#LeadershipTuesdays: What Do You See?...Virginia Satir

We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us.
 
--Virginia Satir (1916-1988), Author and Psychotherapist

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Gloria Steinem said in a New York Times article that, "it's hard to think of anything except air, food and water that is more important than the media". Given the importance of the media, what do you believe that the images of women we see on television and in film are telling us about the value and worth of women in our society?

Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence of the 14th District of Michigan recently hosted a forum at the Congressional Black Caucus' 45th Annual Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss this topic. Entitled "Miss Representation: How Women Are Portrayed In The Media" (based on a documentary by Jennifer Siebel Newsom), panelists from the national and local media as well as women from national advocacy groups and public relations professionals led a discussion that helped the audience understand their power to change how women are currently being portrayed in the media.

Today's Leadership Tuesdays features a video commentary and a few interviews from the seminar as well as an excerpt from actress Viola Davis' acceptance speech at the 67th Emmy Awards where she made history by winning Best Actress In A Lead Role In A Drama Series. 

To see the video, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. To view the trailer from the documentary, click Miss Representation.

On Toughness...Dianne Feinstein

Toughness doesn't have to come in a pinstripe suit.

Dianne Feinstein, U.S. Senator, San Francisco's First Female Mayor 

Learning To Be Great!...Kristi Yamaguchi

"I learned to put 100 percent into what you're doing. I learned about setting goals for yourself, knowing where you want to be and taking small steps toward those goals. I learned about adversity and how to get past it."

--Kristi Yamaguchi

Kristi Yamaguchi,  1992 Winter Olympics Figure Skater
kristiyamaguchi.com

Three Unconditional Properties Of Love...Vera Nazarian

“Love is made up of three unconditional properties in equal measure:

1. Acceptance
2. Understanding
3. Appreciation

Remove any one of the three and the triangle falls apart. Which, by the way, is something highly inadvisable. Think about it — do you really want to live in a world of only two dimensions? So, for the love of a triangle, please keep love whole.” 

―Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

 

Celebrating Differences: Is It Possible?...Hillary Clinton

“What we have to do... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.”

--Hillary Clinton

Is It Possible??

The Right Kind Of Success...Michelle Obama

"We learned about honesty and integrity - that the truth matters... that you don't take shortcuts or play by your own set of rules... and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square."

--Michelle Obama

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY presents Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. From a very early age, our parents or guardians teach us the foundational principles of what's right and what's wrong. As we get older and begin to mature, we find out that life can present us with some situations where we have to decide whether we will compromise our values and do the easy thing or buckle down and do the work required to accomplish our goals.

Success, everybody wants to be successful. Everyone wants to be admired and respected by their peers, and more importantly, richly rewarded for their efforts.  The question is, is all success good success? If I don't play by the rules and no one finds out, does it really matter? What's fair to you, may not be fair to me. How do I really know what the right thing to do is?

Our Leadership Tuesdays' features today help us with just those questions. Michelle Freeman, CEO/President of the Carl Freeman Companies and the Freeman Foundations, tells us in a brief video snippet that sometimes when negotiating business deals involving large sums of money, we can be tempted to step "over the line" and take shortcuts to achieve our end goal. But, she says, "that might make it easier, but that does not make it better." 

In a blog entitled, "Ethical Behavior Coupled With Integrity"*, Dr. Surya Ganduri stated that research has "found that companies displaying a ‘clear commitment to ethical conduct’ consistently outperform companies that do not display ethical conduct". In the long run, it is more profitable to do the hard thing and achieve "good success" than it is to do what may be easier and achieve short term success that may cost the organization considerable more in the future.  As First Lady Michelle Obama says in the quote above, "success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square". Dr. Ganduri's blog also offers five principles that will help leaders champion an organizational commitment to integrity.

To view the Michelle Freeman video snippet, click here.  To read the blog referenced above, visit the Women Making History Facebook page and click on the 3/25/14 posting.

*You can also view, "Ethical Behavior Coupled With Integrity", here: http://embcblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/ethical-behavior-coupled-with-integrity.html 

Let's Stay Together...Happy Black Marriage Day!

I, I'm so in love with you

Whatever you want to do is all right with me

'Cause you make me feel so brand new

And I want to spend my life with you

Let me say that since, baby, since we've been together

Loving you forever is what I need

Oh let me be the one you come running to

I'll never be untrue

Oh let's, let's stay together...

_________________________________________________________

Happy National Black Marriage Day!!

Dedication to all of the families who are doing
what it takes to stay and grow together!

Live In The Moment!...Emily Dickinson

“Forever is composed of nows.” 

― Emily Dickinson

Kindness Trumps Everything...Tom Giaquinto

“Kindness trumps everything. Kind people are magnets for all of the good things in life.” 

--Tom Giaquinto, Be A Good Human

Where Our Choice Lies...Elana K. Arnold

“Perhaps that is where our choice lies -- in determining how we will meet the inevitable end of things, and how we will greet each new beginning.” 

--Elana K. Arnold, Burning

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY presents Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. The Holidays can be a tough time for many especially those who are experiencing loss or missing loved ones. Michelle D. Freeman knows this all to well. In December 2006 she lost her husband, Josh Freeman, then president of the Carl M. Freeman Companies, in a tragic accident. In today's feature, she talks about her grieving process and how she has since found renewed life and purpose.

Currently, Ms. Freeman is the CEO of the company and the two family foundations: Joshua M. Freeman Foundation and Carl M. Freeman Foundation. She is also an entrepreneur, a philanthropist and a minority partner in Monumental Sports and Entertainment which owns the WNBA Mystics, NBA Wizards and NHL Capitals as well as the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. Lastly, Michelle is the proud mother of three children.

It is our hope that you are encouraged and inspired by this message. To view the video, click here.

Merry Christmas!!

As I reminisce on Christmases gone by, I am reminded that the memories we make today are lasting.  It is my prayer your day is filled with the joy of special friends and loved ones.  
--Nona

Bernie Mac, Rest In Peace

Leadership Tuesdays: Integrity...Eudora Welty

“Integrity can be neither lost nor concealed nor faked nor quenched nor artificially come by nor outlived, nor, I believe, in the long run, denied”

--Eudora Welty

The Most Difficult Leadership Goal...Bill Hybels

"You are the most difficult person you will ever lead." --Bill Hybels

http://www.willowcreek.com

I Am Only One, But...Helen Keller

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do. 

 --Helen Keller

The American Dream...Barbara Jordan

The American dream is not dead. It is gasping for breath, but it is not dead.  

--Barbara Jordan (1936 -1996), Lawyer, U.S. Congresswoman (D-TX), and Civil Rights Leader

Integrity...@TonyDungy

"Integrity does not come in degrees - low, medium or high. You either have integrity or you do not."

--Tony Dungy, Husband to @LaurenDungy, father of seven, author, retired NFL coach, National Spokesman for@AllProDad. Live by Mark 8:36

Every Tuesday, womenatliberty.com  provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. To read a blog inspired by Tony Dungy's quote, click here. For more information on Tony Dungy, go here. 

Check out LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter at @LeadershipTues.

Every Time You Smile...Mother Teresa

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.”  --Mother Teresa

We Are Still Called To Love...Sidney Williams

"Praying for members of our community who would rather die than conform to the standards of this world. We cannot tolerate bullying and prejudice against people because of our personal discomfort. There will always be differences in human choice, but we are still called to love another - even those who we define as enemies. The truth is, the greatest enemy is the enemy within that makes us feel that we have the right to bully or rob others of their dignity."  

--Rev. Sidney Williams, Pastor, Bethel A.M.E., Morristown, New Jersey. 

Those Whose Heart Is Firm

"I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death."  

--Thomas Paine

People Are Like Stained-Glass Windows...Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

People are like stained - glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. 

--Elisabeth Kubler-Ross