Stanford Women in Business co-sponsored the DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar featuring Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP.
Ms. Fiorina graduated from Stanford with a degree in Medieval History & Philosophy, briefly attended Stanford Law School, accepted an entry level position as a secretary, and finally rose through the ranks to become CEO of the company many associate with the birth of Silicon Valley, HP. She provided wisdom and insight from her experiences on the topics of choices & change, leadership, and ethics.
Her studies at Stanford, at first glance irrelevant to a career in business, taught her how to handle overwhelming amounts of info - with assignments to "distill thousands of pages of information" into a concise, 2 page idea....
Ms. Fiorina reflected on her own career path and offered advice to not think about your next job but to focus all your energy into the here and now. She emphasized to not see the limitations in a job or position but the possibilities.
On Change
Ms. Fiorina spoke of the fear of change as a fear of leaving the status quo. She argued that everyone is afriad, but what you do with your fear is what separates the successful from the less successful. It is not merely a "survival of the fittest" but rather a survival of those most adapted to change. She cited HP as a company that, when she first joined, was relying too much on its history and not focusing on innovation. Change is a choice - HP came back because they made a choice to lead again, to be a technology innovator.
On Leadership
Ms. Fiorina defined leadership as a choice to make a positive difference and the ability to see possibilities in others and help them to seize those possibilities. She cited Machiavelli that being a leader, undertaking change of order, is one of the most difficult tasks for any single person. Leadership, Fiorina was careful to differentiate, is not management, nor is it always popular. A leader must infuse the power, vision, force, and energy to combat the fear of change and leaving the status quo.
A leader must also recognize that the best team is a diverse team. When a leader makes a decision, she must draw from a diverse group and examine all opinions. The most monumental problems will only be solved through collaboration. It is necessary to tap the valuable resources of diversity, the different points of view.
On Ethics & Character
Ms. Fiorina spoke briefly on the recent news of corporate fraud and deception (though did not focus on the recent HP Board of Directors Scandal...) She emphasized that leaders must realize values matter and ethics count. Crossing, bordering, or on the line of ethics may give short-term results; but history has proven itself many times over that such secrets do not stay hidden for long.
Carly Fiorina's past, present, and future
Ms. Fiorina was drawn to technology for its potential to erase the boundaries of time, distance, countries, language. Though she has not taken another CEO position at a technology company, she is currently involved with several technology boards, non-profits, and government agencies.