Love Yourself As If...Aberjhani

"Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends."


--Aberjhani, Author and Poet, "Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry"

You Can!...Donna W. Martin

"I don't consider myself a trailblazer but I do want young women to look at me and say, 'anything is possible'. I think that if you work hard, and you really believe in yourself, you can achieve anything that you absolutely set your mind to."

--Major General Donna S. Martin, Commanding General, Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army Installation, Missouri

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today we feature a quote by military trailblazer, Major General Donna W. Martin, who made history as the first woman to take Command of one of the Army's premier training installations in the U.S., Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army Installation. Based in the Ozarks region of Missouri, the military base welcomes 80,000 military personnel and visitors each year. In addition to managing its day-to-day operations, she will also oversee the construction of a $100 million hospital in the next 2-3 years that replaces the current General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital.

Read our complete profile of Major General Martin by clicking here . Then follow @LeadershipTues on Twitter to view our daily #LeadershipTuesdays posts for resources that will help you develop your leadership skills. We post videos and articles on trailblazing women and men who are successful leaders. Check us out!

Update: 

Lieutenant General Donna W. Martin
The 67th Inspector General, 2023

LTG Donna W. Martin assumed responsibility as The 67th Inspector General of the United States Army,  Sept. 2, 2021

https://ig.army.mil/About/Leadership/

#LeadershipTuesdays: Modeling Achievement...Donna W. Martin

“My wish, my desire is that at some point in our history there won’t be a ‘first woman’ doing anything, it will just be somebody doing something..."

--Major General Donna W. Martin, Commanding General, Fort Leonard Wood U.S. Army Installation, Missouri

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today we feature military trailblazer, Major General Donna W. Martin. She is one of 71 women generals and admirals serving in active duty in the military. Women in these type of senior leadership positions represent 7.5% of the total 939 active duty generals and admirals, so she is in a rarefied group. Although she has broken the glass ceiling by being named the first woman to assume command of the Fort Leonard Wood Training Installation in Missouri, she doesn't consider herself a trailblazer. Hence the quote above. She wants other women who desire a career in the military to see her as a model of the opportunities and possibilities that are available to them.

In August 2018, Martin was promoted from Brigadier General (One Star) to Major General (Two Star) in a ceremony at Fort Leonard Wood. The Army training base includes engineering, chemical and military police specialities and the General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital, a facility that will be replaced by a new $100 million modern hospital in the next few years. Major General Martin will oversee the new hospital project as part of her command duties. The 60,000 acre Fort Leonard Wood installation welcomes over 80,000 service members each year.

Martin is one of six children born to a close knit family headed by a single mother who worked as a nursing assistant in Yorktown, Virginia. Isn't it prescient that her mother worked as a nursing assistant and now she will oversee the building of a $100 million hospital? The General began her career with the military in ROTC 30 years ago at Old Dominion University as an undergraduate. She graduated with a criminal justice degree and later received a Master's degree in Strategic Studies from the Army War College in Carlisle, PA. She rose through the the ranks of the Military Police Corps and her career has also included deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

General Martin is a model of achievement for all women especially women who are serving this country in the military. For more information on Major General Donna Martin, read "First Female Commander at Fort Leonard Wants Women To Know What's Possible For Them In The Military" by the St. Louis Dispatch. Click @LeadershipTues to follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter. There you'll find resources to help you develop your leadership skills and learn from others who are successful leaders. 

You Were Meant To Be Here...Thich Nhat Hanh

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet."

--Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Photo: Shane Aldendorff

#LeadershipTuesdays: Are You Learning New Things?

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. 

John Maxwell, an author and guru on leadership, defined leadership as influence. So if leadership is influence, every leader must be willing to grow and learn new things in order to increase their knowledge and ability to influence those around her/him through their leadership. 

Betsy Beers said in a Shondaland article posted on Twitter at @LeadershipTues that we can't be afraid to admit our knowledge gaps. (see Career Advice from Betsy Beers) good leaders are constantly learning. Tell us, how are you growing yourself as a leader and what resources are you using?

Follow @LeadershipTues on Twitter for resources to develop and strengthen your leadership skills. You'll also learn from others who are successful leaders.

Look Around And See The Beauty...John Calvin

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."

--John Calvin

Make Up Your Mind...Rosa Parks

"I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear."

--Rosa Parks, Seamstress and Civil Rights Activist

Rosa Parks bronze artwork depicting her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on 12/1/1955; Rosa Parks Children's Museum, Montgomery, AL


Today we remember Rosa M. Parks who was arrested on December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama for her refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger on a public bus. Her courageous act and arrest became the catalyst for the Montgomery Bus Boycott which lasted 381 days. 381 days African Americans and allies did not ride the bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

On December 21, 1956 the Montgomery Bus Boycott ended after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the federal lower court's ruling in Browder vs. Gayle that local and State laws segregating seats on public buses were a violation of the 14th Amendment and therefore unconstitutional. Although the lawsuit did not include Rosa Parks but six other individuals who had to give up their seats to white passengers, Parks' act on December 1, 1955 was the catalyst for the lawsuit and the subsequent boycott which would be led by a young, then somewhat unknown pastor, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today we celebrate Rosa Parks, the mother of the Civil Rights Movement and the other unnamed over 40,000 participants in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 

For more information on Rosa Parks, go to: http://www.rosaparks.org