The importance of a Tribe

Empowering each other empowers ourselves

“Who does she think she is?”, “What right does she have?”, “Who put her in charge?”.  These are common sentences that I have heard over time when speaking with other women about other successful women.  These comments need to change.  They need to be replaced with “How can I become as confident?” and “Why is her success bothering me so much?”. 

I have a woman on the edge of my circle who seems to never be happy about other women’s success.  She often questions why someone is making the choices they are, why someone like myself has any gaunt to try something new, to be successful in new ventures.  This woman is never supportive, never positive and is very opinionated.  I am strong enough to know that her feelings are not a reflection of my capabilities.  Over time, I have learned to use this negativity as fuel.  It has been a long path of stumbling and banged shins to learn to convert the desire to be accepted and “praised” by this person to something that I no longer crave.

We as a female tribe of women, need to work harder at setting aside what I am going to call “selfish feelings” and learn that working together, encouraging each other and truly seeing that any woman’s success is a WIN for us all.  I know that this message has been preached over and over and that some of you are fantastic cheerleaders for each other, but there still remains a lot of fear and hesitation to celebrate each other and to share our own successes.

I want to talk about success for a minute. I recently read a post from a successful woman that she in eight months was able to make more money from her entrepreneurial business, which she loves, while working from home than she had working a job she was just ok with, for a full year. Her post stated that she was unsure she should celebrate this win, as women may judge her, or not choose to work with her as she “is making enough money now.” This made my guts turn over. I wish this was not the feeling that is out there for women who are successful. They should be able to share successes, and we as a tribe of women should be celebrating them.

Stats Canada reported a wage gap between men and women in 2018 of $4.13 per hour.

Celebrate when a woman is successful. Do it for her, do it for you and do it for future generations. We need a movement of cheerleaders in hopes that this gap will not only become smaller but disappear completely.

I want you to take a moment today and think about a success that you have had, any success, personal or professional. Have you shared it with anyone? Did you feel fantastic sharing it? Did you or will you share it on social media? I want you to go and share your success. I also task you to go and find three other people or posts that you can celebrate their success. Comment on social media or a personal comment, which ever you are comfortable with. I bet you will feel fantastic and that you will receive positive feedback as well. Tribes thrive on positivity and kindness. When a tribe is consumed with negativity and distrust, the tribe will become so toxic no one will be happy, and hopefully that tribe will dissolve.

Please take a moment to cheer on a fellow human, female or male. Smile, compliment them, be kind to someone. Tribes are built on trust and positivity. We all need both to be successful, not just in life but in business.