2014 Global Leadership Summit Session 2: Carly Fiorina #GLS14

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Former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; Opportunity International Global Board Chair

SESSION 2: Defining Leadership

• Named Fortune’s Most Powerful Woman in Business for six consecutive years
• Under her leadership, Hewlett-Packard doubled in revenue to $90B, generated 11 patents per day and led the market for all of its product categories
• A sought-after opinion leader and frequent commentator in both broadcast and print media
• Founder of One Woman Initiative, a global ambassador for Opportunity International, and chairman of Good 360, the world’s largest philanthropy organization

Session Notes

• What you are is God’s gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God. (plaque given to her by her mother)
• When working as a secretary it was her boss who saw the potential in her, thought she could be more.
• Human potential is the only truly unlimited resource in our world.
• Bureaucracies crush potential. They forget who they are there to serve.
• What unlocks human potential?
• The highest calling of leadership is to unlock the potential of others.
• Leadership is not management.
• A manager works within the constraints of the environment. Leadership is about changing the order of things.
• MLK didn’t start by changing the people in power but by unlocking the potential in people without power.
• Nelson Mandela didn’t become a leader because he was president. He became president because he was a leader.
• Jesus was a nobody who led other nobodies.
• People think a great speech is leadership. Words are not enough. The most important part of leadership is what leaders do.
• Leadership framework… [drew a square]
  • [top] Strategy, goals, vision – where, why, how
  • [right] Organization, team, structure, process – how are we going to work together to get this done
    • in some orgs, processes are in conflict with goals
    • in some orgs, lots of processes but not driven by any goals or vision
    • reorganization can be a temporary illusion of progress, doing something.
  • [bottom] Metrics – how are we going to measure progress
    • What gets measured is what gets done.
  • [left] Culture, behavior
    • People listen to the talk for a while, then they start watching actions.
    • Actions speak louder than words
    • If you do not reward/punish stated values, people figure out what really matters is results
• An organization cannot achieve its potential if it does not empower its people to achieve their potential.
• 20% of people are change agents. 20% of people are resistant. 60% are skeptics waiting to be engaged.
• Leadership is a profoundly human gift available to all.
• True leadership requires faith.
• Faith gives us the gift of empathy and optimism, both essential to leadership.
• Leadership is more about faith in others than confidence in oneself.
• Leadership is a choice. Choose to change the order of things and unlock the potential of others.