Highlights8


See Jane Win

OPPORTUNITIES SPRING FROM OBSTACLES

The most important thing that anybody can bring to leadership is a positive attitude. If you’re forward-thinking and have a positive attitude, you see barriers as challenges, not as reasons to give up.
Wilma Mankiller, Principal Chief
Cherokee Nation (1985-1995)

I received a C in my physical chemistry class. I had done well on the quizzes and exams. I was the only black person in the class. I had sat in front of the professor four days a week in the same place, yet on my grade sheet, he’d indicated I hadn’t come to class. I brought in my exams, assignments, and quizzes and showed him my average. He refused to change my grade. I knew I was getting a C for "Colored," and I at least wanted a B for "Black." Shortly after this incident, I went upto the stacks of the library and cried. I felt like dropping out of school. As I sat, a book fell out of the stacks and hit me on the top of the head. I picked it up; it was Up from Slavery, Booker T. Washington’s autobiography. I read the book again, and got to the point where Booker T. walked from Richmond to Hampton so he could learn to read. I started thinking, "What’s wrong with me? If Booker T.can do it, I can too." After that, I never earned anything less than a B in any class besides that chemistry class.
Camellia Okpodu, Ph.D.,
Plant Physiologist; Associate Professor

crying girl (6758 bytes)

Life is hard and fraught with all kinds of opportunities to feel discouraged. One of my kids, who has a small role in the school play, said, "But you don’t know what it’s like to try to achieve something and then fail." I was stunned that he thought I didn’t know that, that I didn’t approach my work every day fearfully. I’ve had tons of experiences with failure, but I try hard not to let them count. It’s like climbing a mountain. Sometimes all that’s available to you is to hold on to the hooks. You can’t go back down, but you have enough hooks to relax, and you can just put your face against the mountain and hold on until you have the strength to proceed. There have been plenty of times in my life when that’s all I’ve been able to do until I gather enough courage to take the next step.
Jacquelyn Mitchard, Journalist
Author of New York Times Best Seller,
The Deep End of the Ocean

The successful women in our survey overcame many obstacles. They struggled with poverty, health problems, social problems, learning difficulties, or racial, religious, or economic prejudice. Many hit walls at various times in their lives when they needed to change directions or take time out. Some were plagued with depression and anxiety, and many lost confidence in their abilities from time to time. They usually responded to those barriers by persevering through them or by changing direction in their personal lives or careers.

PREPARE TO BE CHALLENGED AND
GET SUPPORT TO DEFEAT OBSTACLES

Your pathway to success is likely to be indirect. At some point, you’ll face lessons that will seem impossible to learn, challenges that will feel insurmountable, closed doors that you will be unable to open. Determining whether you should persevere, get help, or change directions will be the test of your resilience. Try to get siblings, other family members, or friends to support you, or seek out professional help to guide you. You may have to change your goals, and you may even have to come to terms with real limitations in your abilities, but determination and effort can help you achieve much more than you first believed.

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