This year, I had the privilege of attending Gardner Leader LLP x Gravita’s event celebrating International Women’s Day, and it made me reflect a lot on what the theme of this year’s IWD, accelerating action, means to me.
One of the things I came away from IWD feeling energised with was the beauty and power that comes from having an actualised sense of Self and advancing it in the world towards the projects you want to create. I think that is what a lot of emancipation represents, really, the striving towards a situation where we are free agents to do as we wish and not as we are shaped into doing by the mold of the order imposed upon us. And people expressing themselves in this capacity is inherently inspiring – to have role models who show us how to take up space, loudly and beautifully and unapologetically. Thank you to all the amazing speakers who showed us what taking hold of your personal power looks like. I think ‘inspiring’ encapsulates the diffusive effect that this has on those who bear witness to such people – by seeing you show up as your full self, it helps the rest of us know what that looks like, and move towards the same power.
I think the other part of emancipation which I want to touch on is the looking over our shoulder, the holding the ladder down. The same way I only walk this path because my predecessors paved the way, those amazing women of the future will only be able to walk their path if we help pave it. To continue to accelerate action, we need to understand what needs to be accelerated.
CSR related initiatives to an extent embody this coming together, the advancement of self in tandem with the advancement of other. Whether it’s raising money for community projects which invest in marginalised groups directly, or whether it’s establishing queer/POC spaces within a business environment, or something else, these initiatives allow us to continue self-actualising and succeeding as individuals whilst using our positions to simultaneously break down barriers for other marginalised groups to do the same.
So, I’m grateful to work for Gardner Leader a firm where we are encouraged to turn up as our full self, every day; where I can learn from those who paved this path before me, and simultaneously know that my clomping around the office is helping pave the way for those who come after. I’m grateful to feel I’m balancing my self-actualisation with my advancement for others. And I hope we continue to show each other how to show up loud and proud in all our vibrancy, showing our affirming flames to each other and inspiring each other whilst remembering to hold the door open for those who come next.