My mom was in the military all through my childhood; Back then it was not easy for person in the armed forces, & I’m not saying it IS easy these afternoons, however it used to be a lot harder… She was a powerful, commanding woman, & seemed to inspire loyalty no matter where she went, however the guys in charge saw this & put her in a recruitment group, to try & get more female enlistees for the military.

She ended up being so successful at that task that they promoted her to being in charge of all female recruitment for this area of the country… My mother’s leadership development was minute to none, & when she provided a lecture on how to succeed, I can tell you it wasn’t just ladies listening, high ranking guys would also come to her leadership workshops, to try & option up some tricks of the trade.

There were no tricks to her leadership development, though, she was just being herself & speaking the, as she put it, frigid & unvarnished truth, and when she got a little older & couldn’t get out in the field as much she just provided a series of lectures at leadership development programs in bases all across the country. She embodied the spirit of exceptionalism, & some of the leadership development programs that she championed are still thriving all these years later; Just based on having her same last name, I officially get invited to attend, & occasionally even to speak at, leadership workshops multiple times each & every year

Leadership Development Programs