Noem: Women’s Perspective Needed In Leadership
By Travis Gulbrandson
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan
Tuesday, June 3, 2014

U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem said that when people hear the term “women’s issues,” it often gets pigeonholed into something that has to do either with health or the home.

“I will tell you that I have always firmly believed that women’s issues are every issue,” she said. “We just have a different way of looking at things. I call it a woman’s perspective on every issue.”

On Tuesday morning, Noem told the attendees of this year’s American Legion Auxiliary South Dakota Girls State that this is why it’s important for women to be in leadership roles.

“I’ve got so many good friends in Washington, D.C., men and women, who are Republicans and Democrats,” Noem said. “I get together with Republican and Democrat women three to four to five times a week, just to talk about how we can work together just to get things done. That doesn’t happen so much on the men’s side. ...

“I think women are more collaborative, and we work well together. A lot of times if we see a problem we try to jump right in and get the job done,” she said.

Noem said that although they may not realize it, the Girls Staters are already leaders in their own lives, “whether it’s through your younger brothers and sisters, whether it’s in your high school, your church youth group, even just among your group of friends.

“So many people think that leadership is about position, it’s about a title that you hold, or it’s something that people have deemed that you are,” she said.

“I will tell you that leadership is about people,” she said.

Noem quoted Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner as saying, “A leader with no followers is just a man out for a walk.”

“I think that’s very true,” Noem said. “So many times in life, being a true leader is about building relationships with people, about spending time with them and caring about what they are about, about letting them see that you do care, and working together.”

Noem was asked what policies she has helped to enact on a national level that will help girls succeed in leadership roles.

She answered that she serves on the agricultural committee, adding that even if someone is not directly involved in agriculture, if they live in South Dakota they are affected by it due to the jobs and money it generates.

She also said she serves on the armed forces committee, and helps make decisions related to national defense.

“All of these decisions are very important, but when we go to war and we send our family members overseas, we tend to forget everything else. ... They becomes our number-one priority,” she said.

Noem said in serving on these committees, it is her job to take care of both women and men.

“If we can keep our country safe and develop strong policies that support our military and keep them strong, then we have every opportunity in the world,” she said. “What I want is for every young girl, every lady, every woman, to be able to look at any position and know that they have an equal opportunity to go after that, and go after that leadership role.”