Leave The Girl Where She Is

Have you seen it? That statue of a little girl staring down the Wall Street bull, which was placed there on the eve of International Women’s Day?


The statue that has people stopping in their tracks, taking pictures, and setting off news articles everywhere.

For me, the statue stands for all of the reasons why women are natural born leaders:

Women take initiative . We are able to take a look around and evaluate situations so that we can charge forward to make things happen without allowing too much time to pass.

Women help develop others . It’s not enough to just work on ourselves - we want to help others do the same. Caring about ourselves simply isn’t enough. When we see an opportunity to help someone else achieve their goals - we go for it.

Women inspire . We inspire ideas, people, goals and more - most of the time without even realizing it. What comes as a natural instinct or ability to share and vocalize our ideas and thoughts, is an inspirational and motivational act for those around us.

Women collaborate . We are perfectly aware that there is power in numbers, and we are the first to go out and identify all of the right people to come together and get a job done.

Women build relationships . We’re storytellers by nature, always igniting conversation with those around us to truly understand what makes people tick. We value the importance of getting to know people and what it means to maintain strong partnerships with our colleagues, friends and family.

The statue, with the help of thousands of petitioners, is now staying up just a little longer than the originally planned one week stay - extending the permit to allow her to stand until April 2nd.

One week? And now one month?

Why not for one lifetime?

Sadly, we know that one month is not likely to be enough. A lifetime may not be enough either.

But perhaps if we leave her there for one lifetime she can serve as a reminder that women are natural born leaders. We could continue to encourage organizations and industries across the globe to recognize the power of women and their abilities. Remind them that more women need to be in leadership roles, and be supported to pursue whatever goals they are aiming to achieve.

Leave the girl where she is.