Women in Leadership Forum

Last night I was invited to a program at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, a wonderful girls' school in Princeton. Their headmistress, Sr. Frances de la Chapelle, is a real treasure, and wonderfully committed to the young women in her care. In her letter welcoming folks to their website she writes

As they have for 200 years, Sacred Heart women positively influence the world by thinking critically, acting with courage and compassion, and manifesting an informed and lively faith.

What a gift to the world!

Now, what brought me to Stuart last night was their newly initiated Women in Leadership Forum. Last night's speaker was Dr. Shirley Tilghman, President of Princeton University. Dr. Tilghman is a scientist, a leader in the field of molecular biology, and she spoke eloquently about what it is to be a woman in leadership in two male-dominated fields--hard science and university administration. What struck me about her address was her identification of eight qualities that leaders possess. Her comments were, I thought, spot on, and she chose eight women as her examples. What follows is my summary of her list, with apologies for its brevity--she was much more eloquent than I could jot down quickly on the back of the program:

1. Passion and purpose—Martha Graham (the mother of modern dance) who did not take up dancing until in her 20’s, who was not a “classical” dancer, who moved “from oddity to icon”

2. Persuasion/Inspiration/Eloquence—Barbara Jordan (African-American woman elected to Congress from Texas in early 1970's) called the nation to attention during Nixon’s impeachment, a voice of righteousness, a woman of clarity

3. Strong Moral Compass—Sr. Helen Prejean (champion of eliminating the death penalty) the idea that what we believe ought to be “grounded in something deeper than prevailing sentiments and passions”

4. BIG Idea—Wendy Kopp (founder of Teach For America, Princeton class of 1989) an ability to think way, way out of the box, to create new solutions and pursue them despite being told "no" or "not yet"

5. Stubbornness, refusal to let others define you—Sandra Day O’Connor (first woman appointed to the US Supreme Court) realizing that the path one takes may need to be unique, and fighting for that freedom, meeting challenges head on and defining the solution on your own terms

6. Habit of listening and building community—Meg Whitman (CEO of eBay) leadership as influencing not dictating, “the power of all of us,” understanding the importance of building a collaborative network

7. Learning from mistakes, making mid-course corrections—Hilary Rodham Clinton (former First Lady and now Junior Senator from New York) knowing when you need to step back and listen to feedback and make a new choice, not letting pride stop you from learning and succeeding

8. Courage of convictions—Aung San Suu Kyi (Burmese political activist) freedom from fear, courage to stand up in face of opposition, to hold fast to what one believes to be true and important and worth suffering for