What If The Right Question Is The One You Have Been Avoiding?
For the last few weeks, I have been traveling. And everywhere I went, I ended up in conversation with extraordinary women carrying extraordinary work.
In every conversation, I asked what they were building, why it mattered to them, and what was getting in the way. And in every one, the topic of Women of Altitude came up. Each time it did, these women lit up.
It made me realize something I have been circling for a while. The conversation about isolation at altitude is not optional anymore. It is necessary. And the women who need it most are the ones quietly carrying impact that nobody around them is equipped to think alongside.
Six weeks ago, I decided to stop searching for someone else to build the space these women need and start building it myself.
Here is the honest part.👇
This work is new for me, and the newness is intimidating. What if no one shows up? What if I do not deliver the way I want to? What if I fail at the very thing I am asking other women to trust me to hold?
But here is that I keep noticing about these women. They move on their work before they feel ready. Before the website is finished. Before the product is fully built. Before the path is clear. They show up anyway, with no one supporting them in the way they most need.
How can I do any different?
As the creator of the Strategize, Energize, Mobilize system, I know exactly what high performance demands. And I refuse to be left behind.
So instead of asking myself "am I ready" or "am I capable," I started asking a different question.
What impact will not get made if the women I am called to serve do not get the room, the resources, and the thinking partners they need to keep going?
That question scared me more than anything my insecurity was saying.
So here is what I am doing.👇
I am opening Women of Altitude.
Women of Altitude is a curated online community for accomplished women operating at altitude. It is hosted on Circle.so. It is an application only, because the room only works when the women in it are the right women.
📝 Every applicant is reviewed against four criteria:
She is at the right altitude and season in her career.
She holds a posture of abundance and gives as generously as she receives.
She brings both competence in her field and character to be a good partner to others.
She is willing to be uncomfortable when speaking truth with care is what another woman needs to grow.
Members get a curated peer room, quarterly Connection Experiences, resources I am building specifically for women at altitude, and the first invitation to new offers and events as I create them.
If what I have been writing about lately has been resonating, and you recognize yourself as a woman of impact operating at altitude, I want you in this room.
A note on what is changing.
You are going to see this newsletter shift in the months ahead. I am doubling down on supporting this population of women. I will still write about leading yourself and others through change, leveraging the S+E+M system to create impact, and working around the obstacles that hold us back, including our own mindset. But the center of gravity is moving. If that is not where you are right now, I understand and I respect that.
One last thing worth noting.
The EEOC anti-discrimination case against Coca-Cola has come up in conversation after conversation these last few weeks. More organizations are closing down their employee resource groups and women's leadership programs. If that is happening inside your organization, there has never been a better time to build community outside of it.
I applaud organizations that support women in the workplace. I have spent my career inside them. And I also do not think any of us should count on our employer alone for professional development and growth. The Coca-Cola case is a clear reminder of why.
🤏TINY TWEEK Challenge
Fill out the application, or forward this email to a woman of altitude you know who would benefit from being in a room with women like her.
I hope to see you on the other side of the door.
