Color Is A Power Move

One of the (many) things
I noticed
when I was playing hard
in the corporate world
was…

I got more respect
when I wore a brightly colored suit.

I had a bright red
power pant suit
I’d wear
when I pitched important projects.
The execs would assume
I was in charge,
which I was.

If I was acting
in a secondary role
and wanted to support the team lead,
I’d wear black or dark blue
or some other dark color.

If I was being a little sh*t
and DIDN’T want to support
the team lead,
I’d wear bright blue or bright green.
And then the execs would
give me enough respect
to make the team lead uncomfortable.

Color is a power move.

And it WILL irritate
the f*ck out of women-hating men
when we use it
to our advantage
because they are restricted
to power ties
and can’t fully use the power
of color.

USE that advantage.
Wear color when you want
to be seen as the leader.

Representing Everyone

When I am the sole woman
on a team,
I am well aware
I’m representing all women.

Whether or not
the team accepts another woman
depends on how well I do.

It isn’t fair.
It isn’t right.
It certainly doesn’t apply
to white men.
And it adds a lot of extra pressure.
But it is reality.

Future women will either be
offered opportunities
or
denied opportunities
depending on how well we do.

Kim Y. Lew,
president and CEO
of Columbia Investment Management Company,
shares

“The tax of failure
for people of color and women
is so much higher.

I’ve heard someone say,
‘I’ve invested in a woman-run fund
and it failed,
so I won’t do that again.’

And my answer to that is,
‘That has probably happened
on a male-run fund
and you didn’t do that.’”

In a team with no other women,
our performance WILL influence
whether or not
more women have an opportunity
to join that team.

Act accordingly
and, if you can,
add more skilled women to that team.