Carly Fiorina

Secretary to CEO: A Story of True Leadership

Solving problems, effectively empowering employees, and driving results are not easy tasks, but they are required of leaders. As CEO of the world’s first $100 billion information technology company, Carly Fiorina is all too familiar with the complex, difficult path of leadership – and the far-reaching strategic decisions that must be made with finesses and fortitude. She has grappled with many of these same tensions and faced these same challenges. A passionate leader who made tough choices to grow her organizations, Carly delivers a powerful, pragmatic presentation on how leaders can be clear-eyed about their current state, optimistic about their future, and deliberate about getting the results they want. Carly began her business career as a secretary and ultimately became the first woman to lead a FORTUNE 50 company, as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard. She made this journey by solving the problems in front of her and unlocking the potential of those around her. She passionately believes that leaders are made, not born, and that leadership potential exists at every level of every organization. “Anyone can lead, at any time, from anywhere. Leadership is not about title, position, or power. It is about making a positive difference.”

Building a High Performance Culture

As the CEO of HP, Carly Fiorina tackled issues of strategic focus, product innovation, and mergers and integration – all during the dot.com boom and bust and the worst technology recession in 25 years. She recognized that, if the company was going to survive, she had to transform the complacent culture at HP into a dynamic, innovative environment that would allow the company to become the industry leader. This successful transformation was driven by Carly’s solid management philosophy, commitment to building a diverse team, and a set of proven tools and practices.

Unlocking Potential: Building Leaders at Every Level

Carly has spent her life building leaders and problem-solvers in nearly every context, including for-profits, non-profits, faith-based-communities, and academia. As the CEO of Hewlett Packard, the chair of two internationally-recognized non-profits, and a trusted advisor of executives around the world, she has inspired and empowered diverse groups for decades. She recognizes that leadership is not about how impressive your title is or how big your office is – but how you effectively solve problems and unlock the potential of those around you. Today’s workforce is increasingly interested in accessing regular growth and development through their professional communities, and companies in every industry are continuing to explore how to meet those demands. Carly delivers a powerful presentation that inspires, empowers, and connects employees at every level. She introduces her proven leadership philosophy, which is based on a set of human behaviors and characteristics of leadership (traits that everyone can develop and deploy), as well as a set of practical, accessible tools that enable effective problem-solving.

Diversity in Today’s Workplace: More than a Nice-to-Have; It’s a Must-Have

Today, more than ever, a successful workplace must be comprised of teams with innovative, diverse perspectives who are empowered to solve their sector’s most challenging problems. Ethnically diverse organizations are 35% more likely to outperform their peers, and companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians. But, traditional diversity training is unlikely to foster such a productive environment; instead, effective team building requires an innovative approach based on real-world experience. During her long career, Carly Fiorina shattered the glass ceiling by cultivating diverse teams, from top to bottom. She achieved success and solved the critical problems directly ahead of her only by surrounding herself with a myriad of perspectives and empowering her diverse teams to drive real change. Carly’s commanding presentation on diversity is built on her direct experience and personal knowledge that, to grow, learn, and solve tough problems, you must invite new perspectives to the table. Diversity is absolutely a must-have for your bottom line, and you have to role model that belief for your team: you must hold yourself and your team to a higher standard, and you must be challenged.

Learning from Our Past: Linking History to Today

History can and should be strategically leveraged to help us navigate today’s extremely turbulent times. Instead, too often, we romanticize history, confusing nostalgia for the real thing. Or, we compartmentalize the past and focus only on those aspects that serve a particular rhetorical or political purpose. Sometimes, we even place historic figures on a lofty pedestal that renders them both un-human and un-real, and we cannot expect to emulate what is out of reach. But, when we combine knowledge and experience about what works in the real world with the principles and ideals upon which our country was founded, then change is possible. This interplay between practicality and ideals is America’s story; practicality and idealism are our gifts to the world. It’s imperative that we distill practical, real-world fundamentals from our founding ideals of the past, and apply to our present. With her deep understanding of history, Carly Fiorina offers an insightful assessment of how to, and what we can learn from, our past. She connects historic events and figures to the current complex issues confronting both our nation and the world. This speaking platform is exhibited in her keynote address for the American Evolution Forum that commemorated the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English colony in North America.

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