Women of Color as Leaders in Public Health and Health Policy Conference

SUMMARIES > KEYNOTE ADDRESS: “LEADERSHIP CHALLENGES FOR WOMEN”

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MARILYN HUGHES GASTON, MD
Former Assistant Surgeon General; Former Director, Bureau of Primary Health Care, Department of Health and Human Services; Rear Admiral, United States USPHS, Ret., Potomac, MD

Introduction

JOAN Y. REEDE, MD, MPH, MS
Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

In her keynote on Leadership Challenges for Women, Dr. Gaston advised women to be prepared. She advised women to have a "preparation agenda."

"How many times have you heard, 'Girl, I don't know how she got that job. She must have really been lucky.' Well, I'm going to redefine luck. Luck is where preparation and opportunity meet."

As with one's CV, one should update one's entire career, said Dr. Gaston. That might involve

courses or other training.
books to read
a five-year personal strategic plan. This should be "very clear about the 'why' of what you are doing and where you are going," said Dr. Gaston.

Other advice for getting ahead:

You can't have just one mentor. You have to have a gob of them.
Successful leaders are learners. You have to adopt that. The first thing you have to do is learn about yourself, learn about self-analysis.
...if your goal in five years is to run HRSA, you go over and see if you can shadow the head of HRSA.