#LeadershipTuesdays: Laws of Leadership for Black Women

"In order to become a leader and remain an effective one, you must always consider yourself a Very Important Person (VIP). This doesn’t mean that you should be arrogant or cocky and walk into your job believing that you already know everything you need to know. 

Instead, it means that you need to feel confident that you are bringing much value to any workplace and that your cultural strengths, values, and work ethic will stand you in good stead as you go about learning how to do your job, and that you will be successful despite any challenges you may face, whether they are small or large."

--Elaine Meryl Brown, Marsha Haygood and Rhonda Joy McLean Joy McLean, Authors, "Laws of Leadership for Black Women"

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Today's we offer an inspiring quote from the authors of "The Little Black Book of Success: Laws of Leadership for Black Women" and a recent Wall Street Journal article on the disappointing lack of women in CEO roles.

Currently there are 33 women CEOs leading Fortune 500 companies, a net increase of nine from 2018 to 2019. For women of color, the results are not so promising. Ursula Burns, one of the most visible black women Fortune 500 CEOs, retired from Xerox as the CEO and Chairman of Xerox in 2016 leaving a definite void. Last year, Mary Winston was the only one woman of color on the list of Fortune 500 CEOs when she was named interim CEO of Bed Bath & Beyond. She held the interim position for seven months.

The issues that are preventing women from reaching the top leadership positions include access to C-Suite positions, being considered for the "CEO pipeline", and also sponsors that help them get leadership opportunities in operations where they will get profit and loss (P&L) responsibilities. One thing is for sure you have to have mentors and sponsors who believe in you and your abilities and are willing to open doors for you. Otha "Skip" Spriggs, President and CEO of the Executive Leadership Council, a nonprofit organization that opens channels of opportunity for the development of Black executives, said that there is not a lack of talented and qualified Black managers, but there is 'an access issue'.

Lastly as the quote above encourages, women especially women of color must see themselves as C-suite and CEO material and prepare yourself throughtout your career for these type of opportunities. Seek training and assignments that will develop your leadership skills. Further, don't get pigeonholed in traditional managerial tracks that don't offer P&L and other operations' experience. You are capable, you are smart, you bring value and you have a work ethic that prepares you to lead at the highest level. Carpe Diem!

To read today's featured article, "Where Are All the Women CEOs ( WSJ), click here. Follow us on Twitter at: @LeadershipTuesdays

or visit womenatliberty.com.

#LeadershipTuesdays: Pursue Purpose!...Nilofer Merchant

“Purpose is also a better motivator than money. Money, while necessary, motivates neither the best people, nor the best in people. Purpose does.”

― Nilofer Merchant, "11 Rules for Creating Value in the Social Era"

Happy New Year! How are you doing on this second Tuesday of 2019? I hope your new year has gotten off to a great start. On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. 

I really wanted to include a postscript in today's great quote by Nilofer Merchant. There's a bible verse that says 'money speaks to everything'. While we know that money cannot buy true love and genuine happiness, it is a necessary part of life. A lot of times women and minorities work hard and are hardly paid. Pursue your purpose, but remember to get paid and 'secure the bag', too. You got to do both in order to survive and thrive. Strive and work toward striking a balance between the two. Lastly, find a tribe who will love and support you unconditionally and beware of those who exploit others.  

Make sure you're following @LeadershipTues on Twitter to view our daily #LeadershipTuesdays posts that provides resources to help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills. We post videos and articles on trailblazing women and men who are successful leaders. Check us out!

Wishing you a purposeful and prosperous 2019 and your best year ever,

--Nona Ogunsula, Founder, 

womenatliberty.com & #LeadershipTuesdays

#LeadershipTuesdays: We Must Do Better

I do not usually express opinions on the political issue du jour on this platform, however I do want to share this experience. When I was a teenager in high school, I remember my sick young five or six year old cousin having to be admitted to the hospital because she had severe asthma and other respiratory problems. She had to stay there for at least a week and her mother, who was a single mother, had to work and could not be with my little cousin most of the day and night. 

Every day my little cousin would cry and plead with her mother not to leave when visiting hours were over. It was a traumatic experience for my cousin, her mother and anyone else like me who watched the separation process. 

That said, parents should not be separated from their children without sufficient cause. I know that the immigration issues that are currently in the news are complicated and political. However, keeping young children with their families is a human rights issue. Detain them together, process them together, grant them stay together and/or send them back together. 

Don't separate children from their parents. It's not their fault they are in this predicament and it's just too traumatic for them. And even though children are resilient, we should be and must do better than this. 

--Nona O., Founder, #LeadershipTuesdays, womenatliberty.com

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Click this link today and follow @LeadershipTues on Twitter for INC.com article, "4 Impressive Ways Great Leaders Handle Their Mistakes", and gain insight on how you as a leader and/or manager should handle mistakes. 

#LeadershipTuesdays #MotivationalMoment: Embrace The Possible...Edith Eva Ager

Happy #LeadershipTuesdays! Being assertive and seizing opportunity are not celebrated for women as often as it is for men. However, being assertive is a leadership quality that is essential for success. Believe in yourself, be assertive and embrace the possible.

Follow @LeadershipTues on Twitter for resources to help you develop your leadership skills and follow others who are successfully leading.

#LeadershipTuesdays: Embracing & Cultivating The Leader In You

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." 

John Quincy Adams

Whoopi Goldberg as Laurel Ayres in "The Associate" (1996 Comedy)

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. The featured article today is, "10 Signs You Are Really A Leader (and Might Not Know It)" by Lolly Daskal (Forbes.com). Embracing your leadership skills is easy for some and difficult for others. Some people don't want to be a leader. They just want to get the job done and keep it moving. Others don't want the hassle of managing others. It can be a lot of work. But there are times when embracing your leadership skills becomes a necessity to thriving and realizing your potential as Whoopi Goldberg did as the character Laurel Ayres in the movie "The Associate". When her current organization did not value her skills, she left the company and embarked on one of the greatest adventures in business of her life.

One of the things that makes a difference in an organization and has the greatest impact on its culture is its leadership. Good leaders are difference-makers. They add value to people and customers. They also set the tone for how the organization will interact with each other and relate to its customers. 

You owe it to yourself to embrace and cultivate your leadership skills. Learn how to add value to people. If your current organization doesn't value you, another company will. As "Laurel Ayres" learned your skills will be valuable to you and help you be successful if not as an employee, maybe as an entrepreneur or vendor/contractor. 

To view today's article, see "10 Signs You Are Really A Leader (and Might Not Know It)".  For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or womenatliberty.com, click here. 

#LeadershipTuesdays: Being A Girl Boss...Amy Poehler

“I just love bossy women. I could be around them all day. To me, bossy is not a pejorative term at all. It means somebody’s passionate and engaged and ambitious and doesn’t mind leading."

--Amy Poehler

For more info on this mug, go to: http://www.foxandclover.com/collections

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTYprovides Leadership Tuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. It is difficult to be a leader and even more difficult to be a good leader. But if you are a women, you face even more challenges because you are judged on whether you are "bossy" or not when men are expected to be bossy. 

Today's resource will give you some examples of how guys think about leading and provide with a different perspective so you can embrace your inner "boss". To view the article, "Borrowed From the Boys: 10 Tips to Help Boss Girls Crush It at Work" from likeaboss.com, go to the Women Making History Facebook page. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays and WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here.

The Double-Edged Sword: Being Confident

“What’s wrong with being, what’s wrong with being
What’s wrong with being confident?

What’s wrong with being, what’s wrong with being
What’s wrong with being confident?
 
So you say I’m complicated
But you’ve had me underrated”

--Demi Lovato (as perfomed by), lyrics from song, “Confident”

For women, being confident is a double-edged sword. Some people may view you as smart and self-assured, while others may perceive you as a know it all and cocky. One thing is for sure, judging someone’s confidence is subjective. Just like beauty is in the eye of the beholder, someone’s negative opinion of your level of confidence may really be a function of their cultural paradigm of how a woman should act and conduct herself and where her place is or should be in society.

Confident women tend to be viewed negatively in society. So it’s not surprising that women would give themselves a lower score when assessing leadership skills and management abilities as compared to how men perceive themselves in the same areas. According to the 2015 report from Development Dimensions International (DDI), “Ready-Now Leaders: Cultivating Women in Leadership to Meet Tomorrow’s Business Challenges”:

“One of the few significant differences between the sexes was level of confidence. Men considered themselves more effective as leaders. This self-confidence is reflected in how highly they rated their leadership skills and ability to tackle management and business challenges. Women, on the other hand, were less likely to rate themselves as highly effective leaders compared to their peers…"

If you are a woman, I know that you can relate to that quote. How many times have you had conversations with your girlfriends or significant other about whether you were good enough to take on a new assignment? Or if we go back to school days, we can all remember talking to our friends about whether we had what it took to try out for the basketball team, audition for the lead in the school choir, or run for a class president or any school leadership position. I would bet anyone $1 million dollars that one of the phrases you would hear in any of the above scenarios is, “I don’t know whether I’m good enough”. And while a bit of self-doubt is healthy, you have to know that your male counterparts are not saying the same things about themselves to their friends.

In Sheryl Sandberg’s book, “Lean In”, she described a situation where she and her Harvard roommate, Carrie, who were seniors, and her younger brother, David (a sophomore), took a European intellectual history class together. Carrie was considered a subject matter expert in the class because of her major. She attended all of the classes and read all of the reading assignments in the “original” languages. Sheryl attended most of the classes and read all of the readings in English while her brother only went to two classes and read one book. When it was time to take the final exam, David went to the girls to be tutored. After taking the three hour test, the girls walked out unsure of their grade and wondering if they had included enough information in their answers. When asked by Sheryl and Carrie how he felt he had done, David replied that he had gotten an “A” and guess what, he had. The girls got A’s too, but the difference was in how he felt and talked about his abilities.

How do you increase yourself confidence?

1. Study and prepare yourself. This will decrease your fear. Next, get comfortable with feeling some fear and uncomfortableness. It’s a part of the process. Valorie Burton, life coach and author of “Get Unstuck, Be Unstoppable” says, “…[you are] going to feel fear but it doesn’t have to be a stop sign. Most people feel like when they feel fear they have to stop. No, just keep moving forward.”

2. Believe in yourself. Sonia Sotomayor stated in a quote recently featured in a Leadership Tuesdays’ blog that you have got to prove the naysayers wrong who believe that you are not qualified or can’t do the work by believing in yourself and simply doing the work. See her quote here.

3. Don’t expect everyone to like you. So says Reshma Saujani, founder of “Girls Who Code”, you’ve got to become okay with not everyone liking you. It is hard work coming to grips with this, especially for women, and this doesn’t usually happen for women until much later in life. But, the sooner you become comfortable in your own skin, the better off you will be. See Reshma Saujani’s quote here.

To view a video clip from the Demi Lovato song quote above, click here. Lastly, to check out other Leadership Tuesdays features, go here or visit womenatliberty.com.

#LeadershipTuesdays: Inspiring Leaders...Condoleezza Rice

"Truly remarkable leadership is not just about motivating others to follow, it's about inspiring them to become leaders themselves and setting the stage for even greater opportunities for future generations."

--Condoleezza Rice

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. There is no new feature today.* However, please see our blog archives of recent features by checking the right side of this page.

For other Leadership Tuesdays' features on leaders like Ruth J. Simmons (former President of Brown University), Denise Morrison (CEO of Campbell's Soup), and leadership expert John Maxwell, go to the Leadership Tuesdays' section on our website here: womenatliberty.com. You may also visit our Facebook page, Women Making History, for additional postings on leadership and other topics of interests to women.

*A new Leadership Tuesdays' feature will be posted next week, September 8.

#LeadershipTuesdays: Be Well-Rounded...Glen Llopis

"The best women leaders I know have circular vision that enables them to be well-rounded people. For example, they have their finger on the pulse of the culture and can talk to you about the latest pop-culture news – but then easily switch gears to give you their perspective on what is taking place on Wall Street. "

Glenn Llopis, "The Most Undervalued Leadership Traits Of Women", Forbes, 2/3/14

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. There is no new feature today.* However, please see our blog archives of recent features by checking the right side of this page. 

For other Leadership Tuesdays features on leaders like Indra Nooyi, Bishop Vashti McKenzie, and more, go to our website here: womenatliberty.com. You may also visit our Facebook page, Women Making History, for additional postings on leadership and other topics of interests to women. 

*Leadership Tuesdays is on vacation in August 2015.

#LeadershipTuesdays: When Its Okay To Be Inpatient...Ursula Burns

“We all need to be more impatient with the status quo. I believe we all need to shift the emphasis of our thinking -- from why we can't create more jobs to how we can create more jobs… from why we can't compete to how we can compete… from why hunger, poverty and injustice exists in the world to how they can be eliminated...In other words, we all need to be a little more impatient.”*

--Ursula Burns, Chairwoman and CEO, Xerox

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. There is no new feature today. However, please see our blog archives of recent features on Mellody  Hobson, Jessica Alba, the importance of trust to an organization, business ethics, how to manage conflict and more, check the right side of this page. For more Leadership Tuesdays features, go to our website here: womenatliberty.com. You may also visit our Facebook page, Women Making History, for additional postings on leadership and other topics of interests to women.


*Source: http://www.xerox.com/assets/images/corporate/pages/about-xerox/leadership/CEO_landtop_en-us.jpg

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 

#LeadershipTuesdays: Leadership Is...Bill Bradley

"Leadership is unlocking people's potential to become better." 

--Bill Bradley, American Hall of Fame Basketball Player, Rhodes Scholar, and Politician

 
Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' features is an article which appeared on Elle.com entitled, "Why Lady Bosses Are the Best" by Jessica Grose. Often women leaders take on their roles and immediately have to combat long-held stereotypes. Since yesterday was Memorial Day, I am reminded of the military movie starring Meg Ryan and Denzel Washington, Courage Under Fire.  When a soldier (Lou Diamond Phillips) under Captain Karen Emma Walden's (portrayed by Meg Ryan) command wanted to criticize her leadership, he resorted to all of the cliches about women leaders:  she was emotional because she cried; and she was scared because the soldier disagreed with her tactical decisions about an incident.

When both men and women state that they 'prefer male bosses', as quoted in a 2014 Gallup Poll referenced in the above article, it makes you wonder how much these cliches affected the opinions of those who answered the survey about women leaders/bosses. This article suggests that how women leaders are depicted in movies, TV shows and popular culture affect how we feel about women leaders/bosses.

The writer, Jessica Grose, uses her own experiences with two prominent female leaders to refute the myths that women are not good bosses.  She attributes their leadership example as being key to her own development and growth in her career.  

This article is worth the read because it gives a reference of examples where women led by example and how you can use their experience as a reference to develop your own leadership style.

To read today's article click here or go to: Women Making History Facebook page (article posted on the date of this blog). For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

V. Nona Ogunsula

Advice For Those In Leadership...Joyce Meyer

“(On being in a position of leadership) Even if it's your dog, you've got authority over somebody. Start treating him better.”

--Joyce Meyer (http://www.joycemeyer.org/)

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' blog features the article, "3 Keys For Bringing Out The Best In People" by Michael Beck. This article aptly brings leaders back to the fundamentals of effectively leading people with this quote:

"When a leader regards the members of their team as people, they acknowledge that everyone - regardless of position or tenure - has hopes and dreams, fears and stresses.  They understand that people generally want to do a good job.  And when results aren't what the leader expects, he or she addresses the issue as one person to another, rather than to dish out a "scolding" or respond in a manner which treats people simply as an "asset" or a "resource".  In effect, good leaders treat people like they themselves want to be treated."

When things are not going well in an organization and goals are not being met, it is easy to forget that people are the most valuable part of an organization.  This article reminds us of that with three simple keys.  

To learn what those keys are, read the article by clicking here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays or WOMEN AT LIBERTY, click here. 

A Woman On A Mission...Estee Lauder

I was a woman with a mission and single-minded in the pursuit of my dream. 

--Estee Lauder

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today we feature an article, "One quality all young female leaders should have", Fortune magazine (Online, 1/22/15) written by Sandi Peterson, Group Worldwide Chairman at Johnson & Johnson.

Below is a quote from the article that rang true for me: 

"Leaders who make things happen have both confidence and courage. Many view these traits as innate, but they can be – and they need to be – cultivated. Confidence comes from doing your homework – you need to to know your business and your market. And courage is the constant willingness to go beyond your comfort zone. Doing so will help you gain deeper insights and analysis."

Did this quote resonate with you? Please feel free to leave a comment below.

To read the rest of the article, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here.

Nona O.
WOMENATLIBERTY.com

Leadership Tuesdays: Be Optimistic...Patricia Ireland

I don't think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy.

--Patricia Ireland

Every other Tuesday, #LeadershipTuesdays provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today's Leadership Tuesdays' post features an article in the Wall Street Journal by Eric Morath, "Double Standard Holding Women Back From Top Business Jobs".

Women have come a long way with regard to reproductive rights, their ability to work outside of the home, choice of a career, and an opportunity to seek leadership positions at work. But when it comes to leading at the highest levels of an organization, there is still considerable room for improvement. Women account for only 26 of the Fortune 500 CEO positions. Not every every woman desires to be CEO of her organization. However, women should feel they have equal opportunity to seek executive leadership positions if they are qualified and are willing to put in the time and work required to ascend to these lofty positions. In other words, their gender (and/or race, for that matter) should not be a barrier to their development or chosen career path.

Today's article references research by Pew Research Center stating that women are held to a higher standard than men when it comes to judging their leadership ability. Thus, they are not given the same opportunities as men to become senior executives.

It takes courage and optimism to continue to progress and persevere in the face of less than favorable conditions or an uneven playing field. I hope that the quote above by Patricia Ireland, former President of the National Organization of Women, inspires you to continue to seek to achieve your dreams, whether they are in the C-Suite, Boardroom or wherever they may be. To read today's article, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, click here. 

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Leadership Tuesdays: Competent And/Or Nice...Sheryl Sandberg

"If a woman is competent, she does not seem nice enough. If a woman seems really nice, she is considered more nice than competent. Since people want to hire and promote those who are both competent and nice, this creates a huge stumbling block for women. Acting in stereotypically feminine ways makes it difficult to reach for the same opportunities as men, but defying expectations and reaching for those opportunities leads to being judged as undeserving and selfish."

--Sheryl Sandberg, from the New York Times Best Selling Book, "Lean In"

For more info on "Lean In" and the organization behind the book, click here.

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. It's March and that means it's Women's History Month. All month we have featured quotes by women and those who are supportive of women in leadership and women having an equal role in society. Today's Leadership Tuesdays quote is taken from Sheryl Sandberg's book, "Lean In", a New York Times Bestseller that was released one year ago this month.  

Ms. Sandberg's book and a subsequent campaign, Ban Bossy, which was launched last week, has definitely increased awareness about women leaders, the way women lead and the different expectations society has on girls and boys. She is not the first to talk about women in leadership or women aspiring to be high-powered executives while yet maintaining fulfilling family lives and a "life" outside of work.  I was especially encouraged in the early days of Leadership Tuesdays by a McKinsey video that was published in 2008. In this video, Shelly Lazarus, then CEO and chairman of Ogilvy, talked boldly about how she managed the demands of her career and family life. Check out her quote that inspired the Motivational Moment, "Be Who You Are".  To see the McKinsey video that includes former CEOs Shelly Lazarus and Andrea Jung, click here. 

As I reflect on Leadership Tuesdays and the three years it has been in existence, I continue to be inspired by the wisdom of women leaders like Ursula Burns, Ann Fudge, and Madeleine Albright. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays and our recent features, please visit our website, womenatliberty.com.

Leadership Tuesdays: The World Needs Women's Equal Representation

'...the world needs “women’s equal representation in leadership positions, in peace making, in communities, in politics, in business and in religious institutions.”'*

 --Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuk, United Nations Women Executive Director 

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. In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8, 2014, Vital Voices, headquartered in Washington, D.C., hosted a Global Mentoring Walk in several cities including Washington, D.C. Leadership Tuesdays was on location talking with Gigi Scoles, Human Rights Director, about the event and their organization. To see the brief video, click here.

Last week, we featured Ms. Cheryl Boone Isaacs, the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization responsible for the OSCARS. She is the first African American and third woman to lead this prestigious organization that has been around since 1927. To view the article and get the link for the NPR interview, click here. On the WOMENATLIBERTY.com website, an video of Ms. Ann Fudge, former Young & Rubicam CEO, is featured where she gives advice to women who want to lead in today's business environment. To view this video, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays and our recent features please visit our website, womenatliberty.com.


*Quote excerpt from:
International Women's Day: Mainstream Messaging For The Radical Cause Of Full Economic Empowerment
 http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomwatson/2014/03/07/international-womens-day-mainstream-messaging-for-the-radical-cause-of-full-economic-empowerment/

Make Your Mark!...Freda C. Lewis-Hall

"And so, I began to think about it, and I learned the same lesson over and over about seeking to leave a legacy with doing so by leaving marks. The healthcare industry today has an opportunity, I believe, to leave some really significant marks. Our science is poised to answer some of the most vexing problems ever. Our assets for people who never would have seen meaningful healthcare is reaching up here and around the globe. We have a chance to deliver on the promise a single patient at a time."

--Freda C. Lewis-Hall, M.D., Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer (excerpt from her acceptance speech, 2011 Healthcare Businesswomen Association's Woman of the Year Award); Author of "Make Your Mark".

Leadership Tuesdays: What Women Should Know...Ann Fudge

"Sometimes women feel that they have to exhibit a certain male-like behavior in order to be successful, particularly as they move up to the ranks and find that there are less women. And I think that's the biggest mistake that women make. It's be yourself. And your smarts, your ability to relate with people, don't try to diminish that in any way because it's a combination of that intelligence and that ability, perhaps unique to women, to work with people, that I think gives us the edge over the long term."

--Ann Fudge, Former CEO of Young and Rubicam, Philanthropist

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. Ann Fudge is the former CEO of Young and Rubicam (Y&R) Brands, a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, and digital and social media, etc. A trailblazer, Ms. Fudge was the first African American to lead a major advertising firm. She led the global company, then worth $3.4 billion, from 2003-2006.

Before coming to Y&R, she was President of the $5 billion Beverages, Desserts and Post Division at Kraft Foods.  She managed many familiar brands including Maxwell House Coffee, Kool Aid, and Crystal Light.  Ms. Fudge also spent several years at General Mills where she started as a Marketing Assistant and rose to Marketing Director.

Currently, Ms. Fudge serves on the Board of several companies and organizations including General Electric, Novartis, Unilever, Morehouse College, Rockfeller Foundation and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. A philanthropist focused on education, she also serves as chair of the U.S. Programs Advisory Board of the Gates Foundation. She graduated with a B.A. from Simmons College and a M.B.A. from Harvard Graduate School of Business. She and her husband, Rich, are the proud parents of two sons and five grandchildren.

In this brief video, she gives advice to women who are leading in today's business environment. "Be authentic" is one of Ann Fudge's core messages. In fact, she directs her advice to both men and women. To view this video, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays and our recent features please visit our website, womenatliberty.com.
 

Leadership Tuesdays: You Can Do It!...Michelle Freeman

Trust that when you think you can do something, you actually can. There are going to be naysayers in your life.  There are going to be people that say, 'You are not fit to do that' or 'Wow! She is really full of herself to think that she can!' You have to combat those voices with your own voice inside that says, 'I can do anything that I set my mind to'.

--Michelle D. Freeman, CEO, Carl Freeman Companies

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. In part 2 of a 4 four part series, we talk again to Michelle D. Freeman, CEO of the Carl M. Freeman Companies and chair of their two family foundations: Joshua M. Freeman Foundation and Carl M. Freeman Foundation, about lessons she has learned since assuming the top leadership position at her company. She also thoughtfully ponders what she would like her legacy to be as a woman and leader. Lastly, she shares some of the philanthropic work she and her company are involved in.

In addition to leading the family business, Ms. Freeman is also an entrepreneur in her own right, 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.

To view today's video click here. If you missed part one of this series where Michelle talked about finding renewed life and purpose after experiencing a tragic loss, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, please visit our website, womenatliberty.com.