Global elder Robbo: glacial bureaucracy,women's frustration

[Apparatchik]

Mary Robinson, recently anointed one of Nelson Mandela's 13 wise "elders", has big ideas about the ways in which the current generation of female heads of state can put a new kind of women's leadership into practice. "There are two types of women who get into high positions," she says. The first she describes as "very talented" women who do it in a traditional - male - way. Like Margaret Thatcher? "Yes, and fair dos: to get through is not always easy. A lot of women in business accept that model. But there is also the other model I would very strongly advocate and this is equal to the contribution of men but different, complementary, exciting and innovative."
It is this approach that Robinson hopes to harness in her role as chair of women world leaders (new invitees include the presidents of India and Argentina and the prime minister of Ukraine). She calls it an "enabling collective women's leadership. Women leaders are often more analytical and self-critical and more honest about it than their male counterparts. It's as if they are still asking the question 'Am I doing well enough?'" she says.
The war on terror, she believes, has been "a disaster, not just for human rights but also for ideological divides, for squeezing out the moderates".

She and a number of other women will test their leadership skills in the coming year by "intervening supportively" in Liberia, where president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Africa's first elected female leader two years ago. The backing for Johnson-Sirleaf will be "very practical and we'll be able to measure outcomes," says Robinson.
She and other women leaders are "learning a very loose freewheeling idea of working together," she explains. Wouldn't she be better off fighting for women through existing democratic structures, which offer proper accountability and a formal authority to get things done? She points to the lack of impact women currently have using those channels. "Women are now present in critical mass. We are there politically, in business and at the community level; so why are we not having more influence? Maybe we're accelerating the process, trying to be the pioneering front that moves a bit faster," she says.

I wonder if this promotion of informal networks comes from frustration born of years enduring the glacial pace of change in politics and the mega-bureaucracies of the UN. As a global elder, Robinson may be able to command a bit of media attention, but how can this translate into changing people's lives?

[cactus flower]

Appartchik, this post is so thoughtful that my microbe ridden head just cant get around it. Not meaning to be rude, but I will maybe have another go tomorrow.

[theyshootPDsdontthey]

Mary Robinson, recently anointed one of Nelson Mandela's 13 wise "elders", has big ideas about the ways in which the current generation of female heads of state can put a new kind of women's leadership into practice. "There are two types of women who get into high positions," she says. The first she describes as "very talented" women who do it in a traditional - male - way. Like Margaret Thatcher? "Yes, and fair dos: to get through is not always easy. A lot of women in business accept that model. But there is also the other model I would very strongly advocate and this is equal to the contribution of men but different, complementary, exciting and innovative."
It is this approach that Robinson hopes to harness in her role as chair of women world leaders (new invitees include the presidents of India and Argentina and the prime minister of Ukraine). She calls it an "enabling collective women's leadership. Women leaders are often more analytical and self-critical and more honest about it than their male counterparts. It's as if they are still asking the question 'Am I doing well enough?'" she says.
The war on terror, she believes, has been "a disaster, not just for human rights but also for ideological divides, for squeezing out the moderates".

She and a number of other women will test their leadership skills in the coming year by "intervening supportively" in Liberia, where president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Africa's first elected female leader two years ago. The backing for Johnson-Sirleaf will be "very practical and we'll be able to measure outcomes," says Robinson.
She and other women leaders are "learning a very loose freewheeling idea of working together," she explains. Wouldn't she be better off fighting for women through existing democratic structures, which offer proper accountability and a formal authority to get things done? She points to the lack of impact women currently have using those channels. "Women are now present in critical mass. We are there politically, in business and at the community level; so why are we not having more influence? Maybe we're accelerating the process, trying to be the pioneering front that moves a bit faster," she says.

I wonder if this promotion of informal networks comes from frustration born of years enduring the glacial pace of change in politics and the mega-bureaucracies of the UN. As a global elder, Robinson may be able to command a bit of media attention, but how can this translate into changing people's lives?

Can I nominate this for Pseuds Corner in the Eye? The fact that women don't vote for women seems to have eluded her?

[Apparatchik]

Mary Robinson, recently anointed one of Nelson Mandela's 13 wise "elders", has big ideas about the ways in which the current generation of female heads of state can put a new kind of women's leadership into practice. "There are two types of women who get into high positions," she says. The first she describes as "very talented" women who do it in a traditional - male - way. Like Margaret Thatcher? "Yes, and fair dos: to get through is not always easy. A lot of women in business accept that model. But there is also the other model I would very strongly advocate and this is equal to the contribution of men but different, complementary, exciting and innovative."
It is this approach that Robinson hopes to harness in her role as chair of women world leaders (new invitees include the presidents of India and Argentina and the prime minister of Ukraine). She calls it an "enabling collective women's leadership. Women leaders are often more analytical and self-critical and more honest about it than their male counterparts. It's as if they are still asking the question 'Am I doing well enough?'" she says.
The war on terror, she believes, has been "a disaster, not just for human rights but also for ideological divides, for squeezing out the moderates".

She and a number of other women will test their leadership skills in the coming year by "intervening supportively" in Liberia, where president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Africa's first elected female leader two years ago. The backing for Johnson-Sirleaf will be "very practical and we'll be able to measure outcomes," says Robinson.
She and other women leaders are "learning a very loose freewheeling idea of working together," she explains. Wouldn't she be better off fighting for women through existing democratic structures, which offer proper accountability and a formal authority to get things done? She points to the lack of impact women currently have using those channels. "Women are now present in critical mass. We are there politically, in business and at the community level; so why are we not having more influence? Maybe we're accelerating the process, trying to be the pioneering front that moves a bit faster," she says.

I wonder if this promotion of informal networks comes from frustration born of years enduring the glacial pace of change in politics and the mega-bureaucracies of the UN. As a global elder, Robinson may be able to command a bit of media attention, but how can this translate into changing people's lives?

Can I nominate this for Pseuds Corner in the Eye? The fact that women don't vote for women seems to have eluded her?

It's callled Hillary Syndrome.