The MSE Symposium hosted their second speaker of the year, Gail McGovern, last night. McGovern is the CEO of the American Red Cross and is an alumna of Hopkins. Her speech revolved around lessons she has learned throughout her long and impressive career.
There are particular things that McGovern said she wished she had known after graduating with a BA in quantitative science in 1974. Her objective was to elucidate this advice onto the student body.
First, she stressed the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone.
"If you are not uncomfortable, you are not learning," McGovern said to the audience in Shriver Hall.
As a supervisor of several programmers at AT&T, she quickly realized that she had little or no control over her staff and was overwhelmed by the arduous work she was doing by herself. Things "clicked" when she learned how to successfully delegate her various responsibilities to her staff. She attributes much of her current success to her ability to govern teams.
McGovern made a point of connecting all of her lessons back to the students. As an alumna, a parent of a current student and a member of the board of trustees, McGovern feels a deep connection and passion for the university.
She encouraged students to try things with which they are not familiar. She believes that a Hopkins student often has a predilection to want to be the smartest person in the room.
It is better, in her opinion, to be the least knowledgeable person in a room because that is how one learns.
Resilience was another theme of the lecture. McGovern emphasized the importance of persevering and shaking off mistakes as quickly as possible.
Those who are in leadership positions are looked upon to make decisions and it is the responsibility, she believes, of a leader to convey confidence. However, it is paramount that leaders admit when they have made a mistake.
"You are allowed to change your mind, it's how quickly you can change course that defines your success," McGovern said.
McGovern commented that the political polarization in Washington is detrimental to progress and that leaders in DC need to learn how to collaborate by sometimes changing their course.
The Red Cross CEO touched upon the subject of a balanced life. She posed the question: can one have it all? Can a woman, in particular, have a demanding career at the same time as raising a family?
"You can't have it all, but if you prioritize, you can have 90% of it," she said.
Student response to the personal approach of the speech was largely positive.
"It was very interesting to hear from a female speaker who struggles with balancing family life and professional life," freshman Aleksandra Olekhnovich said. "I have always wanted to be a doctor, but McGovern has inspired me to consider other career paths as well. Maybe I will look at business school instead."
The final piece of advice McGovern had was that the right answers come from the least likely places.
McGovern pointed out that her best programmer at AT&T was a history major and her best student in marketing at Harvard Business School was someone who had specialized in finance.
"Leaders who surround themselves with likeminded individuals usually all agree and then they all walk off a cliff together," she said.
The theme of this year's MSE speaker series is how to catapult America forward. McGovern was not shy to admit that discussing such a topic was a formidable task. In her opinion, the best way to guide the student body was to personalize specific advice that would be helpful in the future.
"McGovern fit perfectly into this year's theme because her challenging experience at the Red Cross is emblematic of the struggle America is going through now," senior Johnathan Kornblau, the programing chair for the MSE symposium, said.
McGovern has had an eventful life to say the least. McGovern was executive vice president of the consumer markets division at AT&T, president of distribution and services at Fidelity Investments and in 2001 was named one of the top 50 most powerful women in corporate America by fortune magazine.
"I feel like I have been training for this job [CEO of American Red Cross] my entire life" she said of her transition from the public to the philanthropic sector.
One student, Ryan Bender, was particularly impressed by the two different lives McGovern has led. "It was informative and interesting to see the bridge between the private and public sector and to see the successful path of an accomplished woman."
However, she believes that her work as a professor at Harvard Business School, between her corporate and philanthropic lives, was the time period in which she realized she wanted to serve a greater purpose.
McGovern says she has learned three things since joining the Red Cross: First, it has restored her faith in the human race, citing the mind boggling kindness of the American public. Second, one can always try to reinvent oneself. Lastly, she truly appreciates what a privilege it is to live in the United States.
This final realization came when doctors spotted breast cancer in McGovern for the second time in her life. The diagnosis came right after the earthquake in Haiti. McGovern had a team of eight doctors working for her between Mass Medical in Boston and Johns Hopkins Hospital.
She was flabbergasted by the dilapidated condition of the Haitian people and considered her personal obstacle to be minuscule in comparison to the struggle of the Haitian people.
"I can't complain one second about my breast cancer," she said.
Her final words sum up McGovern's commitment to her work and her belief in the future of our nation.
"Even though things look hopeless out there, it is nothing but hopeful. And you are going to be the generation that will catapult us forward."
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