Fellow pilot and author of Chick in the Cockpit, Erika Armstrong, says that women shouldn't 'lean in' but rather we should just stand up straight! This statement has been resonating with me since reading it on her website years ago. We women are not men, and we shouldn't have to go around beating our chest and grunting like men just to prove that we are strong and capable.
Although, for most of my life that is exactly what I was told to do. My mountaineering father would often harp on my sister and me to “Be men!” as we would try to keep pace up the mountain with him. As our 7 year old arms would tire from paddling a canoe upstream. As we struggled putting on our cold ski boots. It wasn't until we were a little older that we started to state the obvious, “But dad, we aren't men!” So then of course he started hollering “Be women!” in a sturdy voice that still meant toughen up and no whining!
This mountain man was also the strongest supporter of mine when I was learning to fly. During the middle of my commercial pilot license training I called him one day giving him all the reasons that I wanted to quit, and thankfully he talked me off the ledge. After a charter flight many years later I called my dad from the bathroom crying because the jerk captain was so contradictory it made me crazy. And again it was also this man who made me feel competent once more.
Be a woman! Be tough, no whining. And in business it is also my dad who helps me act like a man, no emotion, just the facts. Yes, we women are emotional, sensitive and sometimes we whine. In some areas it would behoove us to learn business traits from our wonderful counterparts. But I have also learned to embrace who I am and the diversity that I contribute. I am a woman. And this makes me special in the cockpit for I have a certain relationship with my aircraft. I listen to the sound of my airplane and I can hear when the engine is running rough. I can feel when the props are out of sync. I proudly clean the oil off the engine cowling. I become one with this goddess machine because I am oh so touchy feely. There is nothing overpowering about my control inputs. I can finesse a landing so smooth you'll wonder if we’ve landed yet.
So yes! Be a woman! Be strong and stand up straight. Wear elbow grease and lipstick!
