“I want every girl who’s told she’s bossy to be told instead that she has leadership skills.” These are the words of Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. I believe this to be true – bossy girls become leaders – and I am living proof. This quotation reminds me of a story from when I was little. I was at a birthday party and we were playing a trivial game where we each had to come up with one positive word for each person and one negative word (not a game that raises self-esteem and not a game I’d recommend to girls!) However, I have no idea what my positive word was but I absolutely remember the negative word given to me: BOSSY. I was devastated and right away I decided I should change. What a mistake! Looking back now, I wasn’t bossy at all. Instead, I had good ideas, I was an initiator of activities, I was a creative spirit with a lot of resourcefulness and ingenuity, and I found it so easy to communicate my ideas and get people to join me in my adventures. In essence, I had the ingredients for the making of a leader!

So, when I read this post on Instagram, I was affirmed in all that I knew to be true – from a very young age. Bossy girls become successful leaders and strong women. Girls who have ideas and the courage to share them become inspiring women such as Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and, yes, Sheryl Sandberg.

So here are my words of encouragement for ANY and EVERY girl who is told she is BOSSY:

• Embrace who you are: if you are born with talents and gifts – honour them!
• Think BIG: go beyond your short term goals to create an expansive vision and trust that you can accomplish more than you can EVER imagine
• Find something you believe in: believe in yourself and your ideas and believe in the power of making your ideas become your reality
• Always find ways to feel fulfilled – when you are “full” you will feel motivated and inspired and you will have more to give to others
• Go for what you really want to do and don’t waste any energy paying attention to what others are doing
• Don’t listen to people who call you bossy – most likely, they are envious of your natural leadership skills so, just keep being you!

Bossy girls know what they want and they know how to get it – be strong, be confident, and be YOU!