Powerful Women
I recently learned about a 2024 collaboration between Pitbull and Dolly Parton called “Powerful Women.” The song is a remake of Dolly’s 1980 song, “9 to 5.” If you have not heard it yet, it is a banger. I first heard it at a high school football game, where everyone was dancing, and I figured they were playing it because she had just recently passed. God rest her soul. When I added it to my workout mix and listened more closely, it made me sad. The words sung more than 45 years ago still ring true today.
Women still have bosses who use their ideas without giving them credit. Women are still talked over. Their ideas are still stolen. Some feel the need to apologize for entering a meeting five minutes late after sitting through back-to-back meetings. Many are still paid less than their male counterparts. Their words are sometimes ignored until a man repeats them.
This matters to me as the son of a mother, the husband of a wife, and the father of a daughter. I want to live in a world that sees women for who they are. I know a woman who essentially apologized for becoming pregnant and promised to return to work before the legally acknowledged time. In what world should a woman feel the need to apologize for pregnancy? I also find myself wondering what cultural statements are on the walls of those buildings that directly contrast with the reality women face every day.
I also know a woman who has not received a compliment or acknowledgment of her many accomplishments from her male boss in nearly four years. Four years! What kind of workplace allows someone’s contributions to become invisible for that long?
I speak about this in my book, They’re Worth It! What It Means to Put Employees First, but we cannot speak about it enough. There is a government process called the Equal Pay Analysis (EPA), where companies are required to review women’s salaries against men’s and justify the difference. I am sorry, but if we are relying on a government process to find and address what should be common sense, I fear we have already lost.
Dolly once said, “It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it!” I understand the feeling. I tell many women I have worked with not to apologize for basic things. If someone schedules you for two or three hours of back-to-back meetings and you need to use the bathroom, that is just the way it is. If you enter the next meeting late because you are human, you do not need to apologize for existing. I say this to men too, but somehow men seem to apologize less naturally. We also tend to believe we are qualified for every role, while women often feel they need to check every box, and then some, before applying. I do not say that to bash men. The goal is simply to acknowledge that this difference exists.
Many women work from 9 to 5 and then come home to cook, care for children, and manage the household. Most workplaces do not acknowledge that imbalance. As leaders, we can start with simple things: acknowledge the reality, say thank you, and provide a deserved pay increase without requiring someone to beg for it.
I often tell people to go where they are seen. But what does that mean when many places do not see you simply because of your gender? “You would think that I would deserve a fair promotion.” That is the point of human-first leadership. We must see employees as someone’s precious son or daughter, not as FTEs or resources.
Dolly Parton is a national treasure. A few of her famous quotes:
“I’m not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb. I also know that I’m not blonde.”
“I’m not going to limit myself just because people won’t accept the fact that I can do something else.”
“I think everybody should be allowed to be who they are, and to love who they love.”
Some people will say that was Dolly Parton, and she could get away with it, but there was a time when she probably could not, and she did it anyway. There are a few people who can speak the truth and have almost everyone still loved them for it. Dolly Parton was one of those humans. She saw all people and acknowledged them. And she was unapologetically herself.
I write this article as a reflection, a recognition, and a wish. I see a better future for all of us at work. And I want to say “Thank you” to every powerful woman fighting for her dignity, fair share, voice, value, and worth. I hope your colleagues see you. If they do not, I hope you find the courage and ability to help them do so.
Coach Ha-Keem
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