In this episode of Say It Skillfully, Molly is joined by U.S. Coast Guard Admiral Sandy Stosz, who shares 40 years of navigating more than her fair share of firsts. "Shy and unconfident" is how Sandy started. Parents who instilled "you are your core values" and her tomboy youth with 3 younger brothers prepared her well to hold her own. Her disarming honesty is in abundance as she's forthright about continually being "rendered humble" by not being the smartest, fastest, or best looking... "very average!"Â
She talks of not realizing she was even "breaking glass"—Title IX was just starting to support women in sport—as she was in the 3rd USGG class to have women (60% attrition). As the first women to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes and lead a US armed forces service academy, she shares numerous "aha" (some painful) learnings with men who didn't believe she belonged (and how women weren't exactly super supportive one another. Resignation letter in hand, she came sooo close to giving it all up. This is a must hear for those who need to amp up their "competence—confidence" in the eyes of others.Â
Plentiful leadership and life lessons abound in this open-hearted account of how Sandy persevered to take the burden of being the first and turn it into an opportunity of a lifetime.Â
