7/29/2019 Adventures of Gloria Feldt
1/2
Adventur es of Glor ia Feldt,
Co-founder and President
Take The Lead
Every week we will feature the adventures of one amazing woman.
We aim to celebrate the varied and colourful roleswomen play within
industry and business. Experience inspirational, real stories by
real women; Interested in being featured?
Please send your adventures [email protected] For previous
adventures please click here
Hi everyone Im Gloria Feldt, co-founder and president ofTake The
Lead, a new nonprofit organization whose mission is toprepare,
develop, inspire, and propel women to take their fair and equal
share of leadership positions across all sectors by2025. Im also an
author and public speaker, and formerly president and CEO of
Planned Parenthood Federation ofAmerica.
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 hastaken
several forms.Take The Leadis the most recent incarnation. It began
in 2008 when I discovered while researching anarticle on women in
politics for Elle Magazine that the barriers to women in
leadershipwhether in the workplace, in civiclife 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 thempractical tools
and tips to help them on their journey forward. You see, I was a
teen mom, married my high schoolsweetheart and had three children
by just after my 20
thbirthday. Climbing out of that situation where I had no
education or
employable skills took some doing. So I got started in the
workplace later than most young women today and I had tocompensate
for that by working hard and taking on lots of responsibility.
But they say you write the book you need to read, and
confronting my own power demons as I explored womens lack of
leadership progress became my latest of four books,No Excuses: 9
Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power.Then people started
asking me to teach and conduct workshops to share the practical
tips and leadership power tools I
created to help women deal with difficult issues such as
conflict, chaos, and controversy that might be holding them
back.When I realized that I could never reach enough people with my
message in small groups, I joined with a colleague,
formerinvestment banker Amy Litzenberger, to start this new
initiative.
I am absolutely certain this is the moment for women toTake The
Lead! And I am excited beyond words to be launchingour first fully
onlinewomens leadership certificate coursestarting October 2.
Anyone can take this 6-week course to uptickher career and embrace
her power in fulfilling ways, creating a personal action plan
proven to take her to her goal.
I feel like the goddess with 18 hands right now. I am the CEO,
the spokesperson, the curriculum designer, the marketer, thesocial
media manager, the fundraiser, you name it. We are a start up
nonprofit but we think like an entrepreneurial start up,always
looking for strategic alliances and partnerships that can benefit
both parties.
As for my work routine..Can you hear me laughing? Every day is
different. But generally I keep mornings (after Iexercisefor me
this is a requirement to keep my energy high and also I am vain )
open for the most important tasks,whether phoning a potential
funder, writing a workshop proposal, catching up my cofounder and
board chair, or talking withthe few staff and many interns and
volunteers we are blessed to have. I work from my home office. I
spend about half an
hour on social media most mornings, and try not to do more
because I am a bit of an addict. I try to take face to face
http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.zarsmedia.com/archive.htmlhttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/bit.ly/16bsPuShttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/bit.ly/16bsPuShttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/bit.ly/16bsPuShttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/bit.ly/16bsPuShttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_2/bit.ly/16bsPuShttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.zarsmedia.com/archive.htmlmailto:[email protected]://www.taketheleadwomen.com/
7/29/2019 Adventures of Gloria Feldt
2/2
meetings either at afternoon tea time or have walking meetings,
both of which I find delightful. Working at home, I have toofew
boundariesfor example, I am writing this at night on a holiday.
Though I attribute much of my success to the willingness to say
yes when offered a new opportunity, I do wish I had been
more intentional about where I wanted to be and how I wanted to
make my mark. Who knows, I might be president of alarge company I
started now, or maybe governor of a state.
Do I have any regrets or careers I would have liked to explore?
One can never go backward, only forward. And as DianaNyad has
shown, it is never too late to do something you want to do! Now the
biggest obstacle is that many people identifyme still with Planned
Parenthood since it was such a high public profile position, rather
than recognizing that I have always
been about the big picture of womens equality and leadership.
But thats not a bad place to be, is it?
How would I rate my success in my current role? Youll have to
ask me that in five years whenTake The Leadis thriving-ornot! I am
very good at setting a vision and goals. I do not love managing the
many moving parts of daily tasks that must bedone to make the
vision happen.
Is there a secret to success J. Paul Getty used to answer this
question by saying, Get up early, work hard, find oil. I
havent found oil yet, so I rely on getting up early and working
hard.
I think the concept of balance borders on absurd. Lets face it,
Life is a series of choices. Every day you have do decide
what that 24 hours is going to mean. So I dont look for balance
so much as asking am I getting my exercise so I feel
goodphysically, have I talked with my kids, and did I have fun in
my work. If its not fun, stop and go do something else.
Heres whats so exciting today: Women are transforming the power
paradigm. I have a concept I call Sister Courage. Ithas three
parts:
1. Be a sister. Reach out to another woman to offer help. Ask
for help when you need it. Dont let yourself be isolated or tryto
solve all problems by yourself.2. Have the courage to raise the
issues that concern you. Do you think there is a better way to
solve a problem or design a
product? Do you want to negotiate flex time so you can see your
children more?3. Put the two together with a strategic plan to lead
to the change you want to see in your workplace.
Thats Sister Courage. And with it, you can change your
workplace, your life, your world.
I am inspired to do my work because it is a big, bold vision to
change the world for the better. I think we all need to beinspired
to do something bigger than ourselves. The time is right for women
to reach leadership parity much faster than the
70-year trajectory we have been on. Besides, I get calls and
letters like one from Valerie, who took my workshop. A yearlater
called to tell me she had achieved the goal she set for herself
using the power tools I taught hershe had just been
promoted to vice president. And there was the young woman who
asked for and got $10,000 more in salary than she wasinitially
offered after she read my book. Thats the real payoff---to know I
have helped an individual person.
For young people thinking of entering this field, I say, if it
is your passion, go for it. But dont let yourself get lost in
acausehave a plan and a vision of where you want to be in five or
ten years.
All things are possible, so go big, and know your worth when you
do. Network purposefully, for the world turns on humanconnections.
Take risks because you can always unchoose a path taken, especially
when you are young. And in the end,honesty and courage are the most
important values, so be true to your own integrity even if it means
leaving behindsomething you thought you wanted.
I want to leave a legacy where women will take their fair and
equal share of leadership positions across all sectors by 2025.
And now as my story draws to a close I would like to leave you
with one of my favorite quotes. I collect quotes. I havehundreds of
them so choosing just one is hard. However heres one I recently
learned by the late Muriel Siebert, the firstwoman to buy a seat on
the NY Stock exchange: If you cant play with the big boys, start
your own game.
If youd like to get more of my favorite inspirational quotes,
learn my Leadership Power Tools and how to use them toadvance your
career, I invite you to join up for myonline certificate
course.
Gloria Feldt,Co-founder and PresidentTake The Lead
http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/http://www.taketheleadwomen.com/https://ce.asu.edu/continuingeducation/courses/business/9-practical-leadership-power-tools-advance-your-careerhttps://ce.asu.edu/continuingeducation/courses/business/9-practical-leadership-power-tools-advance-your-careerhttps://ce.asu.edu/continuingeducation/courses/business/9-practical-leadership-power-tools-advance-your-careerhttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/https://twitter.com/takeleadwomenhttps://plus.google.com/u/0/101552078005092854365/abouthttps://www.linkedin.com/company/3239275http://www.youtube.com/TaketheLeadWomenhttps://www.facebook.com/TakeTheLeadWomenhttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/https://ce.asu.edu/continuingeducation/courses/business/9-practical-leadership-power-tools-advance-your-careerhttp://www.taketheleadwomen.com/https://ce.asu.edu/continuingeducation/courses/business/9-practical-leadership-power-tools-advance-your-career
