By Guest Contributor Marion Mann | senior marketing manager, Greenville Chamber
When you get to the top of the ladder, you want to bring people with you, says Michelle Gethers-Clark
The Greenville Chamber, in association with ATHENA International, has recognized and honored women who have made significant contributions to Greenville’s prosperity with the annual ATHENA Leadership Award since 2001. The ATHENA Leadership Symposium is a unique women’s leadership event inspired by past recipients of the ATHENA Leadership Award.
This second annual event featured keynote speaker Michelle Gethers-Clark, CEO and president of United Way of Greater Greensboro. A corporate executive and community leader with a professional career that spans 29 years, she has celebrated success as a senior vice president for American Express Company, as an entrepreneur with a consulting firm and as an author. Her mantra: “People follow character and not titles.”
Additional presenters included ATHENA award recipients Chandra Dillard, Jo Hackl and Judith Prince. Greenville Technical College President Dr. Keith Miller also spoke briefly on the value of diversity and creating a balance of leadership throughout the community.
Gethers-Clark began by telling the story of how her parents moved from Walterboro, S.C., because they knew that education could change the cycle of hopelessness for their family. They moved to New York, far from picking cotton and cucumbers, with the dream of college for their children.
Humility, Integrity, Consistency
Leadership is born out of character. Gethers-Clark noted her belief in the defining moment when you tell yourself who you are going to be. She stressed the need to decide to be three things all the time. At a young age, Gethers-Clark decided that she would always:
–Be humble
–Maintain a high degree of integrity
–Be consistent
She noted, “I never wanted someone to ask my assistant before they came into my office, ‘Is she in a good mood?’” She stressed the importance of consistency, and of being “the same person on Friday afternoons as you are on Mondays at 9 a.m.” Something goes wrong every day, but you need to be consistent with who you are in spite of it all.
Leadership Is Not What You Say, but What You Do
Gethers-Clark recalled the term “executive presence,” but countered that it’s not what you look like, but what you leave behind. On becoming a leader, she noted the following:
–Struggle does not mean failure.
–It’s hard to develop when you’re running from challenges.
–If you do nothing, there will be no results.
She challenged the audience to choose what kind of leaders they wanted to be moving forward. “If we were supposed to look backwards, we’d have eyes in the back of our heads,” she said.
Climbing the Ladder
Gethers-Clark actually climbed a ladder on the stage at the Poinsett Club to help illustrate these points:
The bottom of a ladder is wide, with lots of people. When you choose to step up, it’s not about the power, it’s about the view. And when you get there, you’ll see that you want to bring people with you. “The world looks different when you’re allowed to sit at the table,” she noted.
Stepping Back to Move Forward
Everyone can lose balance and get off track. In Gethers-Clark’s case, when working as a senior executive for American Express, she received a call to come home because her daughter was having seizures. She notes that although she had lost track of faith and family, “I made a deal with God that I would quit my job if Sophia got better.”
She did quit, but has received countless offers since that have led her to her current position as a community leader. When asked what’s next for her, she noted that she is open to possibilities and that as long as she is her authentic self, doors will open. She stressed that there is no such thing as balance, but there are wise choices – and new ones to make every day.
Knowledge Empowers You
At one point, Gethers-Clark asked everyone to pull out their keys to help illustrate her interpretation that KEY stands for Knowledge Empowers You.
An audience member asked, “Now that I have a role in a leadership position, how do I make my voice heard and not that of an angry black woman?” Gethers-Clark answered that while some perceptions are made before you walk through the door, you must observe the boardroom culture, ask good questions and listen.
“I listen twice as much as I talk because I have two ears and one mouth,” she said.
Sponsorship and Empowerment
Gethers-Clark stressed the need to represent people all the time, not just when they’re in front of you, and that women especially need to speak highly of each other all the time. Leadership and authority are meant to build people up, not tear people down. If someone is not doing a good job, you have to tell her in order to empower her to do better.
“You can either be a producer of energy or suck energy,” she said. “Choose to produce.”
