Telle Whitney, CEO, Anita Borg Institute

For much of July, I was in Turkey and Greece,on a much needed vacation, away from email and cell phones. My first day back in the office, I moderated a panel for Leadership America! Yes, I agree this was a crazy commitment, but the efforts of this group inspired me. 

Leadership America is a program of the Women’s Museum in Texas.  It has been around for 20 years, and many senior corporate executives have passed through its program. What I like about their current offerings, is that it offers its participants programming in
three different geographical areas (Chicago, Silicon Valley, and DC). Because of this diverse programming, a participant would leave the six month program with exposure to very different businesses and business paradigms. They are also offering a trip to China later this year, which is very exciting.  

The panel that I moderated brought together several technology leaders to discuss technology, and its impact on being a great leader.  Participating in this panel were three extraordinary people, with diverse perspectives:

            James Beck,
COO and Managing Director, Mayfield

James brings a wealth of knowledge about growing venture funding worldwide, as Mayfield has opened new funds in China and India over the last few years.

            Rebecca
Norlander, Partner & Engineering Manager, Microsoft

Rebecca’s degrees are in Computer Science, and she has a deep technical expertise, but has successfully moved up the leadership ladder at Microsoft.

Dorothy
Farris, VP, Worldwide Sales, Jupiter Systems

Dorothy brings many years as a successful sales executive to the conversation.

We had a robust conversation about the role that technology plays in building leaders.   Some of the words of wisdom that I heard
were:

• Blackberry’s and Cell phones are tools that can aid
  or hinder you as a leader.  What is
  most important in effective use of these devices is to ensure that you set
  personal boundaries of when you use them, and they don’t become a constant
  and unwelcome diversion.
• The world has become global, and many teams are
  global in nature.   This creates a
  new set of problems that leaders need to understand and embrace, including
  simple logistical issues such as conference call times that a team spanning
  China, US, and Israel can
  all make. Understanding your team constraints and finding solutions is an
  important part of being an effective global  leader.
• Innovation is happening, and it happening world wide.
  Harnessing the power of innovation in multiple countries is part of what
  will make entrepreneurs successful in this next century.  
• Entrepreneurial solutions to sales, engineering,
  investing and innovation are where all of our panelists found exciting
  opportunities. None of them accept the status quo, but instead are looking
  for new ways to approach their job. 
  Technology, be it social networks, or mobile devices, are part of
  the innovation that they regularly use in their jobs.

I left the panel tired, but inspired by not only these remarkable people, but
the thoughtful conversation with the Leadership America participants.