Sunday, May 22, 2011

Roseanne Barr Tells her Story - Thank you

This is absolutely a must read article by Roseanne Barr in the latest issue of New York Magazine. It is one of the bravest stories I have ever read by a successful woman. So few women who have 'made it' are willing to be this honest about what it took to get there, and what it cost them. So few men for that matter too. There is so much I can relate to in her story and it rings true for so many other ones I have heard over my career in finance. The list includes men and women taking credit for your work and ideas, other women pretending to be your friends and then stabbing you in the back, having to put up with sexist jokes, being humiliated in front of your peers, being taking advantage of with assumption you will take it because you are a women, and not being allowed to be yourself which in theory is why you are in a position of influence in the first place. Then of course there is the upside. The money. The platform. The title. The power. The perks. The 'celebrity' status. Then there is a whole other side which Roseanne did not choose to share and that is when was she less then her best self in terms of how she related to and treated others? At the end of it all however is the fact that we all have to look in the mirror and identify with the person who we see. I want to be a person that sees the truth, good, bad and otherwise, and so I hope is Roseanne.

This is inspiring me to tell my own story but the question is, am I that brave? A Goldman Sachs Women Partner tells her story. I can't tell you how many times I have sat down to write that one. Thank you Roseanne and thanks to all the women who put it all out there to help change the game for the better.

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