Lessons from Leaders Volume 1

Practical Lessons for a Lifetime of Leadership

Marshall Goldsmith, Sam K. Shriver, Kathy McDermott

• Publisher: Leadership Studies, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9780931619144
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

Everything a leader does matters. Anyone who has ever experienced the impact of poor leadership understands the significance of effective leadership. When a leader is doing the right things, we may not recognize every action or characteristic as "leadership" in the moment, but we can feel it. So how do we model that behavior?

The authors of Lessons from Leaders distill decades of experience from fifteen remarkable leaders into a collection of entertaining stories that will inspire and guide readers to transform the way they lead. Not based on one voice or perspective, this book features a diverse spectrum of leaders from all walks of life. Some are more recognizable than others, but their lessons are uniquely relatable and compelling.

The candid and illuminating accounts of each leader's vastly different personal leadership journey-the people and experiences that shaped their beliefs, practices, and priorities-reveal the essential skills and characteristics that define extraordinary leadership.

Lessons from Leaders is not steeped in theory or complexity but is grounded in personal truths that paint a consistent picture of who a leader is and what a leader does. Each chapter includes an actionable Leadership Lesson that outlines steps the reader can take to reflect and apply meaningful insights.

Not a book that will be read once and put on the shelf, leaders at every level will want to highlight enduring takeaways, make notes in the margins, and use Lessons from Leaders as a compass to guide their journey to becoming an extraordinary leader.

Sheila Simon

Author Introduction

For some strange reason, when you do a little digging into Sheila Simon’s background, a classic scene from the movie My Cousin Vinny comes to mind. It’s the courtroom scene toward the end of the film where Vinny Gambini (Joe Pesci) calls his girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei), to testify as an expert automotive witness in a murder trial. The prosecutor is skeptical and asks Ms. Vito to explain the nature of her qualifications. Ms. Vito explains:

• her father was a mechanic.
• her uncles were mechanics.
• her brothers are mechanics.

And, as such, she grew up in a repair shop performing any number of engine-related procedures herself, because that’s what her family did! When the prosecutor is finally convinced her experience meets the necessary requirements, she is permitted to testify and justice winds up being served in a highly entertaining manner!

Along similar lines there is very little doubt that Simon’s upbringing qualifies her as an expert in the realm of American politics. Her mother, Jeanne Hurley Simon, and father, Paul Simon, were members of the Illinois House of Representatives. Paul Simon went on to serve as the lieutenant governor of Illinois, a member of the United States House of Representatives (1975-85), the United States Senate (1985-97), and ran for president in 1988. In a very real, hands-on manner, Simon grew up immersed in American politics very much aware of what leaders did and how they went about doing it!

Given those givens it should surprise absolutely no one that Simon followed in her parents’ footsteps after graduating from law school at Georgetown. She was a member of llinois’ Carbondale City Council, an assistant state’s attorney, and the forty-sixth lieutenant governor of Illinois. Her political career has known both victory and defeat. She could best be described as a person who won with inspirational grace and lost with unifying dignity. In that regard, it should come as no surprise that Simon views any experience—win or lose—as an opportunity to learn something important!

When she first became lieutenant governor, Simon was immediately tasked with the responsibility to hire her staff. After what seemed like careful deliberation, she made her choices. With the best of intentions, a member of her inner circle pointed out that there were a significant number of women on the team, and there could well be unintended political consequences as a result.

Simon considered the observation, examined the gender makeup of her colleagues’ staff, mostly men, and concluded that since her staff had, indeed, been chosen on merit, that was the last thing she needed to be worrying about!

When she isn’t holding office, she is an associate law professor at Southern Illinois University and is frequently described as “uber smart.” When she enters a room, her brain comes in first and everything else just sort of follows! Right alongside all of that, she is patient, and caring, and literally infused with humility. Not the self-deprecating kind, but the kind that recognizes the importance of every person and every perspective, whether she happens to agree with it or not.

Simon recognizes the great strides that women in leadership have made during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. She also recognizes that there is much more work to be done for the nuances of female leadership—whether in politics or business—to become fully appreciated.

—————

“Leaders help

people learn.”

– Sheila Simon

Just Keep Pushing

Sheila Simon

Passion for the Positive

A civil servant is driven by a passion and interest in helping others and making a positive impact on their community. Sheila Simon, former lieutenant governor of Illinois, has dedicated her professional life to serving and educating others.

From being an attorney and associate law professor to serving as a city council member and a lieutenant governor, Simon enjoys engaging with the public to influence change. While Simon now boasts an impressive resume of leadership positions, her political career emerged with limited fanfare given her heritage.

Passion and Politics

As the daughter of former U.S. Senator Paul Simon and former Illinois State Representative Jeanne Hurley Simon, Sheila Simon learned about leadership from her parents. In particular, she recalls asking her mother how she decided to vote on matters. Her mother explained that connecting with like-minded and trustworthy people who share similar values was one of her best resources for making tough decisions. In fact, that alignment around key issues led her mother to meet her father.

Growing up with this leadership influence, Simon naturally gravitated toward leadership roles throughout her life. As president of the student government at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, Simon led a charge to require foreign language study. Up to that point, it had been optional, but the students thought it would add to the value of their degrees if every Wittenberg graduate had a foreign language background.

Simon went on to assume more serious leadership roles on the Carbondale City Council—which was not a position she intentionally targeted. It was a neighbor who informed her that the city was expanding the size of its city council and encouraged her to get involved. This intrigued Simon so she decided to run for city council.

Serving as a council member for four years, Simon focused her efforts on getting more people engaged in local government and informing the public of their service projects. During this time, Simon was not fond of the way the mayor was running the city and took a big leap and decided to run. While the election resulted in a loss for Simon, she was not discouraged—she relished in the impact of her campaign and found enjoyment in the effort she and her team put forth.

In 2010, Simon’s political career took an unexpected turn when she became the lieutenant governor of Illinois. During the Democratic primary, Scott Lee Cohen secured the win. Just five days after the election, he withdrew amid controversy in his personal life that was brought to light from the media. This left the Democratic party scrambling to replace him on the election ballot. Acknowledging that everyone on the statewide ticket was from Cook County, the county where Chicago is located, the party members thought it would be advantageous to pick someone from southern Illinois.

Simon, located in southern Illinois, emerged as a possible contender through her work with the city council. The selection process required her to give speeches before the panel of party leaders and at the statewide meeting. She was eventually selected by the party as Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s running mate in the general election. The duo secured the win and Simon went on to serve as lieutenant governor for the next four years.

Lessons Learned

A leader is not necessarily the loudest person in the room or the most senior member of staff. A leader identifies herself as the person who imparts knowledge or encourages others who may need help. “Leaders help people learn,” says Simon, “they nudge rather than drag people to places they otherwise would not have gone.”

Simon learned the importance of taking the time to share knowledge from her close friend Dawn Clark Netsch, the first woman elected as the comptroller of Illinois. Netsch was also in the running for governor against Governor Jim Edgar, which made her the first woman to receive a major-party nomination for governor.

During a press conference, Simon recalls a moment that still ...

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Frances Hesselbein
• Nancy Singer
• Patrick Stokes
• Jim Yong Kim
• Alan Mulally
• Madeleine Dean
• Justin Morgan
• Daryl Davis
• Ann Herrmann-Nehdi
• Brett Williams
• Jim Duncan
• Clarissa Etter-Smith
• David Brennan
• Sheila Simon
• Pat Summitt
• Conclusion
• The Authors