Wednesday, November 9, 2016

No more fraudulent thoughts



It's the day after America elected Donald Trump, quite possibly the most spectacularly unqualified candidate ever to run for President of the United States. It's not how I would have voted, but that is not what this post is about.

This post is about me suddenly realizing that it's totally and absolutely time that I stopped wasting even one more nano second thinking that I might not be qualified to teach a classroom of college students, offer an opinion in a meeting, lead a group on a project, suggest to a decision-maker up the hierarchy from me that their perspective could do with shifting...In other words, today is the day I own my own potential and take up the space in the world that my knowledge, skills and experience give me the right to do.

I'm fed up with others around me - often men - taking up air space with opinions and ideas not supported by facts, research or experience. And I'm really getting fed up with men being given the chance to lead when they have less experience than I have. Effective immediately, I know I can be - and should be - the acting chair in my department when the boss is away...and I'm going to let the boss know that I want that responsibility.

This sudden realization might be the only good thing that's come out of the 2016 US election for me. And I'm going to take it, and I'm going to run with it.

Look out world. Here I come.