The problem of helpfulness

It's true, I've been told before...it's important to be helpful, but...you also have to be smart to make it in this world. And witty. And clever.


Otherwise you really end up having to cover everyone else's jobs, but you yourself will not get far. Which is fine if you never aimed to get far. He :-)


Anyways, if you know how get things done, it's empowering. And when you see others doing it as well, you realize why it is not always handy. People will build on you and rely on you, but the reflex of reward does not necessarily kick in...and at one point, one starts feeling burnt out and demotivated. Or, one becomes a true change agent. Depends on the circumstances - if there is an internal "patron"of your work who helps you get further, or if there are road blocks anywhere you look.


And being helpful will keep reinforcing your role as support staff rather than helping you make a jump forward. Fingers crossed, though. These circumstances work out for everyone differently.

Strongest women

I looked up on google what the strongest women in google terms mean. Apparently, it refers to the ladies with big muscles. That´s nice, I guess, even though I think slender ladies look more elegant in general.
Then I searched for "strongest women leadership" - I found Margaret Thatcher, Queen Elizabeth II, Dilma Roussef and other stateswomen. Impressive, but this is still not what I was looking for. Also, women leaders in business are great and I would like to see more of them, but they were also not the focus of my thought process.
I was looking for stories of ladies who have acted out of conviction, with clear conscience and their life circumstances still turned against them. In the last 48 hours I came across at least three of them. Here they are - rather than repeating their stories, I will refer you to the corresponding wikipedia site to give a less emotional description of their stories:
Angela Cropper - Assistant Secretary General to the UN Environment Program
Lara Logan - Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, CBS News
Valerie Plame - former CIA US Operations Officer.
They represent tremendous strength, power of will, vitality, determination - and elegance. They recover from the blows life gave them. And of course, like everyone else, they have critics. People challenge their integrity. Which is also useful, to keep perspective.
These are just small examples. There are so many women leaders out there - people working for their community, for their beliefs. Reading their stories inspires me to try harder.
I am sure you have examples in your surroundings that you would like to share. Feel free to do so - by any means you can find! We should learn more about these ladies trying to keep it all together and not losing sight of their principles, their North Star.