It’s Women’s History Month in the United States, which is a great time to reflect on the contributions and influence of all the amazing women trailblazers, both living and those who have gone before us.
Today I am going to highlight three living women with whom I would love to have dinner and conversation. But first, let me tell you what happens when I actually get the chance to meet people who are legendary in my world.
The Groupie
First, years ago when I was the Staffing Manager at Bausch + Lomb, I secured approval to have my team enroll in the Performance-Based Hiring Recruiter Boot Camp developed by recruiting guru, Lou Adler. It just so happened that Lou lived near our California office and so we arranged to have an in-person session with site leadership followed by lunch with me and my lead recruiter, Karen. She had just completed the Boot Camp program, so Lou was able to personally present her completion certificate. Karen and I were thrilled to have the opportunity to meet Lou, see him in action, and then pick his brain and exchange ideas over lunch. (And having him autograph his book, Hire With Your Head, was pretty cool too!) It was energizing for all of us! At the time, Lou said he was starting to contemplate retiring but our conversation gave him serious second thoughts! And, he’s still going almost ten years later!
Fast forward to the summer of 2020. In colder months before quarantine, I would listen to podcasts during my work commute. When it became warm enough to exercise outside, my 3x/week runs became my podcast time. One of my favorite podcasts is Broken Brain with Dhru Purohit. In the Spring of 2020, Dhru started a Facebook group for his podcast right around the time I decided to redouble my efforts on my business, which for me meant diving into social media after having spent very little time there. After actively posting for several weeks in his group, I saw that Dhru was offering some time slots to have 1:1 conversations with him, so he could connect with more people. I wasted NO TIME grabbing the first available spot I could. Then I told everyone who would listen and/or pretend to be interested about my serendipity. I was so nervous the night before our quick chat. Dhru was genuine as expected – just as he is during his podcasts. The only fan girl moment I allowed during the conversation was to tell him he was on my list of top people I wanted to have dinner with!
I had a surprise legend encounter during my Get Out Of Your Own Way interview series, which was released in January of this year. I didn’t know there was another person as excited about accountability as I am. I had recently become aware that Mark Samuel had written books on the subject – not sure how I missed THAT! – but I was still pleasantly surprised by his enthusiasm. I typically have to tone it down a bit when it comes to talking about the positive impact of accountability…because people just don’t tend to embrace it to the extent I do. And that’s ok – but now I found a kindred spirit! Mark and I had so much fun geeking out on accountability. The interview ran long and could’ve gone on for hours! We were so engrossed in our conversation, I’m pretty sure we both forgot there would be an audience watching the recording.
Lou, Dhru, and Mark are legends to me because they are great people doing great work in areas I am very passionate about. These are people I can learn from and whose existence and impact keep me motivated. They remind me that what I do and how I specifically choose to serve is something the world needs and wants. I realize now that I unconsciously applied this criteria when coming up with the list of people alive today that I would most like to have dinner with.
The dinner wish list I created last summer included Dhru, George W. Bush, Dwayne Johnson, and these three women:
Michelle Obama
Ok, so she’s probably on the dinner wish list of millions of people and therefore, my chances of having said dinner are pretty slim. I get it – she’s awesome! I was thrilled to hear she was recently selected to be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in nearby Seneca Falls, NY. Michelle Obama would have made my list even before I listened to her Becoming audiobook. (I didn’t need a reason beyond her impeccable fashion sense.) I purposely opted to listen to her read it rather than read it myself. I wanted to hear it in her own voice, with her own emphasis, inflection, and tone. I so enjoyed her story and the consistent theme of her integrity and determination. She is a class act and a fantastic role model.
Melinda Gates
My near obsession with philanthropy led me not surprisingly to Melinda Gates. As with Michelle Obama’s book, I also opted to listen to Melinda read her book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. While I’ve always supported the women’s equality movement, it has largely been out of a sense of justice. Melinda’s perspective filled in some gaps in my understanding of why it also makes good economic sense to deliberately support women. There really is no down side to equality of race or gender; we have everything to gain.
Cy Wakeman
I’m pretty sure Cy Wakeman could be Mark Samuel’s twin sister of accountability. I first learned about her earlier in my career when I was primarily focused on Human Resources. I tore out a page of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) Magazine that had her picture on it next to a short title that included “Accountability”. More recently, I found her Facebook group around the time I found Dhru’s. When Cy responded directly to a comment I made, I was as excited as I was when I booked my meeting with Dhru – and told just as many people about it! Cy is phenomenally gifted at articulating an air-tight, common sense case for why proper accountable behavior in the workplace is the only option.
Make a Reservation
To all my legends featured here – especially these amazing women I celebrate with emphasis during Women’s History Month – my calendar will be made available to you when you are ready for our dinner. I’m a big sushi fan but really, any cuisine will do. I’ll be ordering wine or a Mai Tai and a big helping of soul-inspiring, life-changing conversation.
