I lifted my ban on leadership books when I received Robin Gerber’s Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way as a thank you for giving a speech. I really knew nothing about ER and, since it was a paperback, I tossed it in my beach bag. I’m glad I did–ER had always intrigued me, and she doesn’t disappoint.
As one can imagine, ER can carry a book herself, leadership focused or not. Overall, I would have liked even more about ER and less of the “other businesswomen applying her rules” anecdotes. I found their insertion throughout the book jolting and disruptive. Oddly, I liked it whenever the author shared her own life stories, as that showed a personal connection with her heroine.
Here are some of the tidbits that stuck with me:
Gerber starts off with an excerpt from a book ER wrote in 1933 as advice for young women, which couldn’t be truer 75 years later:
“In a chapter called ‘The Problems of the Young Married,’ [ER] counseled couples to show ‘an immense amount of tolerance and of unselfishness’ toward each other. But being tolerant and unselfish didn’t mean women must forgo all personal goals and ambitions. Women should also feel free to marry and have careers, she argued in a later chapter. ‘Women’s lives must be adjusted and arranged for in just the same way that men’s lives are.’ ”
I couldn’t agree more.
ER had a rough childhood (alcoholic father, mother who didn’t like her because she wasn’t “pretty’). Gerber includes an interesting part about how she turned her childhood experiences into leadership learning moments. Then she asks readers to reflect on childhood experiences they had.
Lying on the beach, I closed my eyes and thought about whether some of my childhood memories had influenced my leadership style. One that stood out was that when it came to picking teams at recess for soccer or kickball, I was often picked before most of the boys. The team captains truly ranked me where I belonged when it came to certain sports and didn’t factor in my pigtails. Admittedly, sometimes they had to defend picking me before other boys (and they did, but only as long as I delivered). Seems a minor thing, but in my mind, I always thought I should be treated exactly like the boys treated each other, and I think that helped me a lot in business. Click here to read my thoughts on whether women should ask for special treatment in the office. Perhaps this explains my different point of view about Christopher Flett’s controversial book, What Men Don’t Tell Women, from my pal Yvonne DiVita over at Lip-sticking.com.
The part about mentors was also very good. Gerber suggests that if you are stuck and can’t find a mentor, ask yourself a few questions:
- Who can help me with the decisions that will shape my life and leadership abilities today?
- Who can help me learn what I need to move toward my goals?
- Whom do I admire, and who’s doing what I’d like to be doing?
Another prescient piece of writing from ER that Gerber spotlights is her first piece for Redbook (yes, the magazine for happy housewives), which was called “Women Must Learn to Play the Game as Men Do.” In the article, she wrote “Our means is to elect, accept and back women political bosses. To organize as women, but within the parties, …Women are today ignored largely because they have no banded unity….”
I’m sure my readers are expecting me to write about how we should have all supported Hillary. But I didn’t and was actually dismayed at being called a traitor to my sex and an enemy to feminism for supporting another candidate. I would like to think that ER meant support our gender as a whole, not necessarily a single political candidate. I’m not sure what ER would say, but it seems that the behavior of the die-hard Hillary supporters actually alienated an entire generation of women. In my mind, that’s not “playing the game as men do.”
Another political thought: How far we have fallen from outspoken, action-oriented first ladies such as ER, who openly disagreed with her husband (when he was president), to the likes of Laura Bush. I can’t wait to read the new novel by Curtis Sittenfeld, American Wife, loosely based on our first lady.
There are a lot of good tidbits throughout about networking and sticking to your mission. One of my favorites was to always “compromise up.” ER had backed Adlai Stevenson as president for the Democratic ticket, and when Kennedy became the candidate, she would not lend her support until she had Kennedy’s assurance that Stevenson would have a role. Sure she compromised, but she compromised up.
Top Shelf Bottom Line: While I didn’t find any new revolutionary insights into leadership–other than the “compromise up” tip (the book simply took some basic leadership tips and interwove them into ER’s life), I enjoyed learning about ER. Of course, the caveat with that is that I’ve probably read more leadership books than most people do in their entire lifetime. Recommended for history buffs who want to be reminded of some good leadership principals, and for young women (and men) who want to learn about a real leadership role model for blazing a new and different path in the face of lots of opposition. I often find that entrepreneurs can learn a lot from both good and bad politicians–so go ahead, toss it in your beach bag and bring Eleanor along on vacation with you (she apparently loved to travel).
**ADDENDUM**
This week on Smash the Ladder, I hosted Robin Gerber author of Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way and the novel Eleanor v. Ike. We spoke about the role of First “Spouses,” and leadership lessons learned from one of America’s greatest First Ladies.
This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 7:49 am and is filed under Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.5 Responses to “Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way”
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July 21st, 2008 at 10:48 am
Hi Diane,
Thanks for these nice comments about my first book. If you and your readers are interested in more about Eleanor, I’ve just published my first novel about what might have happened if Eleanor had run for President against Eisenhower in 1952: “Eleanor vs. Ike.” (also available on Amazon)
best, Robin Gerber
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 am
Diane,
You may also be interested in A LEADER BECOMES A LEADER: Inspirational Stories of Leadership by J. Kevin Sheehan. An anthology of the past centuries top leaders with information many of us were not aware of.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Diane:
Outstanding post. I have not read the book (yet) but based on your insights I would come away believing that ER was probably a greater leader than most of the politicians of today. Unfortunately, we slap the label of leadership on these politicians too quickly. My definition of leadership excludes most of them. It is a person who crafts a vision and articulates it so well and in such great clarity that people will line up behind him/her to make that vision a reality. Unfortunately, most of our politicians merely are chosen based on how well they represent our individual self-interests. This is not leadership. ER, however, sounds like a great one. Thanks for sharing.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:41 am
Robin, I’ll look forward to reading Eleanor vs. Ike later this summer and possibly connecting with you here in Boston in September. Thanks, too, for sending me your favorite book lists; I’ll post that later this summer, too.
Michelle, thanks for the reading suggestion. Will consider it if I look into more leadership books.
d a morton, I agree that not all politicians are leaders, especially ones who try to fit into outmoded styles of leadership or who are elected to “fit” a certain mold–the latter types are just “managers” and some not so good at even that. Leaders are more entrepreneurial.
Diane
July 25th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Great post! I think ER was amazing and it is very relevant for us women today to look back and female role models. It doesn’t mean we dont read and absorb everything else available but personally I love the female perspective…
One of my favourites is Leadership Secrets of Elizabeth I. Great book, great insights and really great content.
I highly recommend it!
Jude
www.beyond-bitch.com