GRATITUDE TO OUR MEN IN WAITING

My blog this week is more personal than business based. Transformational leadership doesn't have boundaries; it encompasses the whole person.

Men sometimes ask why a book on leadership for women.  After all isn't this transformational leadership stuff for men too?  Yes, I say and then explain, (inwardly rolling my eyes that they haven't figured this out yet), that many organizations haven't tapped into the value of women's leadership.  I'm not saying that women are better than men; I'm saying that our organizations will be better when they include men AND women in leadership.

But let's get back to the personal side of this week's blog. Every Friday morning, I volunteer at a breast cancer center. One of my roles is to greet women as they arrive for tests which include everything from a mammography to a needle biopsy. Some of the women are breast cancer survivors coming in for checkups and others have been sent to the center to further investigate a doctor's suspicions regarding potential breast cancer.

I came to this volunteer role because I am a breast cancer thriver, as I like to call myself, who had my chemotherapy treatment at this same hospital. During my breast cancer journey my life partner was constantly at my side. He was there for all of it, the diagnosis, the mastectomy, the chemo, and the putting back together of my new life and spirit.

Every week in my volunteer role, I see the men who wait patiently for hours as their spouse is tested. The men read, talk on the phone, and watch television. The worry and love they feel is there to see as they anxiously wait for the doctor or their spouse to walk back through the door. I've seen these men smile and offer to get a cup of coffe for the one they love, they help them with their coat, and take their hand as they leave the waiting room.

I see more of the same when I visit my oncologist's office. I'm more tuned into it now that I'm further along in my journey. I see the women and men who are just beginning the process. I see the men who are there as a silent witness and support to the women in their lives.

So this week my blog is to all the men in our lives who quietly cry and then drive us to our appointments, and cheer us on in achieving our dreads, and help us get our bodies and our lives back together.

Yes, women in leadership are critical in our global economy. And, men and women working together as transformational leaders are critical to our spirit, our ability to be whole persons.

If you know someone who is a "Man in Waiting" say thank you, give him a hug, and tell him you love him.  We need men like him to bring our whole spirit to work.  And women, if you haven't had a mammography or done a breast self exam lately, get to it!

Til next week, Dr. M.