#LeadershipTuesdays: "Do or Do Not"...Mellody Hobson

"We don’t want to just admire problems, we want to try to find solutions to them. So, you have to truly believe that the world is changing and that you want your customers represented inside of your company, and you want to have different types of people and brains to come up with new and creative ideas. You have to truly believe that leads to a better outcome. ...Yoda said ‘Do or do not, there is no try.'”

--Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Investments, gave a courageous TED talk in March 2014 about an experience she had in 2006 of being mistaken for the "kitchen help" when she showed up with then Congressman Harold Ford for a lunch meeting at the offices of a highly regarded New York publication. Your first reaction is to chuckle and then you give a heavy sigh and side eye because you know that her experience is not funny at all.

Although Mellody has broken the glass ceiling and achieved success, she recognizes that other minorities and women are not being given the same opportunities to excel in their fields and reach the highest echelons of corporate power. With an authentic and courageous voice, she continues to champion diversity even though this is not her main gig. She actually runs an investment firm and sits on the board of a few firms including Starbucks and JP Morgan Chase. She says it’s time for less talk and more action. More of 'this is what we have accomplished' versus 'this is what we are trying to do'.

To watch her talk at Fortune's Brainstorm Reinvent conference in Chicago, go to our home page at womenatliberty.com. Or you may also view it here.

Follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter @LeadershipTues to see daily posts with resources that help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills. Happy #LeadershipTuesdays.