Graceful Leaders

Saturday evening I attended the Federation of Houston Professional Women's "Women of Excellence" Gala, which is an annual event where a woman from each member organization is honored for her leadership, career accomplishments, and community involvement. It was a lovely event honoring nearly 40 women and I remembered very clearly how nervous and honored I was in 2004 when it was me up on that stage in front of hundreds of people. And how grateful I was that my strapless gown stayed where I wanted it to!

What struck me this year as I watched each woman take the stage was how diverse a group it was. Young, old, white, brown and black and everything in between. It made me proud to be a woman who supports and is supported by other women. Each woman had different abilities, different skills and talents, but the unifying theme was that she was using these abilities, skills and talents to lift up the women in her immediate circle and the community at large. I was particularly impressed by the stunningly youthful seventy year old grandmother who had recently gone sky diving with her eighteen year old grandson. Now, that is a grandmother to emulate!

Men and women has so much of value to learn from one another and women can certainly show the way to appreciate each other in such a gracious manner. I'm grateful I was able to spend some time in the company of such accomplished, gentle and powerful women.