98: Simone Askew — On Being the First Black Female First Captain at West Point, Authentic Leadership, and Advice for Mentors

January 11, 2023 by Cal Walters in Leadership, Servant Leadership, Courageous Leadership

It's great to be back after taking a few months off! I'm really excited about all we can learn together in 2023!

Today I have the privilege of sharing my interview with Simone Askew. In 2017, she became the first African American woman to earn the role of First Captain, the leader of the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This is regarded as a major step in racial and gender equality within the United States military. She was also named by Glamour magazine as one of the top 10 College Women of the Year. She is also a Rhodes Scholar. Askew earned a MSc with merit in refugee and forced migration studies from the Refugee Studies Centre and a MPP from the Blavatnik School of Government at University of Oxford.

She also recently published her first book, Citizen Skyland, a compelling story of a young black woman finding herself, her courage and her legacy when the world needs it most. If you'd like to learn more about Military Mentors and their upcoming event, The MMoment III, visit militarymentors.org.

If you’re interested in growing in your leadership practice and being inspired to think differently and unlock greater personal potential, we want to give you a gift. Just click the link below and tell us where to send you 12 Ideas That Will Make You A Better Leader

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85: Dr. Tim Elmore — On Generational Diversity & The 8 Paradoxes of Great Leadership

April 01, 2022 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership

Dr. Tim Elmore is founder and CEO of Growing Leaders (www.growingleaders.com), an Atlanta‐based non‐profit organization created to develop emerging leaders. Since founding Growing Leaders in 2003, Elmore has spoken to over 500,000 leaders in businesses, universities, athletic teams and non-profit organizations, including The Home Depot, Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, American Eagle and Chick-Fil-A as well as the San Francisco Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Ohio State University, Stanford University and the University of Alabama athletics.

His work grew out of twenty years serving alongside Dr. John C. Maxwell where he focused on leadership for the emerging generations. Elmore has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, USA Today, Psychology Today and he’s been featured on CNN’s Headline News and Fox and Friends to talk about leading multiple generations in the marketplace.

Tim was listed in the top 100 leadership speakers in America by Inc. magazine. He has written more than 35 books, including the best-selling Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes. Tim and his wife, Pam, have two adult children, Bethany and Jonathan. He and Pam live outside of Atlanta. You can also find his work at: TimElmore.com

I learned a ton from this conversation. We talk about generational diversity and what each generation brings to the table and how us as leaders can lead well by harnessing these difference. So whether you’re a Baby Booomer, Baby Buster, Millennial, Gen Z, or don’t even know what generation you fit into, this episode has something for you. We also dive into mentoring, some great stories about John Maxwell, and his new book, The 8 Paradoxes of Great Leadership.

The Eight Paradoxes of Great Leadership: Embracing the Conflicting Demands of Today's Workplace

By Elmore, Tim

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#56: Trudy Bourgeois — Overcome Self-Doubt and Create Inclusive Teams

February 02, 2021 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership

Trudy Bourgeois is one of America's leading experts on transformational leadership and a highly regarded leader in the field of leadership and diversity and inclusion. An expert at developing managers and leaders on how to unleash the greatest potential of every employee, Bourgeois is a highly sought-out resource. She is the founder and CEO of the Center for Workforce Excellence and has been leading the organization for nearly two decades.

Dollars and Sense Magazine honored Bourgeois as one of the "Best and Brightest Women Leaders”. In her various roles as author, speaker, teacher and researcher, Bourgeois continues to utilize her superb management and interpersonal skills. Known as the “truth teller”, Bourgeois has a rare ability to tackle very difficult subjects such as race and bias without triggering negative emotions. She operates from a principle that “everyone has something to learn” on the journey to accepting each other across differences and building workplaces that are truly inclusive.

Trudy has authored four leadership books, HER CORNER OFFICE: A Guide to Help Women Find a Place and a Voice in Corporate America and Her Corner Office (2nd Edition) and THE HYBRID LEADER: Blending the Best of Male and Female Leadership Styles, and has just released her latest book entitled, EQUALITY: Courageous Conversations About Women, Men, and Race To Spark a Diversity and Inclusion Breakthrough available now. She has also written numerous articles and white papers, and she contributes regularly to educational materials for corporations, associations and trade groups. She is a frequent Huffington Post blogger.

Trudy serves on a CEO Roundtable Board in Europe in the Consumer Package Goods industry as an advisor to drive gender equality over the next decade in conjunction with the nonprofit group- LEAD. Trudy is also on the board of advisors of two nonprofit organizations - Women of Color in Pharma and Conscious Capitalism. These organizations are focused on closing the gender and representation gaps. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Conscious Capitalism. Trudy has served as an advisor to the creation of multiple studies produced by CTI including the “Being Black in Corporate America: An Intersectional Exploration” research study.

She is the consultant of record to design the 2020 Executive Leadership Council’s Game Changer Conference and advancing Black leaders initiative. In 2016 The Network of Executive Women honored Bourgeois for her tireless efforts in advancing women’s leadership in the consumer goods, retail and service industries. She will be married to her husband (Mike) for 40 years this year and is the mother of Adam and MaryEllen. The family embraced Ryan Brence, featured on Episode 20, as their son in law in 2017. MaryEllen and Ryan blessed the family on March 8 with the birth of Grace Elizabeth Brence. Trudy resides in Prosper Texas.

During this conversation, we discuss what life was like for her as an elementary school student in Alabama during school integration, how she overcomes self-doubt, the importance of affirmations, how she started the Center for Workforce Excellence, coaching, leadership, how to create a diverse and inclusive team, and much more.