I’m back from last weekend’s 2012 Athena International
Leadership Summit in Chicago and have been trying to “settle” back into my
regular routine, but can’t.
(The wonderful Ogden/Weber
Chamber Women in Business
committee members and
me. From top left: Kristie Nielsen,
Joanna Kellerstrauss,
Debbie Williams, Meg Johnson.)
It was the first conference I’ve been to that I haven’t
spoken at and I am so glad I got to just sit back and soak up the messages and
the inspiration from everyone who attended (even if they didn’t speak from the
stage). I was so touched by everyone I met and I don’t think I could ever
settle back into what I used to be or do again.
Every moment seemed to be “Aha!” and here are a few crumbs
from the goddess buffet:
1.
The whole event began with Diane Jeppson, the President
and CEO of Athena International, give her opening remarks, I was confused by
her gestures when she discussed “Giving Back.” Instead of extending her hand
out toward an unknown recipient of her goodwill, she reached out and grabbed
the air, then pulled the “recipient” back into herself.
It was weird.
She did it several times before I caught
on to her unspoken message. Athena Leaders don’t just throw out advice and
counsel for others with passive “Well you should just…” comments. Athena leaders
nurture and walk with those they lead.
2.
Martha Mertz, the founder of Athena International,
spoke on the Athena leadership principle “Live Authentically.” She told about
the Athena awards itself, each of which is a unique and numbered work of art.
Here is me when I won the Athena award earlier this year:
Martha talked about how the piece
itself represents an Athena leader:
The base
is a solid piece of marble representing a strong foundation.
The
bronze figure is a leader who is polished and poised.
The
crystal prism demonstrates the light the Athena leader exudes.
(cool coincidence – this is the 30th
anniversary of the Athena Award and I am 30!)
Martha definitely lives
authentically. She is regal and you can see her kind eyes just as easily from
the elevator as you can from the stage.
(Martha
Mertz, Founder of Athena International, and me)
3. Donna Messer…I was going to write a brief title for her
but her accomplishments are so many that they are too many to write and a few
wouldn’t suffice. Plus she’s awesome. She totally networked me in the bathroom
and it was so smooth, I didn’t realize I was being “networked” until I was out
of the bathroom – and smiling. She talked (appropriately) on building
relationships. One of my favorite things she said (I have copious notes from
her presentation – I couldn’t get enough of her) was to “stop thinking about
the ‘me’ in the world and start thinking about the ‘we’ in the world.”
4.
All of the speakers were my “favorite” (really, how
could I choose?) but Catherine Lee was maybe my favorite of my favorites. She
is older and sweet and when she spoke I wanted to curl up in a Lazy-boy and just
relax and listen. She spoke about the Athena leadership principle, “Learn Constantly”
and there couldn’t have been a more suitable speaker for it! She was a
housewife forever and then went into the workforce armed with her husband’s
advice: “Whatever they ask you to do, just tell them ‘Yeah, I feel comfortable
doing that’ and come home and I’ll show you how!” Within a (very) short time
she was working in China where they affectionately called her the “big, elegant
lady.” She isn’t big – it meant more that what she did was awesome. She lives
by (and exemplifies) a quote I absolutely love: You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which
you stop to look fear in the face (Eleanor Roosevelt).
Those are just tiny bits of what I took home from such a
great event. I came to the conference knowing that I AM an Athena Leader (hey, I
even have the statue), but I left understanding that, just like each award is a
work of art, each Athena Leader has to
continue to put in the work before she’s refined enough to be art.
I’m at the beginning of my refining process. But I know
refinement is possible because I met some very fine works of art over the
weekend. The polished and poised Athena Leaders who spoke (and not just
onstage) showed me the kind of Athena leader I want to become.
No comments:
Post a Comment