Jeannette Gaudry Haynie

Every organization experiences conflict. Leadership is using the scars we have and the skills that we have built through our own struggles and failures to turn conflict into positive change and growth. By showing our scars, we humanize ourselves, each other, those we lead, and those whom our work impacts. Using the backdrop of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jeannette describes what serving as a female Marine in an institution designed for and by men taught her about leading others and about leadership itself.

Using her experiences as a Marine, and supported by academic research, Jeannette discusses diversity of thought from a practical perspective. When leaders see only one perspective, the organizations that they lead are less effective. Only through including a broad range of perspectives, through the development of diverse teams and leaders at every level of leadership, can the full picture of the challenges we face be seen. Without those perspectives, the solutions we develop will be less effective and less successful. 

When considering national security, diversity of thought is no less important than it is to the function of our business organizations – in fact, it is more critical than ever. When considering national security, if leaders see only one perspective, our government and military institutions and the policies they develop and implement suffer. At best, these are ineffective – and at worst, they can endanger national security. 

The perspectives of women in particular are often excluded from national security processes and policymaking, and the dissonance between the experiences of women and the assumed objectivity of mainstream security represents a gap. This gap can lead to policy flaws and strategic failures. Only through inclusive leadership, the development of diverse teams and leaders, and the application of a gender lens, can we develop a well-rounded security picture and more effectively seek peace and stability. 

When Jeannette was a teenager, her family inherited a violin that had belonged to her great-grandmother. Her mother, 39 years old at the time, decided to learn to play the violin – saying that she would be 40 years old one day either way, and that she would prefer to be 40 years old playing the violin given the choice. Jeannette’s mother has now played the violin for the New Orleans Civic Symphony for nearly two decades. 

If you don’t try, nothing will change. Learning from her mother, Jeannette internalized this mantra from her earliest days. The idea that each person has the power to affect great change has informed every aspect of Jeannette’s life, from talking her way back into the U.S. Naval Academy after an initial failure to speaking up in a pivotal meeting with the Marine Corps leadership nearly 25 years later. Using her life’s experiences, Jeannette explores how thinking and dreaming big can change the world.