Colleen Moorehead - The Collective Wisdom of High-Performing Women: Leadership Lessons from The Judy Project

Copyright Colleen Moorehead, 2019

Foreword copyright The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau,
Prime Minister of Canada, 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written consent of the publisher.

Note: The contributors have provided their business titles and, to the best of our knowledge, they were accurate as of February 1, 2019.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication data available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-988025-38-4 (hardcover)

Printed in Canada
3 4 5 6

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If you can see one, you can be one.

Foreword

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Gender equality benefits all of us. When women have the opportunities they need to pursue their highest ambitions and the resources and support to get there they grow our economy, strengthen our communities, and blaze a trail for others to join them. And whether its business or government or community leadership, we are better off when everyone, no matter their gender identity, has an equal hand in shaping our society.

Today, were closer than ever to that reality and the credit lies with generations of activists who have pushed for change, stood up for womens rights, and opened the door for women to access the highest opportunities. Thanks to their vision and their tenacity weve come a long way toward a gender-equal Canada. The stories in this collection are part of that history, and the leaders featured here are paying it forward, sharing their insight on rising in the business world as a woman. Being a leader means bringing out the leadership in others, and making sure theres not just a seat at the table, but a spot at the microphone, for those whose voices are all too often ignored. Because without that diversity of perspectives, expertise, and insight, well never move forward as fast or go as far.

Diversity has always been our strength as a country, and that knowledge has deeply shaped me on a personal level, influencing my roles as a leader, a dad, and a human being. Gender equality is a major piece of that, and anytime I get the chance to talk about it, I will, whether thats with international leaders, in a town hall with Canadians, or at home with my daughter and two sons. Its also been one of our top priorities as a government, and we took a strong stance from the start by naming a gender-balanced Cabinet the first in Canadas history.

That unprecedented step has set the tone for our government and enriched both the policies we build and the way we do politics. From day one, weve brought a gender equality lens across our legislation, and thats driven groundbreaking progress from introducing pay equity legislation, to creating a national strategy to prevent and eliminate gender-based violence, to supporting women entrepreneurs, to applying a gender equality lens to the federal budget for the first time. Canada is championing womens rights and gender equality on the world stage through our Feminist International Assistance Policy, and in 2018, we made gender equality the guiding theme of our G7 presidency, which led to a historic investment in education for the worlds most vulnerable women and girls.

Measures like these are making a concrete difference in the lives of women and girls the world over and growing the next generation of women leaders. But our work is not done. In Canada and around the world, we have a long way to go to make sure women and gender-diverse people have the same opportunities, the same support, and the same shot at success as men and boys. And that also means continuing to address the gaping disparities among women. Indigenous women, women of colour, trans women, queer women and non-binary folks, women with disabilities, migrant and refugee women, and others face unequal barriers from a lack of opportunities and resources, to increased risk of violence, to discrimination and disrespect. To move forward together, we need to make sure the rights of the most vulnerable women are fully protected, and their voices fully heard.

Better is always possible and the stories captured here hold wisdom and experiences that others can draw on in striving for change. Canada is making important strides toward a future where shared prosperity is a reality, and everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed. But to go the distance and stay the course, we need everyones voice in these critical conversations that shape who we are, and who were becoming. That means more women leaders need to be at the helm in every sector and industry. And all of us can be part of making that a reality.

Introduction

Colleen Moorehead

Storytelling has long been used to pass wisdom forward from one generation to the next. And many of the storytellers are women with children by the fire, in their beds, on their mothers knee. This book is about storytelling. Its about paying collective wisdom forward from one generation of female business leaders to tomorrows in order to sustain the societal change finally occurring in the workforce. It is written with optimism, and with the conviction that our future leaders men and women will value gender equality equally.

This is a leadership book full of stories by women who, during their careers, have truly lived the qualities of leadership that match their values. Its not meant to be corporate speak from a podium, but lessons learned about 10 values-based traits that truly matter. These crucial traits arent textbook leadership qualities; rather, they reflect a more holistic concept of leadership: Courage, Honesty, Connection, Compassion, Energy, Lifelong Learning, Tenacity, Reinvention, Generosity, and Authenticity.

In these pages are the voices of women who have been part of a 16-year-old leadership program called The Judy Project. The program was named after a phenomenal business leader and friend of mine, Judy Elder, who died suddenly at age 47 of a blood disorder. She inspired many male and female colleagues; she was that rare sort of person who could create energy in a room. And she has inspired countless other people since, thanks to a powerful 2002 speech she gave about women and ambition. It went viral, and youll see why when you read it.

I was there. That day, in that speech, Judy defined an inclusive kind of ambition one that, instead of representing greed and self-promotion, reflected a broader, more noble approach: ambition for her company, her leaders, her team and, yes, as an outcome for herself. So compelling was her articulation of a generous, collective, female ambition that when she died three weeks after giving that speech, a number of us were inspired to create a leadership program named after her, lest this new definition of collective ambition be forgotten.