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Dear Reader,
In 2009, the Dalai Lama famously said that "the world will be saved by the Western woman." Educated, passionate and increasingly in responsible positions from which we can make decisions that influence the tide of events, women of the Western world have grown to move than 50% of the workforce and leaders such as Hillary Clinton, Marissa Mayer and Ursula Burns remind us that, despite controversial policies, women are gaining traction in the halls of power. It's easy to forget that inequalities still exist for women around the world -- and in our nation. It's hard to remember that only decades ago, opportunities for women were dramatically more limited than today.
Coming of age in the 50's, Anne Firth Murray was a bright girl who felt keenly the unfairness of societal views about what girls could do. With an optimism and "can do" attitude that characterizes her, however, she has taken actions to address these inequities, pioneering a whole new view of the role of women globally. Today, in her seventies, Anne teaches a class called "Love as a Force for Social Justice" at Stanford University that is the culmination of decades of experience and perspective growing out of her commitment to empowering women and, in particular, helping women respond to the violence that too often is part of life.
I am honored to bring Anne's story to you next Monday, March 25th. When you listen to her, you will understand exactly what the Dalai Lama meant when he highlighted to role that Western women can play in rebalancing the energies of the world.
Very best,
Kate Ebner
CEO
Nebo Company
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Monday, March 25, 2013 11 AM Eastern Time On VoiceAmerica Business
From Outrage to Courage to Compassion: The Inspirational Vision of Anne Firth Murray
 As a girl growing up in New Zealand in the 50's, young Anne Firth Murray observed that her brother was allowed to do things that were off limits to her because she was a girl. Later, through jobs at the UN and the Hewlett Packard Foundation, Anne observed the many ways that women were treated differently than men despite the quality and importance of their work. Frustrated by traditional philanthropy's lack of interest in funding women's groups and human rights, Anne and three other visionary women forged a new path, founding an highly successful organization, the Global Fund for Women, to grant funds directly to women-led organizations - a strategy unheard of in the early 80's. Join Kate Ebner for a provocative conversation with Anne, Nobel Peace prize nominee and professor at Stanford University, as she shares how her experiences have shaped her vision of an approach that can change the world. Learn about Anne's astonishing Stanford University course, "Love as a Force for Social Justice" -- and be inspired by the wisdom of Anne's timely and clarion message.
Guest Biography
Anne Firth Murray, a New Zealander, was educated at the University of California and New York University. She has worked at the United Nations, taught in Hong Kong and Singapore, and been an editor with Oxford, Stanford, and Yale University presses.
She currently teaches on international women's health and human rights and on love as a force for social justice at Stanford University. She directed the environment and international population programs of the Hewlett Foundation from 1978 to 1988. She is the Founding President of The Global Fund for Women, which provides funds internationally to seed, strengthen, and link groups committed to women's well being. She founded the GFW and directed it from 1987 to 1996.
Ms. Murray serves on boards and councils of non-profit organizations, including the African Women's Development Fund, Commonweal, Global Force for Healing, and Global Justice Center. She is the recipient of many awards and honors for women's health and philanthropy, and in 2005 she was nominated as one of a group of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Her book on the early years of the Global Fund for Women is Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change. The 2nd edition of her more recent book on international women's health, From Outrage to Courage: The Unjust and Unhealthy Situation of Women in Poorer Countries and What They Are Doing About It, will appear in April 2013.
Be inspired.
Become inspiring.
Missed the Live Show?
Past Episodes are available on demand and podcast-ready via iTunes or RSS feed.
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Becoming a Transformational Leader:
Tips from Dr. Carol Pearson
by Rachel Wold
In order to understand how to be transformational leaders, we first must ask the question, "What is transformational leadership?" When Dr. Carol Pearson joined Kate Ebner on Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life on March 18, she borrowed from Jim Burns' definition to concisely illustrate transformational leadership as "leadership that results in major structural change that has a positive impact on the world and elevates the people involved in the effort." The converse of transformational leadership is a transactional relationship between leaders and others as "Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours." Transformational leadership elevates those involved; "transactional" leadership does not.
Dr. Pearson recently conducted a 3-year research project on transformative leadership with the Fetzer Institute. During that time, she convened many effective leaders and led them through a deep exploration of what made their leadership successful and transformative. Her insights from that process and the thought leadership that emerged from the study are captured in the list below and also in the resulting book, The Transforming Leader: New Approaches to Leadership for the 21st Century.
5 Necessary Elements for Transformational Leadership:
1) Update our thinking in "new paradigm" ways
Transformativel leaders don't think of leadership as an ego-centric endeavor. Rather than the leader being the most important part of the system, his or her effect on others is what really matters.
2) A connection to our whole human capacities
In order to be transformational, we must listen to our soul as well as our ego, to the heart as well as the mind. Transformational leaders must find a way to connect with the gifts of the unconscious mind because the intuition and decision-making skills required of these leaders relies upon much more information than the conscious mind can access.
3) Learning and understanding the viewpoints of others
Twenty-first century problems exist with a heightened complexity. There is a vast wealth of information about any given issue such that no one person can possibly hold all the knowledge on a subject. However, if leaders think they know all the answers on a topic, according to Dr. Pearson, they'll find themselves in the predicament of the current US two-party system -- defending their point of view against the other side without achieving any real dialogue. The ability to hold and consider two opposing ideas at once is the mark of a great thinker and leader today.
4) Ordinary citizens taking responsibility for leadership
Leadership is everyone's responsibility. "Sitting back in an armchair and criticizing the powers-that-be for their stupidity won't solve anything," points out Dr. Pearson. The old paradigm says that leadership is the province of a few, but transformative leadership reaches across social, education and economic lines to harvest the wisdom of many. Dr. Pearson says, "Discounting yourself because you feel marginalized is no reason not take a leadership role. Many of the great leaders I studied felt they lacked the capacity or background for the projects they undertook, yet they achieved great things."
5) Approaching each situation with a vision in mind
When dealing with a difficult situation, be it logistical or interpersonal, make your decisions with the end goal in mind. Ask yourself, "How do I want this to turn out? What am I really trying to accomplish here?" Having a vision of a desired future will help guide each step along the way.
Dr. Pearson shared a beautiful and heartening vision for the future plus many deep insights about leadership during her conversation with Kate. To explore transformative leadership even further, listen here or download the episode as a podcast.
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Create Your Vision!
We have designed a quick and easy visioning exercise just for you! You will receive your own personal vision statement immediately upon hitting "submit." To create your vision statement, CLICK HERE.
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Lead Where You Are:
"Transformational thinking says, 'Change starts anywhere. Start where you are.' "
~ Dr. Carol S. Pearson
Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life 3/18/13
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Missed the last show?
Expand your conception of leadership with Dr. Carol Pearson on the March 18 episode of Visionary Leader, Extraordinary Life.
Be inspired.
Become inspiring.
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Nebo in the News
Nebo VP Nancy Lamberton was quoted in an InfoWorld article on the current state of women in IT industries. Nancy, a former technology executive who also serves as President of the national non-profit Women in Technology, commended companies for closing the gender gap when it comes to pay, but notes that, "Women are still underrepresented in tech, and there's something in the culture that makes it difficult for them to step up into leadership positions."
Read the whole article here.
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