Jack’s Winning Words 6/10/14
“In the future, there will be no female leaders.  There will just be leaders.”  (Sheryl Sandberg)  Sheryl is #9 on Forbes’ list of the 100 Most Powerful Women, right behind Michelle Obama, who’s right behind GM’s CEO, Mary Barra.  The glass ceiling is in the process of shattering.  There are some organizations that haven’t gotten the message, but they will.  What is leadership, after all?  BTW, guess who’s #1 on Forbes’ list.    ;-)  Jack

FROM PH IN MINNESOTA:  Oprah??    good morning, Jack!====JACK:  Oprah came in at #14. ====PH:  I found.......................to be that person!====JACK:  I wanted you to keep on guessing, instead of resorting to Google.

FROM RI IN BOSTON:  This is not a guess because I heard on a news report a few days ago that #1 on the Forbes List is Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel.====JACK:  You didn't have to guess, because your memory still works...but were you surprised at the choice?====RI:  Yes, I was surprised that she came out on top.  In this country we are accustomed to having American personalities sitting at the pinnacle.  Merkel is impressive, coming a long way rather quickly since getting her doctorate in physics in East Germany.  She got involved in politics when the Berlin wall came down, and got into the upper ranks of her party in the DDR until German unification, after which she was elected to the Bundestag of the German Parliament.  Throughout her career in party politics she has led by coalition with other parties, and she's become strong in finance issues as she deals with the European Union.  Angela Merkel is not a charmer with a pretty face, and she isn't a pushover.  She works the system (just as she did in East Germany all those years). I think she plays her cards well.  Did you know her father was a Lutheran pastor in East Germany during the oppressive years of the cold war.====JACK:  It is interesting that an respected American business magazine has put her at the top of their list of important "women" leaders.  The next step is to rate her on a list of the top leaders (period).

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  hillary?====JACK:  She comes after Christine LaGarde.

FROM PASTY PAT:  Had to look it up --- interesting!====JACK:  I thought you'd at least take a guess.  If you were to guess...

FROM JM IN MICHIGAN:  I don't know -- who?  Putin?====JACK:  The last I heard, Vladimir is Powerful , but not a woman.====JM:  My thinking says political power, undergirded by economic power, is probably the most powerful of positions, so I say it's Angela Merkel, premier/president or whatever her title in Germany and the number one player in the European Common Market and economic union.  Or, maybe it is Beyoncé, after all, who wields "pop power", has lots of money, and is, by all reports, both altruistic and a good money manager.====JACK:  I thought that more people would pick up on the thought that an increasing number of people are coming to see that leadership is non-gender related.  Reviewing the Forbes List of the 100 bears that out.  Sometimes we look at the tree and miss the forest. 

FROM KF:  Chancellor Merkel?====JACK:  I wonder if your husband might have had a different answer if I'd asked him?

FROM CPA BOB:  Hillary Clinton?  If she isn’t, I’d pick Oprah next.====JACK:  If you had guessed AM, you'd be right.

FROM HONEST JOHN:  I would guess Una merkel====JACK:  Una was a movie star in the 1920s.  But, her last name is the same as Angela's.

FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY:  It will be a grand world indeed, when people are chosen for their work ethic instead of their race, gender or color.  Although, I believe we have made very good strides in that direction.  Hillary Clinton?  (Don't care for her work ethic, but she sounds like the likely candidate.)====JACK:  Finally someone made reference to the point of the quote.  Good guess on the person, but it's not correct. 

FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  the glass ceiling broke a long time ago. so did other ceilings, but we keep talking about sheryl & barack as if they're anomolies.====JACK:  When all women get equal pay for equal work, then I might agree with you.