Lessons in Leadership with Nancy McGaw
Nancy McGaw served the Aspen Institute Business & Society Program as Deputy Director for more than 20 years. In that time, she created the Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship, which equips corporate intrapreneurs with the courage and conviction to lead strategic change within their organizations. Her book, Making Work Matter, weaves together the stories of First Mover Fellows with practical tools and proven insights to help corporate changemakers create pathways for change.
As Nancy transitions to the next stage of her career as a writer and thought leader, she reflects on the lessons in leadership she learned during her tenure with the Business & Society Program.
What early professional experience shaped your approach to leadership?
There are two that come to mind. When I was a banker, I worked closely with two senior, highly accomplished managers. One rarely emerged from his office. The other walked the floor frequently, stopping by our desks to check in. He was authentic, focused, and thoughtful, with a great sense of humor. He always wanted to hear what others had to say. I knew then I wanted to be the kind of leader who shows up and listens.
Another influential experience came later when I joined the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program. I had responsibility for convening leadership development experts to share their insights on how to develop business leaders who are committed to achieving results that serve both the company and society. I learned so much from these dialogues, but one lesson stands out. In developing this kind of leader, it’s not as important to focus on convincing them they should act in ways that create long-term value for business and society as it is to help them realize that they can. Leadership development at its best ignites imaginations about what is possible and shows leaders they have more choices than they may realize. For example, they can listen, or they can talk. They can choose to assert, or they can choose to inquire. They can choose to make time for reflection. They can make decisions that benefit the short-term or the long. These insights about the reality of choice have had a lasting impact on my work.
What professional advice do you wish you’d received earlier in your career?
Spend more time focusing on questions, not on trying to have all the answers.
After graduate school I was offered a job in banking even though I wasn’t formally trained in finance. I was sort of an “accidental” banker so I always felt that I had to catch up, to demonstrate my expertise. But what I’ve learned since is that discovery is at least as important as mastery. I wish I’d known that to prepare for a meeting, it’s probably more helpful to craft the questions that you really want to know the answer to than to come into the meeting with a list of talking points. That change in thinking has had a profound impact on my approach to leadership. If I had realized earlier how powerful questions are—that they can ignite imaginations, prompt reflection and generate energy for collective problem solving—I would have been better at whatever I did.
What, in your experience, makes it possible for a person to lead with courage and conviction?
Here are three suggestions:
Aim for a small win. When you’re trying to do work on such gigantic challenges as climate change, income inequality, or a deterioration of trust, you can become overwhelmed by the problem itself. Find one small piece of that big problem and go for a win. Win or lose, learn from the experience and move on to the next impact you could bring to life. If you look at these small victories with a strategic eye, you can begin to see how one small win sets you up for the next. Connecting small wins across time allows you to make some important changes, even if each one seems small in comparison with the enormity of the problem.
Become an expert collaborator. The successful corporate social intrapreneurs I have worked with are not “lone wolves,” as some may think. They are expert collaborative problem solvers. They embrace curiosity and see themselves as catalysts. They have a vision for what is possible to change, but they eagerly engage with others who bring complementary and diverse expertise to create a plan for realizing that vision.
Take time to reflect. Routinely setting aside time to consider what matters deeply to you and whether you are thinking and acting in ways consistent with your aspirations is essential for getting the results you seek. I think of reflection as “fuel” for a purpose-driven journey.
Looking back on the last 25 years, what was a highlight of the impact you’ve had in your career?
The Aspen Institute First Movers Fellowship Program, which I founded in 2009, has been the cornerstone of my career. Each year this program brings together a carefully selected cohort of corporate social intrapreneurs—innovators within large companies—who are imagining new ways of creating value both for the company and for society. In this Fellowship, we help Fellows learn to influence change without having the explicit authority to do it, and how to connect their own personal purpose and their business expertise and imagine new possibilities for value creation and positive impact. We seek to create an experience that will have a lasting impact on Fellows’ careers and their personal lives and on the companies they work for.
We believe that when more leaders work in this way, it enables the business sector to become a partner in solving some of society’s most complex problems and to thrive in the long-term. First Mover Fellows demonstrate pathways for making this kind of positive change possible.
How has your Aspen experience shaped your view of the world?
The Aspen Institute’s 75 year-long commitment to dialogue has been hugely influential. It has taught me that being in dialogue with an expert facilitator helps us learn more about ourselves and others and wrestle with deep conflicts and complexity. In these dialogues, readings from ancient and contemporary scholars, philosophers, and activists serve as the springboard for discussion. Listening to others and articulating our own points of view helps us clarify our values and appreciate the values others bring to the conversation. We are changed by the experience.
I will say, too, that being at the Aspen Institute gave me leeway to incorporate poetry into our seminars for First Mover Fellows. It is now a signature feature of the program.
Poetry calls on us to take a fresh look at the world. It offers lyrical language that challenges us. Poems, with their multiple meanings, invite us to confront ambiguity, as we must do in our personal and professional lives. Discussions about poems help us get comfortable with taking in different perspectives. I do have to say that the first time we introduce a poem into a seminar for business people, some participants are impatient, wondering, “When do we get to the real stuff?” That view changes as the conversation unfolds. Years later, when you talk to the First Mover Fellows who’ve been in these poetry-centered discussions, they reflect on how much it meant to them. And the Fellows have established a practice of sharing poems amongst themselves and offering reflection questions for readers to consider.
What do you do to stay grounded?
I’m a reader. I don’t just read to escape, although I do that a lot, too. But I read because I’m curious and I’m dazzled by the capabilities of superb writers to help us make sense of the world. In these times when life can seem so chaotic and uncertain and filled with one crisis after another, reading can put these times into a longer-term perspective. I’m always grateful for the fact that I said yes to an invitation 35 years ago to join a book group that is still flourishing. In this community of readers, I’ve been introduced to fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and biographies that I would not have encountered if I hadn’t been in this group. I recommend books clubs to everyone!
