Sisterhood in Times of Crisis

Let’s start with the concept of sorority. If you google sorority in English, you get a lot of results of women’s college houses. Sorority comes from the Latin word soror that means sister. I like how the word sorority is used in Spanish. Sororiedad is the Spanish word that stands for sorority or sisterhood. The meaning in Spanish is much deeper than just an organization. Sorority is the concept of woman collaborating, building each other and creating solutions together, working together. It is in fact the combination of sisterhood and solidarity.

Why is this sisterhood key for all women at this particular time? I want to start with a little personal tale. For the ongoing pandemic, I had to come back to my county, Costa Rica; a beautiful example of how the world should handle a health crisis. I haven’t been here for a long time, so I forgot how things “worked” around and I didn’t have many female contacts in the country. At this time of crisis I had the chance to see two different types of woman collaboration; those that embrace sorority and those that don’t. I think that this is something that we should slowly learn. And we women should take advantage of this big change that is going around to strengthen sorority.

How can we embrace sorority? There are some simple steps to follow

Share your contacts

A woman in power is something that has not been very common. The world has seen more women in leadership lately, but it is not an easy path, If you are a woman reading this article you know it. So, what if you are in a more powerful position than a fellow woman. If she needs help with your contact network, provide it. In times of crisis a strong contact network can end in amazing collaborations and solutions. What I learned until now, is that whenever I share information, that help will come back whenever I need. A common thing to think is that if you share your contact network you will lose, or other women will steal your contacts and become an immediate competition. But experience has proven that sharing is multiplying. A few days ago, I read an article of the Harvard Business Review, it was telling that you don’t need a large network of contacts, but contacts that you can trust. I think this applies to us, trust another woman with your contacts and you will have a strong (maybe not large) powerful network.

Remember sisterhood is collaboration, not competition

Women that compete among each other can difficult the path for women in leadership. Don’t compete, collaborate. There is plenty of room for many women.

Be a mentor

You might be older or wiser in different topics. Don’t forget to teach what you know to other women. When times are uncertain, mentorship is a key support to grow personally and economically. Smart woman building another smart woman is what the economy needs. Give homework to your mentorees, ask them how they can add value with their ideas. Be prepared to give and receive feedback. Promote and impulse other woman to look for a mentor and to be mentors themselves.

Include women on important meetings and discussions

Exposure to important decisions and important meetings is vital for women to build confidence, to learn how to develop and how to interact in decision making. There are plenty new key decisions taking place right now. If you are a woman in power, remember to take a fellow young woman to participate in these meetings. This point comes along with the part of mentorship. Make sure to let other women know they have a voice, no mater how far in their career they are.

Be humble, be open

When learning from other women, be the most humble and open. Don’t criticize what another woman is saying, be empathic when giving feedback, be open to another woman’s advice. Defend fellow women when they are proving a point, is not about if you believe in what she is sharing or agreeing on everything, it’s ok to disagree, but help them have a voice and let others know that her voice and sayings matter. Never shush another woman or diminish what she is fighting for even if you do not share her fight.

Analyze your privileges

Privileges (social, intellectual, economical etc.) are something we woman must analyze carefully. Within our own context, we must contribute to the development of other women. From what you have with the purpose of always giving and helping other women grow. Could you afford and education? Make sure to share your knowledge with women that can’t afford it. Do you have a comfortable economic situation? Make sure to hire another woman, to help her grow and enhance.

I loved the story of Madam CG Walker (Netflix gave us this jewel). And I think it shows us what sisterhood is and how privileges should be analyzed and shared. On this you can see a self-made millionaire woman and how she intended to help other women. There are lots of lessons about competition also and how working together could have been better.

It is our time to solve problems together to get leadership roles in our communities, it is time for us to work together as a team. Cooperatively, we can contribute to a smarter and better economy. It is time to lead and learn jointly.

I want to thank the amazing women that have helped me and guided me along my career. I want to thank amazing men that have guided me along my career. With their mentorship I have learned to help other women and I have become a mentor as well.

Gracias a la pequeña niña foca por sus consejos para este artículo