Careers

March is the month for women. During this month, we celebrate International Women’s Day and – in the UK at least – Mother’s Day. Why we dedicate only one day to the overworked and underpaid half of the global population and offer a further measly day a year to recognise those who give birth to everyone on the planet are questions for another day.Today, I want to pay tribute to the power of ‘sistahood’ – the inspiring, uplifting, and invaluable love and support that women offer to each other.

There’s nothing like a pandemic to remind you of the importance of women friends. Indeed, a recent survey commissioned in the US by Bloomsy Box and conducted by One Poll asked 2,000 female Americans for their views about their female friends. An overwhelming 89% of respondents described their friendships with other women are important to them, with almost a quarter (23%) calling them "essential."When asked to describe how their friends helped them in 2020, their stories included women who sent care packages, helped to pay bills or buy groceries, delivered home-cooked meals, and offered emotional support during stressful times.

An overwhelming 89% of respondents described their friendships with other women are important to them, with almost a quarter (23%) calling them "essential."

In dealing with the stresses of unprecedented social and economic disruption, 89% of the women questioned admitted that their relationships with their female friends have helped them cope during the pandemic. If you’re wondering how these relationships measure up against those with their male partners and significant others, 56% of the women would rather be trapped in quarantine with their closest female friend than a romantic partner — including 60% of millennials between the ages of 24 and 39.

Sistas

The bond between a woman and her best female friends is remarkable because, quite simply, our female friends are the sisters we get to choose. Our sista friends back us all the way but are also willing and ready to keep it real by telling us the truth and not just what we might want to hear. Such is the value of our sistas that 52% of the women surveyed admitted missing seeing their best friend more during the pandemic lockdowns than they miss their immediate family.

Reasons to be Grateful

None of these survey results surprise me as my own girlfriends have seen me through the best and the worst of times and are the support system I cannot imagine doing without. I’ve written about the power of sisterhood and female friendship and it’s something I experience first-hand every day. My sistas are a bunch of smart, loyal, loving, dependable and brutally honest, take no prisoners, women. Scattered around the globe thought they be, with my crew there’s never a shortage of ears to listen, shoulders to lean on, minds to endlessly analyse the most banal of my preoccupations, arms to hug (when not in lockdown), and laughs to share.

So, while we love our menfolk dearly, for many of us women "sistas before misters" is just the way it is.

Founder & Managing Editor, ReConnect Africa

Executive Coach, Career Consultant and author of the novels ‘Imperfect Arrangements’ ‘From Pasta to Pigfoot’ and ‘From Pasta to Pigfoot: Second Helpings’ and the books I Want to Work in… Africa: How to Move Your Career to the World’s Most Exciting Continent’ and ‘Everyday Heroes – Learning from the Careers of Successful Black Professionals’