Leadership

As a for-profit entrepreneur, I spent the first half of my life focused on Return on Investment (ROI). Now, I’m spending the second half of my life focused on a different form of ROI: Ripples of Impact. I love this phrase coined by our MEA faculty member Justin Michael Williams and mindfulness teacher and author Shelly Tygielski.

There is something about the much-lauded Hero’s Journey that has been a little bitter on my tongue lately. It pains me to write this as a Joseph Campbell devotee, but I have a hunch that we simply don’t need heroes right now, and instead the world needs to hear more about our heroines.

As we age, we begin imagining what we will leave behind. When it comes to families, it may be our kids, extended family, or the way we’ve created memories for loved ones. When it comes to our communities, it may be the cleanliness of a nearby park or the strength of a Girl Scout Troop, two of our favorite volunteer activities.

Sometimes we need to "repot" ourselves to flourish again. I call this "same seed, different soil." We have a blind spot for the wisdom we’ve cultivated in a company, in an industry, in a particular position or role. It’s often when you change the landscape that you start to see what value you can bring to a new habitat.

We often do an exercise at MEA in which our "compadres" (our cohort participants in a week-long workshop) don name tags that define mindsets or identities that aren't serving them.

I gave a talk in Charleston, South Carolina, not long ago to a company that had asked me about the qualities I most admire in great organizations.

I'm an outsider. I don’t have any personal experience with life in the big leagues, aka the corporate world. But, I DO have a perspective, an important one. I have been "married" to a global consulting firm going on 29 years. My husband has been with the same firm our entire marriage.

I’m proud to be a Board member of Encore.org that has sprouted so many innovations for those of us over 50— from The Purpose Prize to Experience Corps to the Encore Fellows program. Three senior leaders from the org recently penned this essay on why non-profits are such ripe territory for the wisdom of experienced leaders looking for a second or third act.

Much has been written about the needs of the evolving workplace, with specialists in decline and generalists on the rise. David Epstein’s superb book "Range" captures this new perspective on leadership. However, it is a new study that has recently been getting some traction amongst HR executives.

I remember the first time someone called me a "CEO whisperer.” I had no idea what they were talking about. I don’t tend to whisper. On the contrary, my advice to young CEOs can often feel like it’s coming straight from a bullhorn.