Go Lead Idaho

Motivating women to lead and demonstrating why it matters

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Women & Leadership: Greatest Failures & Greatest Opportunities

An impressive lineup of women business leaders on this panel, tackling the topic of ‘Surviving My Biggest Mistake, Seizing my Greatest Opportunity’, featuring:

Conversation starts with asking for reaction to the Marissa Mayer’s controversial Hail to the Chief profile in Vogue:

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Bonnie McElveen-Hunter: It was probably a bad choice, but it doesn’t mean she is any less smart, any less capable, any less of a leader.

Teresa Carlson: First impressions matter, and because there are so few women CEOs they matter even more.

Wendi Strong: She is standing for our community of women, representing us. It is important she understand she is making a statement about not only her personal situation – but an enormous responsibility for the way women CEOs are seen.

The panel then transitioned into a discussion about their ‘greatest failures’ but reframed as learning moments and opportunities

Wendi Strong

When in charge, take charge. But….

Wendi shared a story where she took that advice from her supervisor to heart, perhaps too much. She forgot that major decisions are not about her, but about the people that are going to help her get the important job done at the end of the day. She admitted it was poor leadership on her part to not realize that the project required collective effort and collaborative insights. And that seeking inputs and insights and consensus up front made getting alignment possible

The lesson learned was not to emulate the leadership style of the men she was surrounded by, but to rely on her own individual qualities and strengths in the workplace and as her own leader.

We must be authentic, but being authentic requires a degree of vulnerability. And we as women are more comfortable being vulnerable to be authentic and build trust.

The number one job of leaders is to build more leaders. Your most important job is to lift up those working with you.

We shouldn’t just have women. We shouldn’t just have men. We need the complementary benefits of both.

Tami Longaberger

If people think you are the strong one and you have an in with those making the decision, they have you take on their problems and tough issues. So don’t do for anyone else what they can do for themselves. You are not doing them a favor by doing their work for them

You make hundreds of decisions and half of them are mistakes, but half of them aren’t

Teresa Carlson

If you always do what you always did then you always get what you always got

Every woman out there is worth what they get. Look at your career path and ask for what you think you are worth. We worry about everyone around us. Focus on and negotiate for yourself.

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter

As women, we we don’t have an ego – we have a mission. And at the core of that is being authentic. It is more powerful than you may realize.

The most important words for leaders to say… What do you think?

To be successful in business – hire people smarter than you, give them the resources they need, be their cheerleader and then get out of the way.

As women, some of our biggest strengths are communication and collaboration. Use those skills to power  your leadership.

Just stop being afraid of failure. Because failing for most of us forces us to do something we should have done but wouldn’t have if it hadn’t have been forced upon us.

Fear is fabulous. It makes us grow. When you don’t feel it, I’m worried about you. You should never get too comfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Women & Leadership: Bonnie McElveen-Hunter

Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chairman of the American Red Cross

The kickoff speaker to the conference is Bonnie McElveen-Hunter – a former U.S. Ambassador to Finland, business owner and appointed Chairman of the American Red Cross, the first woman selected in the organization’s 126-year history.  (More on Bonnie)

While McElveen-Hunter began by reflecting on the pearls of wisdom from her mother that still ground her today…

  • Mediocrity is the greatest sin
  • Work is the greatest privilege
  • Failure is a comma, not a period
  • Can’t is a word that doesn’t exist

…she quickly transitioned into a core belief that drives her daily, the belief that business and commerce are the most important forces in the world today.

1.2 billion jobs in the world. 3 billion are looking. That’s a 1.8 billion gap

McElveen-Hunter emphasized, “I believe that the most important philanthropy – the most critical philanthropists – are those who create dignity and purpose, those who create innovation and opportunities.” In other words… JOBS

She reiterated why the audience should care, stating that poverty rests on the shoulders of women and children. And if we aren’t going to help each other – who is?

“All of our success only matters when we share – and when we lift while we climb.”  

McElveen-Hunter did eloquently tackle what she called the elephant in the room:
The connections between and among women are the most feared, problematic and most potentially transformative force on the planet. But women are not always sisters. Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. If women will ever totally take hands and stop holding each other to a higher standard than we hold men, we can transform this world and make it an incredibly better place.
She left the audience with this thought:
“Most of us in this room will not be called to do great things, but all of us will be called to do small things with great love.”

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