In service of our social experiment on women’s leadership and how it is perceived by both men and women, we decided to have some rehearsals on conducting short interviews.
The idea is to ask two sets of questions to men and women, and see how we are perceived as leaders, and the stories we tell ourselves about female leadership. Before going out in the field, we’ve devised some practice sessions and conversations around the topic.
On Saturday August 8th, 2020, we ended up at the deep end with a big question on identity: how do we see ourselves, how do we see other women, and what tools are at our disposal to carve out a national identity in Sierra Leone?
The aha! moments were so magical that we decided not to keep it to ourselves. Even though we’re recording in a noisy area, and just for playback internally, we have taken excerpts of the conversation to post on our Instagram page (see link below). If we don’t let go of our small identities (tribe, political affiliation, region) we will be complicit in keeping ourselves and our country in the dark. As women we will take in the larger identity of female. #mytribeisfemale
Keep it up sister. We need to encourage each other.
I agree, sister!
Thanks for sharing Isata.
You are doing great for mama salone.
May you achieve your goals on this work.
Am proud hearing from my country sist
Thanks so much Mariama. Every little bit helps and we can all make a difference. Your contributions also mean so much to so many people.
Yeah,we really need to Collaborate so we can so we can do better for our nation and beyond by empowering young women and youth as well.
Hello, Isata,
I love how you get yourselves ready for battle by role-playing, and going deep into the conversation on identity.
I'm delighted you and your team have a shared vision. Other organizations would take a longer time before finding their "Aha" moment, but you discovered it during this meeting. Amazing!
What a strong statement, "If we don’t let go of our small identities (tribe, political affiliation, region) we will be complicit in keeping ourselves and our country in the dark. As women we will take in the larger identity of female." YES!!!
Please keep posting more!
YES! And if we work together as women we can create the kind of eco system that guarantees success. Individual thinking is not systems thinking!
That's true, dear. I'm so happy you're connected with us on World Pulse. Keep it up!
The atmosphere in that photograph has so much emotional 'cosy' and camaraderie that one just wants to jump in:) I join you in taking the larger identity of female. Very well said!
The power of energy in the work we do as women cannot be over emphasized. When you feel at home with each other and we make our mentees comfortable, it establishes the best environment for learning. So I always think about not just what I say to them, but how I say it. The positive feedback from those conversations also confirmed to me how important that is to them!