Of Burnout, A New Beat, and the Secret Lives of Bees

Issue 96 — May 3, 2019 I was mesmerized by Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Secret Lives of Bees when it was first released in 2003. Now a new musical scripted by the Pulitzer-winning, MacArthur genius Lynn Nottage, I once again found its complex interweaving of stories and symbols captivating: the buzzing bees, the Civil Rights movement circa…

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What do you do when someone takes credit for your idea?

Issue 71 — October 22, 2018 USC Associate Professor and founder of the Annenberg Inclusion Institute Stacy Smith was spitting nails. “Nothing makes me angrier than when someone takes credit for my work,” she said. Smith and I were on a panel at Universal Music’s first She Leads program in Los Angeles. That morning before the panel, I led…

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The Sum – Meaning of the Week: Break

“The first responsibility of leadership is the creation of meaning.” Warren Bennis Welcome to The Sum, where I share my take on the meaning of sum of the week’s parts. I want your voice too. Leave comments here or @GloriaFeldt Word of the week is BREAK. As in groundbreaking ideas about sex and gender. As…

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The Sum – Meaning of the Week: First

The word of the week is First. Word of the week is FIRST.  As in the original. As in the first woman to break through. As in the inaugural — yes you guessed it — Take The Lead Day As the leaves morph from green to red and gold and the mornings turn chilly in Central Park, as New…

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The Sum – Meaning of the Week: One

The first responsibility of leadership is the creation of meaning.”  Warren Bennis The word of the week is one. As in one woman speaking her truth gives courage to others. As in the power of taking that one step that starts the march to progress. As in one woman’s story and then another and then…

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The Sum Volume #5: Move

“The first responsibility of leadership is the creation of meaning.”—Warren Bennis. Welcome to the Sum, where I share my take on the meaning of sum of the week’s parts. I want your voice too. Leave comments here or @GloriaFeldt. The word of the week is MOVE. As in a movement has to move to be…

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“Born Leader” Betsy Rafael Is GoDaddy’s First Female Board Member

Betsy RafaelWhen GM’s new, and first female, CEO Mary Barra moved quickly and publicly to recall cars with the company’s potentially lethal ignition switch problems her predecessors had known but failed to address for a decade, you could feel the fresh air. It would be foolhardy to say her gender made her act in this ethical manner, or to assume a man would not. Still, you can’t help but notice that Barra straight-up owned the problem in a way startlingly distant from the public relations posturing typical of Fortune 500’s protecting their fortunes.

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Bikinis and Bongos: GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving Beats the Drums of Change

Blake Irving When you speak with GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving, it’s easy to conjure the teenage percussionist he once was, asserting his high energy drive with his drumsticks, and quite possibly driving his mother crazy by beating bongos while doing the split in the kitchen like Jean-Claude Van Damme in this classically weird GoDaddy ad.

I had a chance to interview the leader of the world’s largest and most controversial domain name registrar, not long after his first anniversary there.

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Adventures of Gloria Feldt, Co-founder and President Take The Lead

gloria-talkingAfi Ofori of Zars Media invited me to write about my career journey and kindly let me repost it here for you.

Hi everyone, I’m Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a new nonprofit organization whose mission is to prepare, develop, inspire and propel women to take their fair and equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025. I’m also an author and public speaker, and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

I got into this role out of my passion for equality for all, and in particular for women to get a fair shake. That passion has taken several forms. Take The Lead is the most recent incarnation. It began in 2008, when I discovered while researching an article on women in politics for Elle Magazine that the barriers to women in leadership — whether in the workplace, in civic life and politics, or in personal life — now have as much to do with our own ambivalence toward power as with external barriers.

I know from my own life that this can be a painful issue, so I wanted to inspire, not blame women, and to give them practical tools and tips to help them on their journey forward.

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