Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak one-on-one with the Chairman and CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Ok…a few minor corrections.
My one-on-one “conversation” was really a 30-second question asked during Q&A following a talk given to 200 people.
And I spoke one-on-one with a ChairWOMAN and CEO.
Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, Xerox Corporation spoke here at Darden on Tuesday as part of our Leadership Speaker Series. I must say, I’m still charged from the event.
Under Ms. Mulcahy’s leadership, Xerox was transformed via an aggressive turn-around plan that retuned Xerox to profitability. In a few short years, she improved the health of the company by decreasing debt, increasing cash, and continuing to invest in R&D. Ms. Mulcahy was recently named one of America’s Best Leaders by US News & World Report and ranked #4 on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women. Among her accomplishments, Ms. Mulcahy transformed Xerox at a time when the company was facing bankruptcy. She is a board director of Citigroup Inc., Target Corporation, The Washington Post Company, and Catalyst (a nonprofit supporting women in business).
Needless to say, she is impressive and I was blessed to have an opportunity to hear from her.
I sat front and center (literally…third row, center seat).
Her talk was titled “Leadership Lessons Learned on the Firing Line”. She shared her observations on leadership, broken into two categories: the “process of leadership” and “behaviors of leadership”. Under each category, she made specific points and gave practical examples. The point that most resonated with me from the former was “establish a clear vision of where you’re taking an organization.” The point that resonated with me from the latter was “good leaders have great instincts and are not afraid to follow them.”
Both insights were not brand new to me—but they were a needed reminder.
When life is moving at such a hectic pace, it’s easy to lose sight of the vision (for your life, for your career, heck, for the week!). I feel that I had lost sight of the very clear vision I had coming into Darden. However, recent developments (still teasing you with the “update”, I know…I’ll come to it soon) has helped me “see” again. With respect to instincts, I KNOW this is still an area of development for me: trusting my instincts and having the courage to follow them. It’s critical that I learn to trust that inner voice more; Ms. Mulcahy’s talk was a great reminder.
Ms. Mulcahy was particularly inspiring to me as a woman leader. She’s confident, strong, intelligent, and humble. She’s respected, well-regarded, and fearless (you MUST be to accomplish what she has accomplished).
And, she is well-dressed—her outfit was FIERCE, I must say! 😉
I say that, only half-jokingly.
She wore a dress, with a stylish blazer, and peep-toe pumps; very sophisticated, trendy, and feminine. It was clear that she was comfortable in her skin and didn’t feel the need to downplay her femininity in order to “run with the boys”. I admire that.
Yesterday’s talk refocused me.
It reminded me of part of my entrepreneurial vision—to start a non-profit leadership development institute for women. I’m extremely passionate about women’s leadership and women’s development. I had hoped to use my time here at Darden to sow seeds for this future venture. I wanted to do research, work with faculty, get involved with women leadership initiatives, etc. I, admittedly, lost sight of that vision in the haze of first semester. Now, I see it again…
That’s the thing about greatness—it’s hard to miss it. You can see it in others and they, in turn, can help you see it in yourself.
Thanks, Ms. Mulcahy, Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer, and Mirror.
As a young professional myself, I also struggle to stay with my inner voice. I have intuition and thoughts on things, but I am by no means a master of my field nor am I even at the level of knowledge of my peers. How then, can one assert their point of view when it has little basis on actual facts or experience and more on intuition and inner voice?
It is great that Darden can bring in such great leaders!
@ TheCakeScraps: thanks for leaving your comment. Your question may have been rhetorical but I have a thought on it…
Totally understand your question. It comes down to a fundamental issue of balance. Balance is the key to life. So, I agree–one needs to have a basic understanding of the subject at hand. I think the point about intuition/instincts is one that assumes the knowledge is there…and that, at some point, you have to make a decision. That’s when that inner voice really comes into play. Can we learn to trust it and act on it?
However, even if you don’t have the “level of knowledge of your peers” (and I use quotes because that’s so subjective–sometimes we THINK others know so much more than we do when that’s not the case), your inner voice…your intuition can trigger a thoughtful question needed to move the dialogue forward. It’s not always the perfect comment that brings revelation; revelation can come via a thoughtful, probing question. So, don’t discount where you are and what you know.
Your blog is very insightful and I can’t imagine the excitement you must have felt listening to her. I always wonder how people like her get to where they are. What makes a great leader? How does one develop the ability to see the big picture and rid their minds of the minutia. As a black woman, how do you handle the adversarial environment that can exist in the workplace as you climb the ladder? I find that as I advance in my career I am more aware of who I am. I find that I have to work harder than everyone else, and there’s a surmounting pressure to be ‘perfect’ I love business, but do not think the corporate environment is for me. I too have an aspiration to run a busness of my own, but more of a community based organization. Probably something linked to education because I am very passionate about that. You say you had a vision when you decided to pursue your MBA, was it just an idea or did you have a plan mapped out and Darden was a part of the plan.I hope I am not all over the place with my questions. I feed off of knowledge from people like you and am always seeking in the field of busness.
Hello,
Being a prospective student, I was just going through your blogs and liked the way you observe things. Well, I think that people often loose their sights from goal, once they are immersed in an activity. And I also think that we would do much better if we keep our objectives close to our hearts and minds when we are doing the activities that could take us to our own goals. Cutting it short, I really don’t want to sound any consultant here :p… just want to wish you a luck for your intended venture…
thinking about your women leadership , I recall that one of my friends is working for “The Hot Mommas Project” in US, which is about work life balance and leadership for working women. I guess you could find more details on http://hotmommas.wordpress.com/.
http://www.hotmommasproject.blogspot.com/
Moreover, I can get you in touch with this guy who can be more than happy to offer you any information you might need.
Regards
Tarun Babbar
Can u contact me.at SharonR10@AOL.COM. I am searching for someone to help me with a small business plan, and I like your writing.