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Dear Reader,

How did February go for you?  I noticed that many people in my life -- friends, family, colleagues and clients -- had an intense and even tough month. I hope that wasn't you, but if you're coming out of a period where you feel you've been pushing a very heavy cart up a steep hill, sometimes it's helpful to pause,  pick up your head and look around.  
 
Often, we're not the only ones who are experiencing duress. There seem to be days, weeks and even months that challenge many of us simultaneously. It's helpful not to take it too personally or adopt a hardship point-of-view! In these times, you can start simply by noticing that things have gotten difficult --  and then try not to make major decisions until you feel a greater sense of ease. Instead, you might focus on centering and rebalancing your inner and outer life. Take time to catch your breath and notice what is working in your life right now. Remember to breathe and to smile. (Yes, sometimes we have to remind ourselves.) By stepping back, you can regain much needed perspective and reconnect with your sense of humor and purpose. Or, at very least, you can have some fun.
 
At Nebo, we like to honor great women in the month of March, which is Women's History Month.  I'm pleased to share a conversation with Karen Dahut and Susan Penfield of Booz Allen Hamilton -- two accomplished leaders whose perspectives offers a wise blend of pragmatism, insight and humor -- just what we all need to refresh in the last few weeks of winter.
 
Warm wishes,




 
Kate Ebner
CEO
Nebo Company
Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life on VoiceAmerica Business  


Monday, March 4, 2013     

11 AM Eastern Time

On VoiceAmerica Business

  

    
 
Listen on Monday. 

The Leaders' View with Booz Allen's Karen Dahut and Susan Penfield

  Women comprise roughly half of the workforce, but only 3.2 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs. Only 14.4% of executive officers in the Fortune 500 are women. Meet two talented senior executive women who are working to change those numbers. Senior Vice Presidents Karen Dahut and Susan Penfield of Booz Allen Hamilton are bringing along the next generation of women leaders inside the firm and beyond. Join Host Kate Ebner to hear the advice, wisdom and perspective of these two savvy executives whose visions of leadership are as much about giving back as about moving forward. Whether you are an aspiring professional woman or simply want to learn from top leaders whose personal experience yields lessons for us all, you'll be inspired.

 

Be inspired. 
Become inspiring.  

 

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Past Episodes are available on demand and podcast-ready via iTunes or RSS feed.

Taking the Liberal Arts Out of the Box
by Rachel Wold

Making a difference in the world has always been Jessica Holmes' driving force. After receiving her PhD in Economics in 1998, she focused her efforts on changing the world through the legal system through her work as a litigation consultant. After a few years, one case in particular led her to an "a-ha" moment: "I realized that I didn't really want to be defending a tobacco company that was being sued by an asbestos company. I wanted to get back to academia." By 2002, Jessica was teaching economics to undergraduates at Middlebury College in Vermont. Though she loved teaching and "shaping young minds," she noticed a missing link between the curriculum and the problems of the real world: "These were brilliant kids putting out great research papers. But after the paper is over, it goes in the recycling bin. I wanted to deploy their intelligence to substantial, real-world problems."
Enter MiddCORE. The entrepreneurship and leadership program that Jessica now directs was formed under Middlebury's Project on Creativity and Innovation in the Liberal Arts and is a month-long, intensive course focused on the kind of experiential learning that doesn't often happen in college classrooms. Throughout the class, students from a wide variety of majors compete in challenges and collaborate on projects under the tutelage of mentors, leaders across industries who guest teach for a day or two at a time. Students may manage a mock crisis and present solutions to a real-life CEO or present at a social entrepreneurship symposium on homelessness or education after learning with leaders in the local community.
Credit: MiddCORE
Credit: MiddCORE
The students who participate in MiddCORE gain a variety of benefits from the experience. According to Jessica, "In order to get into a college like Middlebury, these kids have had to be high-performing with no mistakes on their record. As a result, they're very risk averse." MiddCORE cultivates risk-taking and "failing forward" with a pass/fail system and a failure wall in the classroom where students write a time they failed at something and sign their names. The MiddCORE students also become more confident, resourceful, and comfortable with networking. The mentors they meet -- 30 leaders with different career paths and areas of expertise- become future resources for the students.
MiddCORE is expanding beyond the Middlebury campus. This January, the program was offered at Middlebury's graduate schoo, the Monterey Institute for International Studies, in Monterey, California. Students and even those who have recently graduated from college are encouraged to apply to this summer's MiddCORE session hosted at Sierra College in Lake Tahoe. Find out more about the program and application process here. If you're interested in becoming a MiddCORE mentor, please email [email protected] with a description of the skill you'd like to teach the students and some ideas of how you could design a 1 or 2 day workshop around the topic.
To learn more about how MiddCORE's intensive, experiential process complements these liberal arts students' traditional studies under Jessica's leadership, listen to the full episode here or download the podcast.
Mark Zuckerberg: Teaching kids to code
Mark Zuckerberg: Teaching kids to code
Today, on Mentor-wise, Nancy finds the mentoring lessons in the story of a young boy's chance meeting in his neighborhood with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Listen to the heart-warming story by clicking the video link and read Nancy's post here.

 
March 1, 2013   
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In This Issue
Karen Dahut and Susan Penfield on Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life
Jessica Holmes: Pushing the Liberal Arts Out of the Box
Mentor-wise: Mark Zuckerberg
Create Your Vision!
Intrepreneur vs Entrepreneur
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Why Jessica Holmes is an"Intrepreneur"

 
"An intrepreneur is someone with entrepreneurial skills who creates change within an organization rather than starting their own business. If you want to make an impact anywhere, you'll need entrepreneurial skills."

 

--Jessica Holmes on

 Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life 2/25/13

Radio Show

Missed the last show?    

 
Learn more about how Jessica Holmes' leadership is giving Middlebury College students an out-of-the-box educational experience on the February 25 episode  of Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life.

   

Be inspired. 

Become inspiring.
Resources Recommended by Professor Jessica Holmes, Director of MiddCORE
 
Featured Links

MiddCORE

 
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She Leads 
 
Now is a great time to sign up for She Leads, our first online course designed to give women the knowledge and strategies they need to take their leadership to the next level. She Leads: Proven Strategies to Inspire and Succeed begins March 21st so don't wait! Use code "SL2013" at checkout and save.