The Chronicle
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., spoke about trust, integrity and the role of women in leadership during her keynote address Wednesday morning at The Coach K & Fuqua School of Business Conference on Leadership.
Dole was escorted to the podium on the arm of men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who praised her as being the “most trustworthy” person in politics. “If Elizabeth Dole says something, it’s the truth. You can bank on it,” Krzyzewski said.
Drawing largely on anecdotes of her upbringing and experience in public service, Dole, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Woman’s College in 1958, stressed the vital importance of maintaining trust in both public and private life. “My dad was a man of his word. Honor and integrity. He knew no other way,” Dole said, reflecting on how “honored and blessed” she was to have been raised in such a culture.
Dole also spoke about her fortuitous choice to attend Harvard Law School. “When I decided to attend law school, my mom’s exact words were: ‘Don’t you want to be a wife and a mother and a hostess for your husband?’”
Undeterred, Dole was motivated by her fierce desire to pursue public service and help the disadvantaged with her law background. She stood by her decision and ultimately won her parents’ support. In her speech, she encouraged other women to do the same. “I was really on the cutting edge of the revolution,” Dole said, “I didn’t realize it at the time, but you just have to keep moving forward.”
During her first few days at Harvard Law School, a male student approached her and asked, “Elizabeth, what are you doing here? Don’t you realize that there are men who would give their right arm to be here, men who would actually use their legal education?”
But Dole proved her naysayers wrong with her first trial case, which served as the highlight of her speech. Called before “the toughest judge in D.C.,” facing a U.S. attorney who had been valedictorian at Harvard Law and representing a client who spoke no English, Dole won her first victory. “I now realize that this was all good leadership training,” Dole said, “Part of good leadership is learning to take risks.”
She said this experience made her realize the importance of working hard and anticipating adversity as part of maintaining trust among those with whom you work. “If it is worth doing, it is worth doing your best,” she said.
In closing, Dole reflected on her experience as a woman in public service. Addressing the women in the audience, she encouraged them to be mentors. “We have not reached the millennium yet,” she said. “We need to help each other out.”
Darlia Tarik, an attorney at Emerging Markets Group, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, was especially inspired by Dole’s speech and strong personality. “I was impressed with how she empowers her own decisions,” Tarik said. “If you want to make a change or innovation, you can do it if you believe in it.”
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