Friday Round Up: When Will We See a Female Steve Jobs?

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” –Steve Jobs (1955–2011, rest in peace)

Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

If you, like me and millions of others were moved by the too-young death of Apple creator Steve Jobs this week, and in mourning happened upon the video of his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, you saw someone who exuded authenticity, a man who had clearly learned to trust his own inner voice…

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5 Tips to Thrive in Chaos (or What Good Is Vision When You’re up to Your A** in Alligators?)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWHpTQc-nhM[/youtube]

I knew there’d be pushback the minute I dubbed vision the #1 leadership characteristic.

“Get real,” several readers e-mailed. It reminded me of the cartoon a colleague once gave me, bearing the caption: “When you’re up to your a** in alligators, it’s hard to remember your goal was to drain the swamp.”

In a time of economic chaos, when many people are desperately trying to keep those writhing reptiles from nipping off their knees, lofty vision talk sounds unrealistic.

It’s difficult to keep your eyes on the prize, your focus on the vision, your hand steady to the wheel when the assumptions you thought were well grounded turn out to be quicksand. But a counterintuitive skill that can help you thrive in times of change and disruption is to embrace chaos as opportunity…

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Heartfeldt Leadership: What’s the #1 Leadership Attribute?

LeadershipKeyboardI know I said this column would explore what we can learn about leadership from the presidential candidates’ endless mud-wrestling on our television screens these days. That’s a fascinating analysis I’ll get to eventually—we’ll have plenty of time since the election is still fourteen months away!

But when I realized I’d be writing this column on September 14, the birthday of a significant mentor in my life, I chose instead to focus on the most important leadership lesson I learned from her…

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5 Tips to Carpe the Chaos and Thrive

NAFE, the National Association of Female Executives asked me to write a “Five Tips” article for their latest newsletter.

I chose to write about 5 tips to use chaos as opportunity, or as I’ve put it in No No Excuses power tool #5, Carpe the Chaos. I had recently spoken on this topic to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Women’s Roundtable and the International Museum of Women. In my experience as a leader, it has been a very useful concept that got me through tough times when many people thought there was no way to succeed.

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5 Tips to Carpe the Chaos and Thrive

NAFE, the National Association of Female Executives asked me to write a “Five Tips” article for their latest newsletter.

I chose to write about 5 tips for using chaos as opportunity, or as I’ve put it in No Excuses power tool #5: Carpe the Chaos. I recently spoke on this topic to the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Women’s Roundtable and the International Museum of Women. In my experience as a leader, it’s a useful concept that got me through tough times when many people thought there was no way to succeed.

There IS always a way, and it really helps to see the opportunity when others see only negativity in change and chaos! Here’s the post:

Gloria Feldt’s No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power has stood near the top of Amazon’s leadership booklist since it was published last October. A teen mom who became CEO of the world’s largest reproductive health provider and advocacy organization, Gloria learned leadership on the job. Now she’s a sought-after speaker, author, and consultant. Here are her tips on how to turn chaos into opportunity:

1. Think positive. Be like Monty Python: Always look at the bright side of life. You might as well. Chaos is inevitable because change is inevitable. And whoever is most comfortable with the ambiguity change creates is most likely to thrive, not just survive.

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