Politics

Expect Leadership

/ lesliesnavely / Leave a comment

I wanted to share an email that I wrote to my close friends and family this morning. I got enough positive feedback on it, that I wanted to share it here in hopes to help with the Movement. These times make me reflect on one of my favorite leaders with some wise words from Abraham Lincoln. #BlackLivesMatter

Hi friends and family,

These are challenging times across our country.  I hope that this email finds you healthy and happy.  

Many of you may have seen my facebook or LinkedIn post, but if not, I wanted to communicate to you directly this way.  I know that this message finds us all at different points in our lives, with different points of view.  I believe that part of our role in society is to learn more than ever about all sides of the issues in front of us.  Through educating ourselves, and remaining vulnerable and open-minded, I believe we can all make change.  I know so many of you for the good that you do in the world, and am hoping that this set of content can only help you to do more good, your way.  I don’t intend to offend you, nor assume that you haven’t seen nor read any of these items.  My goal is only to play an active role in a conversation that matters.  

First, the Facebook post I posted this last weekend said this… “As the world has spun out of control around us in the last few months, I have worked hard to focus on doing what I can do to help.  Whether it be at work, at home, for my family, for my mental health or for others.  The last two weeks simultaneously deepened my sadness, anger and despair for the realities that we live in, for the lack of equality for our Black brothers and sisters, and provided me hope that THIS IS THE MOMENT that we ALL begin to act to start the movement to fix systemic racism in our country.  We all must stand up, use our voices, learn the realities of the big and the small acts of discrimination that are pervasive in this country for our Black friends. AND, make change happen.  Don’t just learn, ACT.   #BlackLivesMatter”

Here are a few things that I hope that you will read or listen to on a quest to learn or in hopes that you have seen them before.  If you have unique articles and perspectives that you are consuming to help you understand, please share back with me.  

The original videos  or compilations of the specific horrible acts over the last 3-4 months:

  • Ahmaud Arbery video plus Wikipedia page regarding the incident  
  • Amy Cooper video plus Wikipedia page regarding the incident.  
  • George Floyd investigation video plus Wikipedia page regarding the incident.
  • Article on COVID-19 Impact on Black Community (you will need a free login from National Geographic for this, but it is worth it

A few videos and articles discussing the issues:

  • Trevor Noah video trying to help us understand.
  • FOX news article about George Bush response.  Most of you know I am not a FOX news reader normally, nor a GWB fan.  But, I appreciate his leadership on this issue.
  • The article by General Mattis in the Atlantic.  
  • And a short video on the blind spots that we all have (implicit bias).  Business has done a good amount of content on implicit bias if you want to learn more.  

I know that we may never agree on politics, but my perspective, as a leader in business, is that leaders need to pull people together for a common cause.  Our job is to motivate action.  To me, the most important cause for all of us as leaders is affording all humans (race aside) equal human rights.  Our Black brothers and sisters don’t have this privilege.  Jon and I are on vacation this week, and we were driving through a beautiful lake-side country club area yesterday.  We decided to pull in, and walk down to the water to capture the view even though we weren’t supposed to be there.  We did so without fear.  It struck us that even that small act may be scary for a Black couple who feel the daily biases built by our history (either conscious or unconscious).  We must change this. 

We can control how we behave:  the words we choose, the actions we take and where we put our money.  We can control what we teach others, especially our children, but also what learning happens in our circles through table-talk, and at our business and community/religious institutions through the topics we take on.  And, just as important or more, we can control what leaders we follow and what we expect from them (political, religious, social, community, business).  If they fail the cause, we can control how we vote both locally and nationally, how we support businesses/organizations based on their leaders.  

So, it is BOTH personal and political.  Even if your local or political leaders have other things you agree with, please consider that this issue is MORE important than any issue that you may be aligned on as you prepare for the voting season ahead.  Please consider supporting businesses and community organizations that have leaders who meet these expectations.  Do your research, don’t assume based on what you see on Facebook, or in the media.  

This cause is more important than all others because without basic human rights, we have neither a stable society nor one where the other political issues matter.

#BlackLivesMatter

With respect,

Leslie 

Reflections on COVID-19: Humanity, not Politics

/ lesliesnavely / 1 Comment

I sit here tonight, after watching some of the the One World: Together At Home broadcast (which was an awesome representation of good people), and after reading a few Facebook posts (which makes me sad), and I feel perplexed.  I want to be able to stand on the top of a mountain and yell to everyone that this is a crisis about humanity, not politics.

11707DA2-29C7-4D7E-991C-54AFD86D3D4APhoto by Nagesh Badu on Unsplash

This COVID-19 crisis is a struggle to do what is right around the world.  It is about making the best choices possible to help the most people knowing that every choice made will hurt someone.  It isn’t, and shouldn’t be about political positioning, or making a name for yourself.

In these times we see the best and the worst of people.  And, unfortunately social media is an amplifier of those characteristics.  I even found myself commenting back today on someone’s Facebook post that wasn’t worth it.  This is a humanitarian crisis.  Every decision has a downside, but we all have to do the best we can to help our country and the world get through this.

A few stats that will make you cringe:

  • As of today over 150,000 people have died in the world from COVID-19.  In the United States this number is nearing 39,000. The first US death occurred on 2/29, a mere seven weeks ago.
  • To help put this in perspective, let’s compare to three tragedies that most all of us can all agree were horrible events in the world:
    • Over 400,000 American lives were lost in WW2 over a long six year, world changing tragedy.  The US lives lost were dwarfed by the 75 million estimated dead around the world.
    • Almost 60,000 American lives were lost in Vietnam.  The global death count was again much more severe, but losing almost 60,000 American lives remains one of the largest tragedies in our history.
    • 9/11/2001 had over 3,500 lives lost in the day.  We also put brave soldiers in harm’s way as follow up to this terrorist attack.  We all remember where we were the day of this horrific tragedy.
  • Currently, estimates of American deaths by the end of August 2020 (just six months after the first death) range from 60 – 100K.  This will make the COVID-19 crisis surpass Vietnam in its impact on our people.  Not to mention all of those around the world.

Everyone is sacrificing right now in order to help to minimize the global impact of this crisis.  There are people out of work, without food, with “elective” healthcare procedures that they can’t get completed even though tumor removal doesn’t sound elective when the tumor is growing in your body.  There are situations where families are housebound with an abusive adult in the home, there are mental health challenges developing.  And, it sucks.  It is bullshit.  But, so is 60,000+ projected American lives lost from a Coronavirus.

My call to action for all of us is to do is to do our best every day, to be human, to not politicize this crisis, and to support each other however we can by offering help to those in need.  And to STAY HOME and socially distanced as long as the CDC recommends.  Trust scientists and help the crisis be as short as possible for humanity.

Get Off The Sidelines

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I haven’t been posting for quite some time with the excuse that life (work and family) has gotten in my way. What I realized after some reflection this week is that I miss writing about things that matter to me. This blog has been an outlet to make that happen, so here we go again. No promises of my frequency, but you will know, if I am writing here I am probably a bit more balanced than if I am not as it means I am creating the time to reflect (and write). So, I am getting off the sidelines and back in the game.

Over the last week, I have had the fortunate opportunity to attend two separate events that are motivating me to get off the sidelines in a number of ways. The first event was the first ever Utah Wonder Women Summit. The Utah Wonder Women is a group of influential women leaders in Utah working to help each other succeed. The day long summit was an opportunity to convene with a focus on building the visibility of female leadership in Utah. This event was followed by SUREFIRE girls, an event for teenage girls in Utah to help them see the magnitude of opportunities available to them. A big shout out to Jacki Zehner, the original Utah Wonder Women, for her relentless dedication, drive and initiative to make these two events happen.

So much inspiration at these events. This photo is a picture of the SUREFIRE ambassadors, ranging from junior high through seniors in high school, on stage talking about what they are hoping to learn from the SUREFIRE event. I was struck how powerful it was for these teenagers to see a room of 100+ female leaders in the audience focused on helping each other, developing our skills, aspiring to help Utah be a better place for female leadership tomorrow than it is today. But, what made me even more amazed was the energy that I took from these ladies reminding me of my role to get of the sidelines and dedicate even more time and energy to making the community, the state, our business environment and the country a better place for these ladies than it is today.

In case I wasn’t inspired enough leaving the UWW Summit, I headed this week to FORTUNE magazine’s Most Powerful Women Next Generation conference. It was an honor to be able to attend this. I guess you can call it part two of a reinforcement to get off the sidelines. With all of the stories recently about sexual harassment and assault, much of the event had a theme of being vocal. Stories of both a pursuit for gender and race equality as well as the recent #MeToo social movement came from all sides of the room. Business leaders, athletes and entertainers spoke of their own experiences with a call to action to be vocal and through our voices ensure that equality and respect are what we expect. Hope Solo, former goalie of the US Women’s National Soccer team, spoke candidly of her pursuit for pay equality in US Soccer, and her own personal experience with harassment. She also shared her clear belief that she was fired for being vocal.

One of my favorite speakers across these two events was Pat Mitchell. Pat is known for her leadership in the media industry as a CEO, producer and curator. She has used her position of influence and leadership as a force for social change. Among other great accomplishments, she is the host and curator of the global TEDWomen conference. Her talk was on power, and how we need to own it and use it to lead and drive change. Her eloquent speech was calm, reassuring and enabled me to center myself. We often perceive power to be masculine, but it isn’t. The definition of power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Nothing masculine about that. One of the quotes she shared was from Bella Abzug, a lawyer, member of the US House of Representatives, and social activist and leader of the Women’s movement.

“Women will change the nature of power, rather than power changing the nature of women.” – Bella Abzug

Both of these events came at a great time for me. I have been working very hard lately and am probably off balance with how I am spending my time. I am still home for my family in the evenings at a reasonable time, working out a few times a week and trying my best to be a great spouse. So, it isn’t about work-life balance. That said, I am relentlessly moving when I am gone, pushing myself to always keep taking a step forward on the issues that matter every day in my work. There is a lot of good in this (especially for our business).

What I recognized after this week is that by dedicating so much energy here, I may be missing some of the things that I need to be doing to fulfill my purpose. I need to get off the sidelines, but not in a way that drives more “movement” at the office, or more stress. Instead, getting off the sidelines is about choosing to channel my “movement” to more effectively influence positive change for women in business, media and policy. So, thanks Pat for the advice. I am planning on owning my power and using it to drive change.

Thank You Hillary…#ImWithHer

/ lesliesnavely / 2 Comments

I find myself at a loss of words after this monumental week.

image

Katharine was beyond excited to stay up to watch Hillary Clinton accept the presidential nomination.  As was I.  I found myself moved almost to tears by Chelsea’s introduction (however not comfortable Chelsea looked), by Hilary’s deliberate recognition of the power of the moment, by her humble acknowledgement of both her strengths (work horse) and her weaknesses (show horse), but most notably by Katharine’s excitement about the evening.

For her it was just about the experience, about learning and understanding how this election thing works, about being able to stay up late, about seeing daughter introduce her mother for something exciting, and about the fascination with the role of our President.  And, it was of course cool that it was a girl.  She asked me if I was ever going to have her introduce me for something like that.  She wondered if the whole world was like America.

For me it was about making history, about hard work, about perseverance, about striving for something despite all odds, and about creating opportunity for all of the little girls that  were watching.  And, it was of course because it was a girl.  I had hoped for this day for a long time.  It made me proud of America.

I know that my politics haven’t always lined up with Hillary, and I am certain that I don’t agree with everything that she is advocating for, but #ImWithHer because of the lesson that she can teach America and the world.  She is showing us that hard work, perseverance, dedication to a cause, and belief in equality can change the world.  She is helping all of the little girls see what they can be.