#WomEndorse: Be That Girl!

There is an image making the rounds this month on social media. It depicts three little girls cheering for a woman riding a horse, and the headline reads, “Be the girl who cheers for the other girls.”

It is a particularly powerful message as we celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month. It is an extremely important message for women all year long.

A couple of years ago She Runs It led a benchmarking study to compare the career trajectories of women to men across seven sectors of marketing, media and tech. Our goal was to illuminate the strategies that leaders use on their journey to the C-suite. One of the most intriguing data points was this one: The study revealed that 78 percent of all professional endorsements (using LinkedIn as proxy), were delivered by men.

Some qualitative exploration revealed that women are simply heads down on the job, focused on getting the work done (often so they can get home to their other job). But the message was clear. Women can and should actively endorse more women (and men for that matter).

So, we are dedicating the month of March – Women’s History Month and International Women ‘s Day – to changing that 78 percent to 50 percent. We are asking every member of our community to dedicate 5 minutes a day to the act of endorsing or championing another woman through an effort we call #WomEndorse

It might be a quick LinkedIn endorsement. It might be a letter of reference for a female colleague or associate. It might be the amplification of an idea or insight shared by a female colleague that was overlooked or ignored in a meeting.

Whatever it is, if you can mark the moment by posting a simple reference on your social channels, She Runs It will share it with our community. We’re not asking you to name names, but simply post something like:

• Proud to endorse my colleague today. #WomEndorse #sherunsit
• Put words into action today. #WomEndorse #sherunsit

She Runs will also be posting throughout the month so please follow our social platforms and share our posts with your community. It’s a small step that can ultimately have a big impact.

Happy Women’s Month!

Lynn