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Great Leaders Turn Chaos into Opportunity
The worst mistakes I've made in life and leadership have always involved waiting too long to fire someone. Whether I’m hanging onto a relationship long after love is gone or hanging onto an employee long after...Read the rest of HILLARY'S PENN-ULTIMATE LEADERSHIP MISTAKE on Heartfeldt Politics Blog. What do you think? Let me know by posting your thoughts on the blog entry.
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Speaking to the Carole Hyatt Leadership Forum's "Getting to Next"...
"Your presentation was intelligent, engaging, and insightful...Your candid approach to storytelling and your wonderful speaking voice had them enthralled."--Carole Hyatt
Listen to my podcast about Leadership: "In Chaos Is Opportunity"
People often look at me like I am crazy when I say "in chaos is opportunity" in my leadership speeches. But it's a lesson I learned first hand during 30 years as a CEO. I share this insight as inspiration to shape change rather than being buffeted by it.
That's because chaos and change mean boundaries are fluid. When changes are happening in a constricting business or social climate, the challenge is even greater… and the call for courage is even more intense. But it is, or can be, your moment, when you can try bold new ideas or make dramatic changes...if you have the courage to risk.
Speech: “Sister Courage: What it will take for women to make it to the top in radio once and for all”
It was a real treat to speak at the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Show recently in Charlotte NC on one of my favorite topics, "Sister Courage". Women’s advancement to the executive offices in radio has stalled. There are many women and men who want to change that, so they asked me to address how women can make it to the top once and for all. We had a spirited conversation about fresh solutions for getting ahead personally while breaking glass ceilings for all women using principles of movement building.
"This was not a speech, it was a conversation, a story-telling, a wake-up call and an inspiration. I can't tell you how many people came up to me afterward and said 'she should be our keynote speaker to several thousand broadcasters!'"
--Joan Gerberding, President, Local Focus; Founder, Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio
LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM SEND YOURSELF ROSES
Our new book, Send Yourself Roses, contains lessons Kathleen Turner learned from her own life, and she shares them in hopes they will be of practical value to readers, especially other women. To name a few:
- See your moment and seize it, Honey.
- If you feel sexy, so you are.
- Don't repeat your successes.
- The irony strikes when you're hot.
- And, of course, Send Yourself Roses.
When you say the book title, put the emphasis on "yourself". Makes a different meaning, doesn't it? 
Actually, our first title was Take the Lead, Lady! (See speech description below--the name was too good to lose.) Our editor wanted something a little less--oh, maybe less strong or strident-sounding. We thought Send Yourself Roses sounded pathetic, like you couldn't get anyone else to. But when you say "Send Yourself Roses"--emphasis on "Yourself", it sounds empowered and that's more like Kathleen. So I created a speech called "Send Yourself Roses" too.
TAKE THE LEAD, LADY! Practical Leadership Skills for Women
If I'm lucky, there is at least one magic moment during a speech when I see people nodding in unison. Sometimes they smile knowingly; sometimes they look pensive, even pained, as though a raw nerve has been exposed. It's not necessarily that they are agreeing with my brilliantly persuasive arguments, but rather that something resonates at a deep emotional level.
For example, I recently spoke to the women's leadership council of a major corporation that was going through major upheavals in their business, and therefore in their personnel. Because women even today tend to be among the later hired, they are still more vulnerable to the layoffs and changes swirling about them. The energy in the room was high nevertheless, and people were clearly looking for ways they could create a positive atmosphere for their staffs to accomplish their goals despite diminished resources.
So we talked about how they could take the lead to be like sisters to mentor and support one another, have the courage to make needed changes, and strategize together like a movement to leverage their individual resources and capacities. And everybody was coming along with me pretty well.
Then it got very quiet.
I could see those heads nodding practically in unison, like a waving grainfield, when I observed that women tend to isolate themselves and feel like they have to solve their problems alone. This is what I said:
Do you notice that women are more likely than men to feel isolated in their workplaces? First of all, they try to struggle with their problems of work-life balance individually. And they’re more likely to burrow in, work hard, and hope that hard work will inherently be recognized. I have news for them—it probably won’t.
Speaking up and being one’s own best pr person is essential. No one ever assumes you have more power than you assume yourself. Have you read Debra Condren’s book, AmBITCHous? I commend it to you. She tells you how to get over that internal resistance to seeking after money and power that so many of us women are socialized to have even today.
Whew, it was powerful, that head-nodding moment, almost like a release of some kind of unspoken barrier they could now talk about and get get past.
To book a customized speaking engagement or media appearance on Sister Courage or Practical Leadership...please contact me and let's talk about your needs.
Check out the conversation about Eliot Spitzer's leadership. And speak your piece. What are the leadership lessons we can all learn from this? (Perhaps I should send David Paterson my podcast.)