Find the Confidence and Courage to Stand Up to Queen Bees

Ladies, it's time we put a stop to the mean girl culture in schools, in life and at work. There is enough love, joy, success and friendship for all of us. We don't need to backstab and pit our friends against each other.

This has been on my mind, so I wanted to do a podcast about back to school, queen bees, and what we can do as parents and coaches and leaders to help girls stand up to the mean girls. Where do the mean girls get their power? Why don't the other girls in that crowd stand up to the Queen Bee? And, how can we get our girls to do the right thing?

I don't have all the answers. I opened up my computer and started recording as I got a bit wound up on this topic. I would love it if you would take a listen and share your own thoughts related to the problem and potential solutions.

As I drove to school today, I watched a driver stop so that a girl could cross the street. Traffic was backed up in all directions, everyone focused on getting into the parking lot and onto their next task. That driver stopped. And it broke me out of my rush hour trance. I realized I should stop too so that poor girl could cross the street.

All it took was one person to get my attention, to make me focus on doing what was right. Wouldn't it be great if we taught our girls how to pay attention and be that one person who spoke up and did what was right in social situations? I have to believe that if more people had the courage to speak up, the queen bees would lose their power. The mean girls behave the way they do because they are confident that no one will rock the boat.

In this podcast, I also read a brief excerpt from Kara Goucher's new book, Strong: A Runner's Guide to Boosting Confidence and Becoming the Best Version of You. I highly recommend the book for athletes, girl moms, teens, and women of all ages. You don't have to be a runner to benefit from this book. Kara teaches some solid strategies for building confidence and visualizing success, and breaking through mental barriers. 

I also read a story from Craft a Life You Love: Infusing Creativity, Fun and Intention into Your Everyday by Amy Tangerine. This book is geared to people with creative hobbies and careers, but the mindset lessons apply to everyone. 

Click here to download a printable mini workbook that has some ideas from the podcast, some resources, and some writing prompts that you can enter in your confidence journal!

You can listen to this episode on iTunes, Sound Cloud, Google Play, Spotify... or in the player right here on this page.

Let me know your thoughts! Let's work together to address the Queen Bee Culture!

Coach Kim

Click here to download the Queen Bee Workbook I mentioned on the podcast! It's an 8 page resource containing the research quoted in the episode, links to the books mentioned, some exercises you can work on as a family, and 10 things you can do to help.