A Mary Richards for my generation

     I am about three weeks away from wrapping up an organizational behavior class and this week's reading featured an example of ways a person in a leadership position might react when they are new to a less than welcoming organization. The format of the chapters in this book are to set up the scene and then offer a process for achieving desirable results. I usually like to consider my gut reaction to the scene before reading further.  For this one, I immediately knew how I would react. I would say in my most pleasant and cheerful voice,  "If you'll please [do what I say here], so I can just [describe how I'm going to decimate you here]. Thank you so much!"

     I never thought I would have or need any other role models as a feminist other than my mom. But I realized, the person I am imitating when I need to be tough, is Brenda Lee Johnson, Kyra Sedgwick's character on The Closer. At first I was a little embarrassed to have a fictional TV character as a professional role model. Yet, the more I thought about it, the more clearly I saw why I looked up to her so much.  She has unflinching personal integrity.  She even has the decency to manipulate people to their faces. They're on to her game, yet somehow, it is impossible to call her bluff or to evade her tactics. They even know she's intentionally letting them see the manipulation happening. There are no tricks. There is no mistaking Brenda Lee for anything but aggressive when she's interrogating a criminal. She twist every word like a knife. She knows it. The criminal knows it. And she's so good, they can't even cry foul when it's all over, because she hasn't missed a single please or  thank you, and she was perfectly clear with her intentions. It was always their choice to make a confession. (Note the lack of "whether or not" in that choice.)

      Although she works in a hostile environment that has traditionally been seen by others as "a man's world", Brenda knows better. She is an effective, respected leader in her world. She is nobody but herself as she gets the job done; not "one of the boys", not a "damsel in distress". She is decent and polite, but never submissive.   She is a lady and doesn't give an inch. Not ever. Especially not on that.