How to be a Lady Who Leads: VOTE!

Nancy Mindes is a NY Incubator member who found her focus after the 2004 elections by joining Ladies Who Launch and doing the incubator. She is a professional coach who works with Audacious Ladies. http://www.NancyMindes.com  

So you want to be a lady who leads?

Make sure you vote. Did you know that 70% of single moms in the previous election cycle said they weren’t going to vote. It’s like giving your power away.

What does it mean to vote? For some it means taking time out of an already busy schedule to go stand on line to vote for the “lesser of two evils” before running off to get on with work, chores, errands and the inevitable to-do list.

Others just forget the whole thing, even though it is a civic duty to get thee to a voting booth because they believe that they have “ no say in the matter”.

This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Voting, however is not just an activity for the first Tuesday in November, it is an activity that asks that you care deeply about what happens to our children, our society and the world at large and get in the game, for without having your voice be heard there is not one chance that issues ladies who launch, women, girls or dames care about will ever actually be addressed.

As we come down the homestretch to election day, it is really a bit late to be speaking about what issues we want candidates to address this cycle. However, it is not too late to seek out and help out those candidates who are addressing the issues you care about most. As Ellen Malcom of Emily’s List http://www.emilyslist.org says, “When women vote, women win.”

During the 2004 l election I canvassed, petitioned, did phone-banking, threw house parties, attended fundraisers (which were really fun) , travelled to Boston, Philadelphia and Columbus, Ohio for the run-up to election day to make a change in the White House. From the first day when I petitioned on the streets of Manhattan on an icy, windswept day, I felt as if I were reclaiming some kind of unused power even though I was really just a flyspeck on a very large wall. Just by standing up and being for something opened up new possibilities. It wasn’t just what I was doing but who I got to be in the process.

And then of course there was all the fun I had and the people I met. New friendships emerged from jumping on the political rollercoaster. Margaret, a designer, decided that she had to be a part of creating change after watching the Twin Towers collapse right outside her daughter’s elementary school, Sandy, who had experienced true tragedy and loss who put her her job on hold to go out to Ohio and create change. Mike, Anthony and many others all friends now and especially, Gordon a political biographer who on Election Day…starting at 5:00 a.m. we canvassed, did visibility and mostly did our best on that last day in the pouring rain, the cold and the wind of Columbus, Ohio trying to fight back against the monkey business in Columbus, our hopes and dreams were out there for all to see.
Isn’t that what ladies who lead do, isn’t that what people who care do…leave it all on the floor and go for it even if we are scared or uncertain?

ON VOTING….
Voting, Ha! that’s the easy part.
It’s the rest of it that has the juice.
Wanna complain about how bad everything is?
That’s just being a victim.

And not very audacious of us is it?

It’s easy to be a naysayer.
But I am guessing that for a lady who leads it is wiser to have a vision for creating something new…even in the political arena.
What if women REALLY got involved?
Voting is good. In fact if you are not voting then you are saying you don’t care.
What ever happened to CIVIC DUTY?
Don’t they teach  that in schools anymore?

Then it’s easy to see why you don’t get the results you like?
Perhaps too busy that day.
No.

Not if you are a true lady who leads
Not if you are becoming fearless.
You get over it and get on with it.
You make it fun.

You  fire up your fearless muscles you will  go out and make a difference.
Right now. This moment.
Even with just 6 days left.
Go now.
Run and see who you can help.
Have you possibly ….
Had Enough?
Then go out and create change.
for your children.
For your lives.
Your livelihoods
For the sake of the planet
Go now. Find a candidate to help and do it.

Phone bank. Knock on doors.

Turn out the vote.

Be fearless.

What if each and everyone of us really put our girl power together by becoming a participating, engaged, enrolled and enraptured piece of the puzzle?

Vote November 7th.
Do something today.

Go on now.

Comments

[freya]

Nancy, thanks for your vote! And I love your proactive approach. It's easy to sit there and rant but so much more effective to get out there and DO! Happy voting.