I know. Some of you are saying: ‘How can you call 2021 a resilient year when it was 365 days of pandemic?”

The number of women managers ditching the workplace in 2020-2021 has been dismal. America’s greatest migration is the number of women who have left managerial roles.  According to the analysis of the Women’s Law Center, 2.1 million women left their jobs in 2020, primarily due to the childcare crisis. As we move into 2021, the likelihood of women returning at the same rate to equal or higher positions is low. 

The number of women managers ditching the workplace in 2020-2021 has been dismal. America’s greatest migration is the number of women who have left managerial roles.  According to the analysis of the Women’s Law Center, 2.1 million women left their jobs in 2020, primarily due to the childcare crisis. As we move into 2021, the likelihood of women returning at the same rate to equal or higher positions is low. 

Resilience is the word of the moment. Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficulties, adversity, or crisis. We all need resilience to survive this pandemic and move forward, but resilience won’t guarantee that you will thrive.

I thought Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) would live forever…. or so I hoped and prayed. She heroically fought off cancer since 2009. She was a significant person and lived a significant life.  Even her passing was significant.  According to midrash (Jewish wisdom), only the most righteous people die on Rosh Hashanah. It is undeniable that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was righteous. She stood for justice, gender equality and civil rights. She inspired, and will continue to inspire, women and young adults to be bold, courageous, outspoken, humble and kind.  She is acknowledged by those, whether they agreed or disagreed with her opinions, as a tenacious dissenter and contemplative jurist.

On September 13th, CommPRO featured a webcast The Truth about Why There Aren’t More Women at the Top…and the Steps Companies and Women Can Take to Make a Giant Shift.   A panel of leadership experts offered their strategies and actions to solve this pressing issue.

Recently, I taught a class on how extraordinary conversations change your life – both professional and personal. As a Senior Fellow at The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership (CEPL), I was asked to substitute for faculty member Joan Wangler who I greatly respect. To prepare for this all-day session I read the book Missing Conversations: 9 Questions All Leaders Should Ask Themselves (authors: Bridgette Theurer and Heather O’Neill Jelks).