Why Women Need to Take a Power Trip.(Brief Article)

It's time for us to embrace our influential status instead of playing it down, says 36-year-old former White House lawyer Cheryl Mills.

* When I worked in the White House as deputy counsel to former President Clinton, I came to appreciate the value of power and how it can be used to influence people, make changes, and affect lives. But if you bad asked me if I was powerful, I would have said no and quickly pointed to someone else--likely a man--as a person who I thought had real power. Somehow, diminishing my own power seemed like the only appropriate and polite response.

It turns out that I am not alone. Despite all of our accomplishments, many women are reluctant to embrace power, let alone outright say that they desire it. Whether it's referring to the power to change policy, make millions of dollars, or even just have people listen when we speak, power is still a dirty word. What is even worse, we often don't support other women in their attempts to gain influence. A recent survey conducted by polling outfit Oxygen/Markle Pulse found that 65 percent of female respondents said they have felt resentful or jealous of powerful women.

As the host of a television show about successful women, I have been trying to figure out why my gender is so conflicted about it power. It might be because our culture continues to identify it as a masculine trait...or at least an unfeminine one. Calling a man "power hungry" often means that he is ambitious in a good way. Calling a woman "power hungry" often means she's self is and merciless in her climb to the top.

Maybe it's also because many of us don't like the ways in which we've seen power wielded, so we think that it must be inherently difficult to exercise it without hurting others. Whatever the reason, as opportunities have opened up for women, letting go of the long-held prejudice against those who gain power has ...