Shattering the Conventional Wisdom of Leadership

Conventional Wisdom:

Leaders are imposing, often tall, good looking, power dressers, photogenic, loud and brash. They own the room. If they come from adversity, they’ve pulled themselves up, attended the right schools, had great mentors and boosters. And, as the narrative often goes, they were spotted, “discovered.” Their leadership abilities and potential were obvious to the right people, and it was only a matter of clearing the path. But let me not neglect our current era’s extra conditional need—Social Media Power Users.

To that end, I want to share with you one of the greatest, most impressive, real leaders I have ever met:

• She is an incredible athlete—has completed 26 marathons and finished in Boston in the top 100 women runners (3:03), has a fourth degree black belt in karate, and trains in ten different sports including skiing, soccer and golf; Is an ESPY Award winner, an Arthur Ashe Award for Courage winner, and is in the Women in Sports Hall of Fame.
• She has received two honorary doctorate degrees—one from Quinnipiac University and the other from Villanova.
• She is a sought-after public speaker who has introduced and shared the stage with Presidents and multiple world leaders and has appeared numerous times on “Oprah.
• She communicates in 4 languages and is fluent in American sign language.
• Disney made a movie about her.
• A medical and educational building was named in her honor in her hometown.
• Her videos on women’s empowerment are nothing short of inspirational and extraordinary.
• She is Chief Inspiration Officer and Vice Chair of the International Board where she works.

...And she is a part of a famous portrait in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC.

Shattering Conventional Wisdom:

Loretta Claiborne was written off by most at a very young age. She was born partially blind, with an intellectual disability and clubbed feet. Despite operations to correct her vision and feet, she didn’t walk until she was four and didn’t speak until she was seven.

She was the fourth of eight children, and her single mother refused to institutionalize Loretta despite the advice and pressure from doctors, social workers and her school, choosing instead to raise her at home along with her siblings.

As she grew, running became her passion and a way to compete on what you would think was a level playing field, and as good as she was—as good as “them”—there was no real inclusion. That is until she turned 17, at which point a school counselor pointed her in the direction of the newly formed Special Olympics. She earned her first medal in 1970.

The rest, as they say, is history, and today, as I have already shared with you, Loretta is a world-class athlete and her place of work is the Special Olympics—a platform from which she inspires thousands of aspiring young people with a special emphasis on women and children with intellectual and other disabilities.

Every time I am with Loretta (I am a member of the U.S. Board), I am not just inspired, but awed by her ability to own a room. The ease with which she makes people listen to her, the clarity of her message and the power of her presence never cease to amaze me and everyone else who has had the privilege of hearing her speak. I am also humbled, and beyond, as I contemplate the fact that we are only 14 days apart in age, yet what she has accomplished in her life are things that few can achieve in an entire lifetime.

Full of humility, with no sense of entitlement, Loretta lives her life in beta, demonstrating her unmatched strength and confidence with a mere whisper. She embodies the characteristics of what make a true leader.

Now hear Loretta’s own words and feel real and impactful leadership…listen:

“I didn’t always have friends so I am careful to take care of them”

Dear readers: if that is not a lesson for our times, I don’t know what is.

So I add to my personal checklist of good leadership: leaders take care of their friends, because true leaders are humble and care.

What do you think?