Recently I had the opportunity to hear Carey Lohrenz speak. If you were like me, going into that event, I had no idea who this woman was. What I found out was that she was the first female F-14 tomcat pilot and author of the book “Fearless Leadership”. What I learned is something that resonated so deeply with me.
As you can imagine, being the first female tomcat pilot was not without its challenges. Carey speaks a lot about the path that got her to that point, but the thing that resonated most with me is that she shares the story where she gets called to her commander’s office. He explains that currently as the legislation was women could not be tomcat pilots. So, Carey, who was at the top of her class could either leave the navy, or take a desk job. This is the key point, because I began to think about what I would have done. You have two options given, neither are ideal. Neither feel authentic to who you are. How many of us at that point would have walked away? How many of us would have said well, I guess I tried, onto the next thing. But that’s not what Carey did. She decided after a few moments of thinking to go back to her commander’s office and went in and said, “Neither of those options work, we need to come up with a third option.” And then she left. Two things about this. First, Carey did not look at the two options as set in stone. She did not think that either of the two options were authentic who she was. She did not accept that there wasn’t a way forward. Second, she was brave for literally five minutes and then walked away.
When we talk about leadership, we have this vision of a person who is always brave, always stepping into the hard stuff and never backing down. But leadership and bravery are proven in small bursts of very specific times. After that is a consistent act of showing up as yourself, day in and day out. What Carey shared wasn’t earth shattering. It wasn’t that I hadn’t heard that before. But I think when we look at this time of our world, where businesses are facing labor struggles each day. Where communities are feeling the polarization. Where nonprofits are struggling to garner support, How are we showing up? How are we being brave and stepping into the mix, even for five minutes? Your bravery and leadership are needed now. Our communities need people willing to step up.
This Month we also have some exciting things on deck
November 1st – Keep the Cheer Here Bingo begins! Go to First National Bank, Glenwood State Bank, or Malvern Bank to pick up your bingo card.
November 10th- Customer Service Lunch and Learn at noon at the Glenwood City Hall. Grab your lunch and come and learn and get a certificate.
November 11th- Business and Brews @Loess Hills Harley Davidson at 5:30pm.
November 17th- if you own a restaurant or food business join us at 8am for the first Restaurant Round table.