While we’re on the topic of leadership, I thought I would share this Book Review by guest blogger Nancy Loderick, VP of Networks at the Downtown Women’s Club.
This week I read Marilyn Carlson Nelson’s book, “How We Lead Matters: Reflections on a Life of Leadership.” Marilyn Carlson Nelson is chairman and CEO of Carlson, a global group of companies for travel, hotel, cruise and restaurants. Forbes magazine regularly lists her as one of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. This book tells her story, in her own words, on what makes her tick and how she leads.
It’s not your typical CEO autobiography, which usually relay the “rags to riches” story of how a poor boy/girl works hard and becomes very successful. This book is a collection of vignettes from Marilyn’s life that show her leadership philosophy and practice. It is a refreshing way to learn about a business icon.
Marilyn’s premise is that one’s legacy is built one day at a time, through everyday actions. Marilyn is a successful businesswoman; she is also a devoted family person and humanitarian. All these facets are shown in her stories. David Gergen, director of the Harvard Kennedy Center for Public Leadership, writes in the book’s foreword, “[Marilyn is] a passionate champion of people at all levels.”
I got the sense of Marilyn as a “real” person from reading her story. Her personality clearly showed in most of the vignettes. Some of the more poignant and telling ones:
- The Sunday School Lesson
As a young student, Marilyn didn’t like the way the classes were run. So she presented her ideas to the Sunday school superintendent. She went on to say that, “together they fixed the school.” - The Signature
Marilyn got the call that every parent dreads, learning that her daughter Juliet, a freshman at Smith College, had been killed in a car accident. She grieved, went into a major depression and started to doubt her faith. She finally came to grips with this by devoting herself to “making every day count and to live the rich, full life that was denied [her daughter.]” She shows firsthand how to have courage and hope in the face of adversity. - Gerbils for Sale
This story was my favorite. Thanks to Marilyn’s youngest daughter, Wendy, her household “won” the privilege of taking care of the third grade’s gerbil family over the summer. Well, very soon a few gerbils became very many gerbils, and the household was overrun with gerbils! Marilyn wanted to deal with this humanely, so she offered the gerbils to the local pet store. She admits she was not as upfront as she could have been about their health, for fear the pet store owner wouldn’t take the gerbils. Marilyn also didn’t want to give the gerbils away for free. She admits that her actions were in a gray zone here and, to this day, she doesn’t feel good about it. She delivers this morality lesson with humor and honesty.
I wasn’t sure why some of the stories were included. I didn’t see any correlation between the stories and Marilyn’s leadership style. Here are some of those stories:
- Imagine
Marilyn asks the reader to imagine what it would be like to be the first little African-American girl walking into a desegregated school among the armed marshals. Or being the woman who refused to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery. I’m not sure what this has to do with Marilyn; perhaps it is supposed to show her empathy with minorities? - Security Alarm
Marilyn talks about the tragedy of child slavery and how the World Childhood Foundation cares for the world’s street children. Marilyn is the co-founder of this foundation. This section read more like an advertisement than a personal story. - Special Delivery
Marilyn writes about the joy she felt each time she found out she was going to be a grandmother. Again, this is nice to hear, but I’m not sure how this relates to leadership.
My conclusion:
This book gives a good, accurate picture of what inspires and what drives Marilyn Carlson Nelson. Marilyn is a multifaceted person and is not afraid to show her human side, which–for her–is what makes a good leader.
This book also gave me pause to stop and think about my life, its everyday events and what I could learn from them. Any book that makes me think beyond the actual story is a worthwhile one for me.
I would have liked a bit more advice, particularly around fulfilling multiple roles. She says quite candidly that for CEOs there is no such thing as work-life balance. She likens being a CEO to being an Olympic athlete. She goes on to say that you have to be working constantly to stay on top of your game, but since you’re following your goal, you don’t mind it. Women today, particularly young women, are hungry for concrete advice on how to handle work and family. In any case, this book was inspiring.
This post is cross posted from The Women’s DISH blog.
This entry was posted on Friday, August 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 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.2 Responses to “It’s Not That We Lead But HOW We Lead That Matters”
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August 24th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Books that tell stories that move you emotionally from people with real live experience are great teaching tools. It sounds like Marilyn did just this. If you are interested in some ideas on how to get it all done take a look at my website: http://www.LeeCockerell.com. I have a leadership blog there and information on my book, Creating Magic…10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney. I have taught a time mangagement class for 28 years to help people put into a place a simple system for getting all of the responsibilities they have signed up for in their life accomplished. If you want a copy of the written document on Time/Life Management, send me an email requesting it: Lee@LeeCockerell.com
August 26th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
Lee, thanks for your comments and thanks for the info about your website.