaining.
35:10
Speaker 2: So when I was looking for this, uh, I was
35:14
Speaker 2: going around looking for network organizations that support women and
35:21
Speaker 2: women who have companies who are employing people. I couldn't find,
35:26
Speaker 2: especially in the international community. I felt, you know, I
35:30
Speaker 2: can't start it. You know, I'm sure there are women
35:33
Speaker 2: out there who are also looking for this type of
35:37
Speaker 2: organization where they can. They don't want to, nobody's going
35:43
Speaker 2: to join them for being ambitious. Okay, so that was
35:46
Speaker 2: really my driving force to even start. But then we,
35:50
Speaker 2: like I said, we have expanded from you know that
35:55
Speaker 2: empowering women, think like bring women together. We have recognized
36:01
Speaker 2: we can use our power and our voice to drive changes,
36:07
Speaker 2: you know, diversity and inclusion, which is really and I
36:11
Speaker 2: remember what happened to miss years ago. I want to
36:15
Speaker 2: change that. We of doing anything, whether they are pregnant
36:22
Speaker 2: or they have babies, it doesn't matter.
36:24
Speaker 1: He can do it. Yes, yes, I love that, and
36:29
Speaker 1: thank you for that story. Uh, you know, there's usually
36:33
Speaker 1: a burning reason why we begin things, and so I
36:37
Speaker 1: really appreciate your candor and your openness and your vulnerability
36:41
Speaker 1: and sharing that. Uh you know, yeah, I mean you
36:45
Speaker 1: you are an inspiration every ay and I love that
36:51
Speaker 1: you are talking about be an inspiration, be the change
36:55
Speaker 1: and use our power. We don't have to get power
36:58
Speaker 1: from any place else. We already have it, okay, and
37:02
Speaker 1: exactly have to be confident to start right, Just start
37:06
Speaker 1: do it anyway, do it?
37:08
Speaker 2: You know, I mean I said this all the time.
37:12
Speaker 2: We don't have to wait until your confidence.
37:15
Speaker 1: Just start. Yes, the more.
37:18
Speaker 2: You start, the more you learn. You learn from your mistakes,
37:21
Speaker 2: and sometimes when you look back when I look back
37:24
Speaker 2: at somethings I did surpri Oh my god, how did
37:29
Speaker 2: I do that?
37:30
Speaker 1: You know?
37:31
Speaker 2: Because now I know better?
37:33
Speaker 1: Right, just do it?
37:36
Speaker 2: Just most times we feel people are going to judge
37:40
Speaker 2: of We feel we want to kind of cross all
37:44
Speaker 2: the teas and the dogs and the eyes. That's the problem. Yes,
37:49
Speaker 2: you know, we we kndot judge ourselves. We hold ourselves
37:52
Speaker 2: back exactly and we let go of judging ourselves. We
37:57
Speaker 2: realize that notbody's been judging us, and even if they
37:59
Speaker 2: are judging us, and sowhat.
38:02
Speaker 1: And question what is Yes? Yeah, well yeah, I love it.
38:09
Speaker 1: And I know that you have developed a platform for
38:14
Speaker 1: conferences and roundtables, and you also have a leadership program,
38:19
Speaker 1: Rise to Leadership. Can you say a little bit about
38:22
Speaker 1: that for us?
38:23
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, and I'm getting to have you in
38:26
Speaker 2: our next Rise and List summits. So, like I said,
38:31
Speaker 2: the summit the res and Lead started as a summit
38:34
Speaker 2: where we brought established leaders from corporate organizations to kind
38:40
Speaker 2: of network with emergent leaders so we can learn from
38:44
Speaker 2: their experiences and their stories. So we have this roundable
38:49
Speaker 2: discussion and we interview a lot of established leaders to
38:53
Speaker 2: kind of hear the backstory behind their rise. So based
38:57
Speaker 2: on my method of leadership development and also with all
39:04
Speaker 2: these top leaders that have been intervened and who are
39:08
Speaker 2: also part of my community, the Inclusive leaders Around Table,
39:13
Speaker 2: you know, which is where we bring corporate leaders together
39:17
Speaker 2: to co create events with them, co create programs with
39:22
Speaker 2: them that would drive gender diversity and inclusion in their workplaces.
39:27
Speaker 2: So I felt we also have to develop I started
39:30
Speaker 2: developing this curriculum based on these five steps I share
39:34
Speaker 2: with you, and the first one is called right to Leadership.
39:39
Speaker 2: Program is all about helping supporting women to elevate their
39:44
Speaker 2: career to top leadership. And so we are helping women
39:48
Speaker 2: to kind of find their leadership style, uh, find their
39:51
Speaker 2: leadership voice, set in a board vision, understand who they
39:57
Speaker 2: are their self, how create greater self awareness about who
40:02
Speaker 2: there and then know the value they are bringing. And
40:06
Speaker 2: then we teach and also bring executives to mentor We're
40:10
Speaker 2: bringing executive leaders from like from the MasterCard, from your peers,
40:17
Speaker 2: the vice president there from Sales Force, and they're coming
40:21
Speaker 2: also alongside with me, and of course I'm inviting you
40:25
Speaker 2: officially as well, so we can help to create transformation
40:31
Speaker 2: in our women. So that at the end of nine weeks,
40:35
Speaker 2: they we suddenly see themselves speaking up raising, using their voices,
40:42
Speaker 2: trying to drive changes. Because we've seen a lot of
40:46
Speaker 2: testimonials in our platform since we started, you know, the
40:49
Speaker 2: kind of things people say that because of you, and
40:53
Speaker 2: I'll have a voice because of you. I started this
40:55
Speaker 2: business because of you. So I've felt we should kind
40:59
Speaker 2: of package you as a program to support women to
41:03
Speaker 2: rise to leadership. And that's what it is.
41:07
Speaker 1: Excellent, excellent, Well congratulations And is this a public program
41:13
Speaker 1: or is it private by invitation?
41:15
Speaker 2: Uh?
41:16
Speaker 1: If I wanted to join and I am a listener,
41:19
Speaker 1: how might I get in contact with you?
41:21
Speaker 2: Okay, it's it's a paid program. And so we have
41:25
Speaker 2: like on our website, Rise and Lead it's still on
41:29
Speaker 2: the Rise and Lead Summit dot com slash institute. So
41:34
Speaker 2: once you click on that, I'll send you the link
41:37
Speaker 2: as well, Rise and Lead summits dot com slash institute.
41:43
Speaker 2: And so that's you see their ses page and see
41:46
Speaker 2: what you know you get. So, so we have five
41:52
Speaker 2: modules and we also have four mentorship sections executives and
41:57
Speaker 2: you know, we meet every almost every week for nine
42:01
Speaker 2: weeks for one hour to one and a half hours
42:05
Speaker 2: and so everything is on that website and then people
42:09
Speaker 2: can register to join us and also be able to
42:13
Speaker 2: network with women leaders in Europe.
42:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, excellent. Yes, it is so important, especially these days.
42:22
Speaker 1: You know, we are a global village.
42:24
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, yes, yes, thank you so much.
42:30
Speaker 1: Ray for your energy, for your focus, for your drive,
42:34
Speaker 1: your passion, and for your inspiration. Thank you for being
42:38
Speaker 1: a guest on my podcast. And we will get the
42:41
Speaker 1: word out about your work. And that's really what this
42:45
Speaker 1: is all about. Passing it on, not just keeping things
42:48
Speaker 1: for ourselves, passing it on. That's it.
42:50
Speaker 2: We need to start amplifying those voices.
42:53
Speaker 1: Yes, that's what we do.
42:55
Speaker 2: And thank you Gloria for having me. I'm so happy
42:59
Speaker 2: to have met through our meetual friend Arie. Yes, I'll
43:05
Speaker 2: tell Aria about it. Thank you so much. I'll be
43:08
Speaker 2: scard of a conversation.
43:09
Speaker 1: Thank you. Likewise likewise so inspiring, rock solid gold. Clearly,
43:19
Speaker 1: Eberet Akatie is a leader's leader. She makes a difference
43:24
Speaker 1: in her own life and in the lives of so
43:26
Speaker 1: many others, in her own family and throughout the world,
43:31
Speaker 1: in her work as an entrepreneur and leadership strategists, in
43:35
Speaker 1: her work as a thought leader in leadership development and
43:39
Speaker 1: diversity and inclusion, and in her work as a wife, mom, sister, daughter,
43:46
Speaker 1: and community steward. Ebaret shared so many pearls of wisdom
43:53
Speaker 1: with us today. You will want to listen to this
43:56
Speaker 1: podcast over and over to take them all in. Now.
44:00
Speaker 1: To learn more about Ebret's work, you can connect with
44:04
Speaker 1: her through her website and her site is called Rise
44:09
Speaker 1: and Lead Women, Rise and Lead Women dot com. You
44:15
Speaker 1: can also connect with Ebray via LinkedIn and Instagram. You
44:20
Speaker 1: can just type in at the AT symbol, that little
44:25
Speaker 1: ad symbol eberey acaterie, and that's spelled e B E
44:30
Speaker 1: R E A k A d I r I the
44:35
Speaker 1: AT symbol ebray acaterie. If you are just joining us,
44:42
Speaker 1: I'm doctor Gloria and this is legacy living. Make your
44:46
Speaker 1: life count. If you want to make your life count,
44:51
Speaker 1: if you want to be the change you seek, be
44:53
Speaker 1: sure to listen to my show again and again, and
44:58
Speaker 1: be sure to tell somebody. You can find me right
45:02
Speaker 1: here on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart, tune in, Spreaker,
45:10
Speaker 1: dot com, Talk Network, radio, and so many other places. Now,
45:16
Speaker 1: before I close for today, I want to give a
45:19
Speaker 1: shout out to all the women, men and our young
45:22
Speaker 1: people all around the world, because you know what, we
45:27
Speaker 1: are the ones. We are the ones we have been
45:31
Speaker 1: waiting for. What do I mean by that? What I
45:35
Speaker 1: mean is don't wait, don't wait for someone else to
45:39
Speaker 1: step up and make things happen for you. In other words,
45:43
Speaker 1: you can be the one. You can be the one
45:46
Speaker 1: to make things happen for yourself and for other people.
45:49
Speaker 1: In fact, can I just tell you something. You are
45:52
Speaker 1: the one. You are the one who can make a
45:55
Speaker 1: difference in your own life so that you can inspire
45:59
Speaker 1: others to make a difference in their lives. Now, if
46:03
Speaker 1: you happen to miss any part of this week's episode
46:07
Speaker 1: or last weeks, you can simply download the recording and
46:11
Speaker 1: listen to it at your convenience. You can even listen
46:14
Speaker 1: on the go. Check us out at www dot talknetwork
46:20
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46:29
Speaker 1: That's Talknetwork Radio dot com. Forward Slash Hosts Forward Slash
46:34
Speaker 1: Legacy Living. You can also find me and learn more
46:39
Speaker 1: about my work and Legacy Living. Make your life count
46:42
Speaker 1: by visiting my website. That's right, that's the Gloria Burgess website,
46:48
Speaker 1: and as I've mentioned before, if you love to be inspired,
46:52
Speaker 1: you can actually subscribe to my inspirations right on my website.
46:57
Speaker 1: Just scroll down a little bit look on the right
46:59
Speaker 1: side bar until you see the place to add your
47:03
Speaker 1: email address to subscribe to my weekly inspirations. It's that simple.
47:09
Speaker 1: Each week you get a lovely photograph and a short
47:12
Speaker 1: quotation that inspires you. Or visit me on LinkedIn or
47:16
Speaker 1: on Facebook. You can also find me on the TEDx
47:20
Speaker 1: site and listen to one of my ted talks. Just
47:23
Speaker 1: type in my name to find me there. Before I
47:28
Speaker 1: close today, I want to thank each of you for
47:31
Speaker 1: tuning in for allowing me to share a bit about
47:35
Speaker 1: my journey with what Legacy living is all about, not
47:39
Speaker 1: just living and learning, but living and learning and serving
47:45
Speaker 1: so that you make a difference in your own life
47:48
Speaker 1: and in the lives of other people. It's all about
47:51
Speaker 1: being on purpose every single day. Three sixty five twenty
47:57
Speaker 1: four to seven. Legacy living is a powerful way to
48:02
Speaker 1: make your life count. Once again, thank you for joining
48:07
Speaker 1: me today. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and
48:13
Speaker 1: this is legacy living. Make your life count. Please join
48:19
Speaker 1: me again next time right here Talk Network Radio for
48:24
Speaker 1: another episode of Legacy Living. Make your life count now. Remember,
48:33
Speaker 1: don't just count the days in your life. Make the
48:38
Speaker 1: days in your life count. That's what legacy living is
48:44
Speaker 1: all about. Have a fabulous day and remember, make the
48:49
Speaker 1: days in your life count. God bless you. That's our
49:07
Speaker 1: show today.
49:08
Speaker 3: I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll
49:14
Speaker 3: join me again next time. Until then, don't just count
49:19
Speaker 3: the days in your life. Make the days in your
49:22
Speaker 3: life count. That's what legacy living is all about.
49:27
Speaker 1: Here's to you have a fantastic day and be sure
49:31
Speaker 1: to make it a yes kind of day. Remember to
49:35
Speaker 1: celebrate the music of your life. Make the days in
49:43
Speaker 1: your life count.