Rural women don’t see themselves as leaders, even when they head the rink committee or lead a fundraising project.
They downplay their achievements and say with a shrug, “well, someone had to do it,” according to Jeanne Martinson, a consultant for Martrain Corporate and Personal Development in Regina.
Martinson, who was scheduled to speak at a rural women’s leadership workshop held Feb. 7-8 in Davidson, Sask., said women share power and don’t see themselves as the top dog.
She said a specific process is required to create a successful project, whether the leader is a man or woman.
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The first step is to have a vision of what the community needs or wants.
However, three women talking over coffee about how they’d like to have a fitness centre in their town doesn’t go anywhere until the second step occurs, which is when a person has the courage to step forward and say she will start to work on the idea.
The third step takes self-discipline. This is when the idea starts to meet resistance in the community or a spouse doesn’t support the leader going to all the meetings needed to make the idea work. Failure is not only possible but also visible to the entire community because everyone is aware of the project.
The fourth part of the process is drawing other people in to help. Martinson said leaders must recognize they can’t do it all on their own.
“The easiest thing is to have a vision. Talking is easy.”
A person’s leadership skill comes to the fore when she hits the wall. Persistence is needed if she must keep lobbying government departments or if she needs sponsors or funders to develop a business plan or keep a business afloat.
One person usually doesn’t have all the skills needed to develop a project. A leader needs to figure out what she’s good at and then bring in people who balance off her weaknesses. Another alternative is training to improve her missing ability.
Martinson, who chaired the first board of the Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan agency a dozen years ago, said there are differences between rural and urban leaders.
“There’s a lot more training and a chance to be mentored in a city. Also, it’s not as public. In a small community everybody knows your history.”
Martinson said rural stereotypes can work against women. They are branded with their husband’s success or lack of it. When she started with the entrepreneurs’ group, bankers and others often assumed a woman married to a farmer would be less committed to an outside project because she had to be on the farm for seeding, harvest or calving.
“Access to credit was one of the big challenges 12 years ago,” she said.
“Women’s work was seen as second string to the farm.”
