Take Back Your Power summary

It took several years before Deb Liu realized she was part of the problem.

As the head of payments at Facebook, Liu frequently gave the keynote speech on Day Two of the Money 20/20 conference. Before her address, she would walk the show floor with her male colleague and witness the same scenario unfold: anyone they encountered would invariably direct the conversation to Liu’s colleague, assuming that – payments being a historically male-dominated industry – Liu’s colleague was the one in charge. Not wanting to make the interactions awkward, Liu would allow herself to be edged out. It didn’t matter that after giving the keynote, she would suddenly be overwhelmed with people requesting her time and attention; every time she let the behavior slide, she was feeding the narrative that it was natural to overlook women.

Gender inequality is a deeply ingrained systemic issue that starts in our classrooms and pervades our workplaces. Women are subject to biases and barriers that men, for the most part, aren’t. Frequent microaggressions and greater scrutiny mean that females often work harder than their male colleagues while receiving less pay and fewer growth opportunities. Unfortunately, this reality is more extreme for women of color, women with disabilities, and women who identify as LGBTQIA+. Despite the ongoing fight for fairness, our workplaces still have a long way to go, and systemic issues like these require fundamental policy changes to correct.

Yet this shouldn’t leave us demoralized or apathetic. Truth is power, and by acknowledging the reality we face at work, we can take well-informed action to reclaim our power and make a mark nonetheless. Yes, we must continue to pursue widespread parity, but as Liu discovered, success is possible in the meantime through taking responsibility at an individual level.

In this Blink, we’ll cover five of the ten ways Liu has found we can do just that, based on her experiences and the experiences of several giants in their respective fields. (We’ll also use “we” to mostly mean “women” but, of course, much of the information is relevant to men who also want to see equality in the workplace.)

Ready to follow in the footsteps of these formidable females? Let’s get started.