Speaker: So how has leadership helped me? I think the probably biggest effect of different leaders has been getting to see what worked and what didn’t work. Then, maybe this is the way we learn from infancy, to a degree, but seeing and then trying it, role modeling it and emulating what you see someone do, or the opposite of that: if you see something that you think is really dumb, to avoid it. I’ve learned a great deal from poor leaders in terms of things to avoid, so having a poor leader is not the best thing, but it’s not all bad in terms of learning what to avoid, so the influence of leaders on me has been role models, and then try it, and I have had some just terrific opportunities to see different leaders and to emulate some of the things that they have done. So, a great opportunity to learn from others.

Dr. Reimann: Marie?

Speaker: The picture, and I tend to be a visual person, that comes to mind with me, and this dates back, I started my career in the apparel industry, and it was entry level kind of thing, and ultimately I was VP and general manager of a women’s apparel firm, so from womb to tomb. So for my career, for the most part, I was first, the token woman, so I worked my way through the process at a time where women were expected . . . and legitimate questions were “are you going to have any babies”, or “well what are you going to do?”. And so, its to learn how to act like a leader, which is an issue, but the president of our organization, I went to him and I asked for help as a leader because I was having some resistance with diversity of age workforce, whether it was on the shipping floor or on the manufacturing floor, and he said “I’m not going to help you, I am going to give you the opportunity to take care of this yourself, but I am going to walk across the factory floor with you, just walk across the factory floor with you”, which was a model issue that says this person has credibility to do their job, and that was a good lesson learned.

Dr. Reimann: Jessie?

Speaker: One of the things that comes to my mind in answering this question is the term respect. I think I have learned an awful lot from some of the leaders, both in my company and some of the others I have dealt with in other organizations, seeing their respect for the people that they work with, and the respect that they gain from that. That so me has been a big factor too.