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Is Jane Fonda A Dangerous Woman?

This article is more than 4 years old.

Leadership can be dangerous. Leaders are called to shape perspective even in opposition, challenge the status quo when comfort is preferred and share knowledge that's contrary to popular understanding. Courageous leaders embrace risk to encourage growth and advance the greater good.

Recently, we spent an afternoon with Pat Mitchell, a self-proclaimed dangerous woman. Pat is willing to embrace risk for the sake of advancing good even if it is dangerous. Mitchell, a long-time friend of Sundance founder Robert Redford, spoke at an author series hosted by the Sundance Resort. Mitchell discussed her new memoir, Becoming a Dangerous Woman, Embracing Risk to Change the World.

A media icon, global advocate for women's rights, and co-founder and curator of TEDWomen, Mitchell has dedicated her career to sharing women's stories. She has built an impressive career as a journalist, Emmy-winning producer, pioneering executive and is committed to various nonprofit boards.

Mitchell opened the author series describing an invitation she received in January 2017 to attend "the meeting of movements." The host started the meeting by saying, "We are living in dangerous times and such times call for new levels of activism from all the communities represented in this room."

Each of the women attending the meeting had an opportunity to introduce themselves to the group. When it was Mitchell's turn, she said, "I'm Pat Mitchell, I'm a dangerous woman. At this time in my life, about to turn 75, I have nothing left to prove, less to lose, and I'm ready to take more risks and to be less politic and polite. These are dangerous times, and dangerous times call for dangerous women."

Jane Fonda, who was also at the meeting, immediately stood up and declared, 'Well, I'm older than my friend Pat, so that makes me even more dangerous.'"

In Becoming a Dangerous Woman, Mitchell describes how Fonda's life of activism is a textbook case for being bold and brave. In her own book, Prime Time, Fonda said, "older women have the potential to become the most powerful population on the planet."

According to Mitchell, "there are approximately one billion women over the age of fifty in the world. They are the fastest-growing population on earth." Think about it, women over fifty have the kind of experience that results from having seen a lot and having done even more. They have perspective and insights that arise after surviving failures, disappointments and overcoming the challenges that accompany each age of a woman's life. And in the United States, because women at this age are healthier and more active than any generation before them, women over fifty are no longer resigned to hunkering down and sitting back. They are more eager, willing and naturally inclined to leverage what they have learned to pave a better way for future generations.

In Mitchell's memoir, she reflects on her past, growing up in a small town in southern Georgia with no money, no power and no real influence, but with burdens to bear. Yet, the afternoon at Sundance with Mitchell was far more than a trip down memory lane. Mitchell challenged women and men to lock arms and courageously shift the power paradigm. She invited us into a movement. A movement calling women and the men who stand with and for them, regardless of age or place in life's journey, to embrace the risks, optimize our networks of friends and colleagues and do more to shape a better, more dignified world for all.

At 76, Mitchell is not standing down. Her mission is to profoundly advance our collective power and potential. In her words, "Today, I am more prepared to leverage my platforms and connections…to harness every aspect of privilege and power to open doors, build bridges, heal divides, and fight for possibilities to create a more equitable world for all."

Why now? She's right. These are dangerous times. Our nation is divided and divisive. Political extremism, racism, and sexism are rising globally. Staggering numbers of refugees are without a safe place to call home. Reproductive rights and access to healthcare are at risk. Mother Earth is stressed and challenged. Climate change is defensible by many, doubted by others and debated by all. And while bullying, bad behavior and turning a blind eye to injustice are becoming normalized, common courtesy, kindness and civility are now being legislated through Workplace Inclusion & Equity initiatives. Sadly, our nation is fractured, broken and polarized. Our global community needs mending and that will not happen from an armchair or the sidelines. Collectively we have to get involved.

These are dangerous times that call for fearless women and men, willing to lock arms and use our collective power to embrace the dangerous and the difficult and advance our world to the next stage of good. Mitchell wants to be clear in her definition of being dangerous. She said, "It's not about being feared; it's about being fearless."

Courage and conviction quiet fear and awaken fearlessness. Both are essential elements for embracing risk and doing what's dangerous. So, how is it done? By cultivating cultures where more women and men exercise the courage to take on the dangerous?

Here are 3 strategies for doing brave work and solving problems that matter:

1. Rumble with danger and uncertainty

Change, innovation and growth do not happen inside the comfort zone. New ideas, challenging conversations and tough truths occur outside of it. Taking a stand for things that matter is often uncomfortable and dangerous. The truth is, you can be comfortable or courageous, but you can’t be both at the same time.

Stepping out of the comfort zone is where people adapt and develop new ways of being and leading. This involves uncertainty, risk and exposure. Borrowing from the work of #BrenéBrown, rumbling with danger and uncertainty means stepping into the metaphorical arena to take on difficult issues. To rumble is to challenge ourselves and others to be brave and fearless, and doing so requires choosing courage over comfort. It's daring to do the dangerous work especially when the outcome is uncertain, risky and may lead to emotional, physical and intellectual exposure.

So, is Jane Fonda a dangerous woman? Although she readily admits that there are things she regrets about her activism and would've done differently, she is at it again. Fonda is gaining attention with Fire Drill Fridays, a weekly climate change campaign, inspired by Greta Thunberg's passionate cry "Our House Is On Fire." In October, Fonda declared, "So many of us know there is a crisis yet we're either overwhelmed or we don't know what to do. So I decided to upend my life and leave my comfort zone and move to Washington, D.C. to focus on climate change. This is a crisis, as Greta says, our house is on fire, and we have to act like it."

Fonda is doing the dangerous and standing on the front lines. Every Friday for four months at 11:00 am on Capitol Hill, Fonda and experts lead demonstrations, speak on complex climate crisis topics and share information about a framework for going forward. The framework builds upon the work of Naomi Klein, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. Klein documents and then argues that the only way to avert a climate breakdown is to undertake a radical reset of our entire economy.

Fonda continues to get arrested in the name of raising awareness. "It doesn't matter about the arrests," she said of her Fire Drill Friday protests. “What matters is getting the word out to people, getting beyond our comfort zone. Risking more, because there's so much at stake." The protests are also bringing awareness to the ways in which climate change affects other parts of human life, such as women's rights, access to drinking water and global militarism.

For some, this is Fonda at her best. For others, it is reminiscent of her activism during the Vietnam era. Whether you are Fonda's friend, fan or foe, #FireDrillFriday is an example of fearlessly using our collective power for the benefit of Mother Earth and future generations. As the New York Times recently posted, rumbling with danger and uncertainty "has its hazards."

What’s your call to courage? What troublesome issue seems overwhelming? What challenging issue have you been avoiding? Is it dangerous? Disruptive? Is it important enough to step out of your comfort zone and take on the dangerous?

2. Embrace the suck.

Taking on dangerous work is far from comfortable; as noted, it involves risk, uncertainty and various types of exposure. Being courageous requires us to embrace the suck. That is, doing what’s dangerous and difficult. Doing what we've fear and therefore, avoid. Some of us freeze in the face of fear, others flee and some take to the sidelines. Courage calls us into the arena to do what feels dangerous, to fight and stand up for what is important and what matters.

To freeze, flee or take to the sidelines means avoiding tough conversations, remaining silent and turning a blind eye to issues that matter.

Embracing the suck means jumping into the arena and rumbling with what needs time, talent, energy, platform, privilege and connections. Courage is about showing up with an open heart and mind to serve each other and solve problems that matter, not to serve our egos.

The award-winning, Women's Aid Look At Me interactive billboard serves as an innovative example of collective power and courage in taking on the difficult and dangerous. Digital billboard Ocean Outdoor collaborated with creative firm #WCRS and #Women's Aid to raise awareness of domestic violence.

Tragically, domestic violence affects one in four women in their lifetime, yet, too often it goes unnoticed and unreported. Unfortunately, it remains a taboo topic. People remain afraid to talk about it and avoid calling it out. That is, they avoid the suck by turning a blind eye, taking to the sidelines, freezing or fleeing. The Look At Me campaign was designed to help the world understand that everyone plays a role in eradicating domestic violence. When people individually and collectively turn a blind eye to it, domestic violence endures and that is not acceptable.

The campaign was timed to coincide with International Women's Day in March of 2015 to raise awareness about how the U.K. charity, Women's Aid, saves lives. The billboard had innovative digital screens that used facial recognition, gaze tracking and real-time webcams to interact with people passing by the advertisement. It tracked the number of people who looked at the billboard and the length of their views. The imagery depicted a woman who is badly beaten and bruised with the simple, yet powerful message, "Look at Me. We can stop it." As people stopped to look, the woman began to heal and the billboard message changed to, "If you see it, stop it. Don't turn a blind eye."

The results were remarkable. There was a 2,500% increase in people stopping to watch for more than 10 seconds. The promotion reached over 326 million people

with 70 broadcasters, newspapers and on online platforms covering the campaign in over 20 countries, from Australia to Russia. In the United States, the story ran on NBC, CBS, ABC as well as Upworthy, Time Out, Huffington Post and others. Collectively they tracked over 86 million impressions on twitter.

Sadly, more than four years later, as we write this article, the goal remains worthy. In the U.S. alone, two million injuries and 1,300 deaths are caused as a result of domestic violence each year. What if more people embraced this suck: "if you see it, stop it?" Let's call it out and use our collective power to fearlessly eradicate this problem.

To what issue are you turning a blind eye? Could collective power, partnership and collaboration help solve a problem that is difficult? Dangerous? What part of our world could be better if we embraced the suck by locking arms with other women and men who share our convictions? What could we accomplish by stepping into the arena and fearlessly taking on the dangerous together?

3. Create a We4We culture

As Mitchell, Fonda and the Women's Aid partnership are calling women and all men who stand with and for them, to bravely, boldly and collectively embrace their power to make the world a better place, it is time for a new leadership model to help us do so.

To date, men and women have been constrained by the patriarchal construct that continues to play out in all sectors of work, politics and life. It is a prevailing and dominant model of leadership that uses "power over others" to control and manage outcomes. Power over others is no longer an option. It has never fully nor fairly served the world or business well.

Today's global economy calls for innovative and creative solutions to challenging issues. These solutions must come from multiple points of view and the strength in collaboration. Power over others tends to smother collaboration. It is time to advance a more inclusive model. A model that shares our power with others and gives our power and platform to important issues, worthy causes and noble callings.

We suggest creating "We4We" cultures in companies, communities and political systems. Not women for women or men for men, or HeForShe as the United Nations solidarity campaign advances, but rather, people for people, rising and leading together toward the next stage of good. The future will be improved by diverse people who courageously lead together. Our most pressing problems will not be solved unless we create more collaborative paradigms for change and transformation.

A more progressive "We4We" movement advances this motto: Let's not subordinate; let's strengthen. Let's not compete; let's collaborate. Let's not compare; let's complement each other. Let's improve the world together.

Think about what happens when women and men fearlessly unify around a shared vision and use their power and courage to improve lives together, especially the lives of those without voice, privilege, representation or opportunity.

We were awakened to this very kind of courageous leadership more than 30 years ago when we met Herb Kelleher and Colleen Barrett, the iconic founders of Southwest Airlines. Almost 50 years ago, #SouthwestAirlines launched amid incredible opposition. Competition in the state of Texas was fierce and entry into the industry was dangerous, risky, and uncertain. The founders and original employees were all financially, legally, physically, emotionally and intellectually taxed and exposed. Their vision was bold and audacious, yet worthy: to democratize the skies and make flying more affordable so ordinary people could have the freedom to go, see and do things that previously only the privileged could afford.

This "We4We" leadership duo, affectionately known as "Herb and Colleen," used their power, passion and purpose to do the dangerous for the greater good. While Herb was gregarious and spontaneous, Colleen remained grounded and organized. Herb was macro, visionary and maniacal. Colleen was micro, practical and tactical. When Herb was marketing and lobbying for the industry, Colleen was engaging and investing in Southwest’s employees.  

Although we lost Herb in January 2019, the dynamic duo’s ability to strengthen, collaborate and complement each other enriched the Southwest story and the lives of countless people. Herb and Colleen’s courageous collaboration contributed to democratizing the skies and created the greatest success story in the history of commercial aviation.

"We4We" leadership has the potential to shift the power paradigm in all sectors of work, politics, life and love. Doing brave work requires scaling daring leadership and building courage in teams, organizations and movements. Fearless leadership happens when people dare to have tough conversations, give feedback, hold each other accountable and work together to eliminate power over others.

Enrich the story.

A "We4We" movement invites people to lock arms, unify around a common cause and rumble with danger. It calls everyone to embrace the suck and lead together to enrich the story.

What epic story is calling you? What crucial role in the forthcoming chapters will you play? Enriching the story will require courage and a willingness to fearlessly use collective power, platforms and privilege to take on the dangerous.

Dangerous times call for daring leadership.

If you’re ready to jump in, here are six strategies for advancing a more courageous, collaborative and inclusive “We4We” workplace.

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