The Secretary of State

Reflections on the Road to Respect

Hilary Rodham Clinton — Leadership LessonsIn June I had the opportunity to present at the annual SHRM conference in Chicago. One of the highlights of that experience was being in the audience for the opening keynote delivered by former US Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton.If you’re a regular reader/listener, you will know that the topic of Women, Position & Power is one that I have been increasingly focused on over the last couple of years. Our October post will feature Sue Paisch, former managing partner of Fasken DuMoullin, now CEO of Lifelabs.Forbes magazine recently ranked Ms. Clinton 5th on their 100 most powerful women list. The magazine selects women who “go beyond the traditional taxonomy of the power elite (political and economic might). These change-agents are actually shifting our very idea of clout and authority and, in the process, transforming the world in fresh and exhilarating ways.”At the outset of her keynote Ms. Clinton told her audience of HR professionals that “there is no more important asset than the people you work with.” She reinforced that concept in sharing five key leadership lessons illustrated with stories from her time as Secretary of State from 2009 to February 2013.1 – “Good decisions are based on evidence and not ideology.”Ms. Clinton chose the issue of gender equality to illustrate this principle. Many countries, including the US, are jeopardizing both economic growth and productivity because of customs and/or practices that keep women from fully participating at work. Beyond being “just the right thing to do” educating women and girls has been shown empirically to be an economic driver. Using the US to emphasize the relevance of the issue, Ms. Clinton stated that GDP would increase by an estimated 9 % if all the barriers to women in the US were removed.2 – “Leadership is a team sport.” One’s success as a leader is measured by “how well you can get people to work together.” Ms. Clinton said that numerous individuals asked her how she could accept the position of Secretary of State working with President Barak Obama when they had been rivals for the leadership of the Democratic party. She stated that both she and President Obama were interested in “putting the common good ahead of our personal competition.” That shared interest allowed them to go from “a team of rivals to an unrivalled team.”3 – “You can’t win if you don’t show up.” Ms. Clinton quoted filmmaker and actor Woody Allen who once said “80% of life is showing up.” It was this concept that motivated her to visit 112 countries during her tenure as Secretary of State. One of these was the West African country of Togo. Her reason for going was to build relationship, something Ms. Clinton cited as critical for leaders. While she often faced challenges, she continued to “show up,” focusing on being welcoming, listening (another essential leadership skill) and gathering “clues” that would assist her in developing relationship in spite of the myriad of difference she encountered, in Togo and elsewhere. “ It is not always easy but you do have to show up.”4 – “A whisper can be louder than a shout.” Resolving concerns and conflicts often requires what Ms. Clinton referred to as “quiet diplomacy.” She shared a story of being in Saudi Arabia and learning about an 8 year old girl who was being forced to marry a 50 year old for monetary reasons. As was customary when Ms. Clinton was travelling, there was a lot of American press around who were quick to pick up the story. Rather than use the Press to pressure those in positions of power to take action, Ms. Clinton focused on finding a way to fix the situation and still allow public officials to “save face.” She chose to have a number of “quiet conversations” where her message was “please fix this and we won't say anything publicly.” The real success in such situations, stated Ms. Clinton, is to find a way to resolve the situation or conflict while working to enhance or build

---

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.