As the former editor-in-chief of Chatelaine magazine, Rona Maynard has faced many challenges and had ample experience learning to hone her leadership abilities.
Maynard was the keynote speaker for the Management Development Program for Women’s 20th anniversary event at Carleton May 11.
“When I was young, I was always asking ‘Do I measure up? Am I good enough?’ I was very externally motivated, and a lot of women never do get out of that rut,” she said.
“I remember thinking that there just was no point aspiring to a career because I wouldn’t get anywhere if I did,” said Maynard, whose mother was denied the profession she wanted simply because of her gender.
Despite her later success as a writer, her mother never fully recovered from the sting of getting less than she deserved, Maynard said. She said watching her mother greatly impacted her perception of male and female leadership roles.
“Most men I’ve observed think that they deserve a good job, that they deserve advancements,” she said. “In my generation anyway, women tended not to think that way.”
“Women are very afraid of being perceived as self-important,” Maynard said.
She tested the legitimacy of this fear when she began to share her personal story as a woman in her editorial column in Chatelaine.
Maynard discovered that her readers’ perception was very much the opposite of what she expected; to them, she was not self-interested and “grandiose,” but a leader.
“They told me that stories I had written changed their life,” she said.
Recognizing her effect on other people has allowed Maynard to value and utilize her gifts for leadership. Today, she uses her memoir writing workshop to empower women who fear their stories will be insignificant to others.
“When there are eight or nine of us sitting around a table and everybody is saying, ‘I’d like to know more about that,’ or ‘this really touched me,’ they discover that the rest of the group is very interested in their story. And that is empowering,” she said.
Simple actions are just as important to Maynard. She said the power they have to influence others reminds her that anyone is capable of leadership.
“I’m always noticing things that people do, or stories that people tell me, that get me thinking, ‘What does that mean to me? What can I take from that?’” she said. “When you aspire, it is easier to inspire,” she said.
“It’s a story that makes me aspire to be better than I am. And when I’m my best, I’m able to inspire other people.”
