Taking the tiara and staff away from Queen Carlotta, I am thrilled to be Queen for the Day and tell you how my benevolent reign would improve the world. I would start by making it illegal to uptalk – the “moronic interrogative” that drives us all crazy. Next up would be to sentence the words “um”, “like” and “ya know” to life in prison without parole (is that, like, an oxymoron?). Finally, I would deign to eliminate the lifeless, monotone voice of the truly uninspiring speaker. There (brush, brush). Much better!
Seriously, though. If I were Queen of the World, I would help every young female professional feel more confidence in her abilities and help her learn how to connect with that inner strength and center of power that we all have, but often fail to access when we really need it. I would help women increase their credibility by speaking up and speaking out more often. I would make it very hard for any alpha male to dismiss a female colleague just because she is soft-spoken, petite, or because she cares as much about team harmony as she does about productivity. I know it’s a tall order, but I think it can be done.
Confidence is sexy. It’s powerful. More goals are achieved through confidence in oneself than by stressing over what we might or might not be capable of. The world would be a better place if rather than shying away from opportunity because it feels too scary, we instead just took the leap and asserted our opinions and ideas. Advance the ball. Make things happen. Instigate positivity.
Yes, it’s a tall order, but as my husband Michael always says, “How hard could it be?”
– Queen Babette
