THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
When did you realize you were a leader?
Impact Beyond Hierarchy & Power

When did you realize you were a leader? Was it on the elementary school playground, when you noticed you were the one who always organized the kickball teams? Was it in high school, when you were elected president of the student council? Or did the realization came later, perhaps after you successfully managed a big project at work or watched a person in your sphere of influence growing and thriving under your direction?

For several executives who participated in a recent forum sponsored by the Women's Task Force at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, the answer to this question was as varied as the panelists themselves.

Dorrit Bern, the chairman, CEO, and president of a clothing retailer for plus-sized women, knew very early in life that she was a leader. "I am one of those risk-takers," she said in an article published in Knowledge@Wharton, the business school's biweekly e-zine. "I am aggressive. I am that little girl on the block who is captain of the boys' baseball team ...I was really, really able."

Rosemarie Greco, director of health care reform for Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, doesn't remember the first time she said, "I am a good leader," but she does remember when she realized she was a good teacher. "The qualities that make a good, effective teacher are the qualities that make a good, effective leader," she said.

For Carol Ammon, founder and head of a pharmaceutical firm that specializes in chronic pain medications, the moment of truth came well into her career, when she was taking an advanced management course at Harvard. "I realized that when I opened my mouth, people listened," she said. "People wanted to hear what I had to say."

Source: May 2, 3004 Issue Leadership@wharton. For more information Click Here