#154: The Critical Role of Women in Changing Business and Leadership

Mary Key is a successful woman entrepreneur who wants to encourage other women entrepreneurs to step up and throw their hats into the ring for leadership roles. Mary has a Ph.D. and has written four books. Today, she tells me about her latest book Seizing Success: A Woman's Guide to Transformational Leadership. She explains why she wrote the book and what she noticed during her research for it. We discuss how women change the dynamics of their companies and how this leadership difference is the future of CEOs.

What you will learn:

• Who is Mary Key?
• Why women are the future of business leadership.
• Mary’s time with Inc. Magazine.
• The Key Women Leadership Forum
• Mary’s other books.
• The gender bias that holds women back.
• How women lead differently.
• Strengths women bring to leadership roles.
• How the corporate climate is changing.
• Stumbling blocks that affect women the most.
• The importance of being assertive.
• What are transformational leaders?
• An overview of Mary’s book Seizing Success.

Takeaways:

Is there a woman CEO you could hire? Be open-minded in your search and consider the value women provide in business.

Links and Resources:

GEXP Collaborative Key Associates Inc. Seizing Success: A Woman's Guide to Transformational Leadership by Mary Key Mary’s books Mary’s email

About Mary

Business thinking partner, trusted advisor, executive coach, speaker, and author, Dr. Mary Key heads Key Associates, Inc. (KA), an organizational transformation consulting firm committed to the development of leaders and organizations. Key has an outstanding track record of helping leaders and organizations grow and thrive. KA has helped clients produce breakthrough results and works with individuals, teams, and organizations in areas such as leadership and team assessment and development, strategic planning, hiring the right talent, conflict resolution and effective execution – all leading to improving your focus and productivity. KA has worked with Fortune 500 companies, Inc. 500 winners, various government agencies and not-for-profits. Among others, KA’s clients have included: Ericsson, Nokia, Nissan, Infiniti, Tenet Healthcare System, Baycare Health System, Baptist Health Care, Bausch & Lomb, Wyeth Nutrition, CitiFinancial Retail Services, Mission Healthcare System, Media General, Stanford University, Circuit City, G.D. Searle, Cooper Industries, Dorn Technology, Museum of Science & Industry, National Aquarium in Baltimore, Georgia-Pacific, Florida Steel, Lake Ontario Steel, Jack Morton Worldwide, Jagged Peak, Lore International, Metal Industries, Incarnate Word Health Systems, Prevent Blindness America, Vology Data Systems, VectorLearning, Tampa Bay Trane, Bayshore Solutions, myMatrixx, The American Rental Association, Tampa Port Authority, Morton Plant Mease Foundation, Peek plc., the Province of British Columbia, and various agencies in the states of Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. KA has also consulted in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Key has helped leaders and their companies achieve exponential growth through a system of Right Focus, Right People, and Right Execution. She was part of a national team that built Inc. Magazine’s Eagles CEO program where CEOs of fast-growing companies came together to focus on each other’s strategic business issues achieving remarkable results. Currently, KA offers peer forums for CEOs, Key Leaders, and Women in Leadership. In addition, Key has been part of the development team that designed the California Healthcare Leadership College. She is part of the teaching faculty for the Advanced Leadership Program at Stanford University for the Hospitals & Clinics program. Key has authored several books including CEO Road Rules: Right Focus, Right People, Right Execution and The Entrepreneurial Cat: 13 Ways to Transform Your Work Life. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and her BS from the University of Massachusetts. She was selected to be part of the Society of International Business Fellows (SIBF), Leadership Florida, the CEO Council of Tampa Bay and was a finalist for Executive Woman of the Year in Tampa Bay.