Myers, former Clinton spokeswoman and the first woman to serve as a White House press secretary, visited Elon twice in January as the sixth Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership.
Leaders need to adapt to changing conditions. They need to communicate their ideas. And if you ask Dee Dee Myers, she’ll tell you that leaders can’t be afraid to fail.
Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and community members attended her Jan. 7 speech in McCrary Theatre, where the former public face of the Clinton administration offered tales of her days in the White House briefing room while listing qualities she said she has found in several prominent leaders. It was the first of three public events featuring Myers in January.
“Leaders have to be flexible,” Myers said in her Jan. 7 lecture. “You have to make a plan and work a plan, but you have to be prepared for the unexpected. You have to be able to pivot, to regroup, to rethink, to keep your eye on the objective. That is an indispensable quality for leaders.”
Myers shared stories with her audience, from her first job out of college with Walter Mondale’s presidential campaign to her days in the White House from 1993-1994. She discussed the qualities of leaders she admired – Bill and Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Meg Whitman and rock star Bono – and common among them was an insatiable curiosity, knowledge of myriad topics and a willingness to try repeatedly to reach a goal.
“It’s not whether people fail, because everybody does,” she said. “We fail. We’re disappointed. We fall short, all of us. The question is how do you deal with that? People who are strong leaders and make a difference are people who get up and try again.”
Myers was the first woman and one of the youngest individuals to serve as White House press secretary. Since leaving the White House, she has worked as a political analyst, commentator and writer. She currently is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair magazine and a frequent guest on broadcast and cable television networks. An original consultant to the NBC series “The West Wing,” Myers contributed story lines and technical advice throughout the show’s award-winning run. The fictional West Wing character C.J. Cregg was loosely based on Myers.
During a Jan. 8 question-and-answer session, Myers assessed Obama after his first year in office, saying “if there’s a weakness in his leadership, it’s that he sometimes comes across as being aloof.” Because Obama doesn’t feel the need to be loved like her former boss in the White House, Myers said, he doesn’t work hard at soliciting that affection – and it can make Americans feel like he doesn’t care.
In addition to her lectures, Myers met with Elon Leadership Fellows in a small group discussion. Myers is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Why Women Should Rule the World. In her book, she makes the case that the increasingly powerful role of women in public life is reshaping the world for the better.
Myers is Elon’s sixth Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership. Former visiting professors are John Alexander, William W. “Bill” George, Ben Bradlee, Christine Todd Whitman and David Gergen. The professorship brings nationally recognized authorities to campus to share insights about the nature, potential and responsibilities of leadership.
In addition to offering major public addresses, the Isabella Cannon Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership holds seminars and meets with students participating in Elon’s leadership programs. This professorship was a dream of the late Isabella Cannon ’24, who requested that her estate be used to enhance the leadership programs that are central to the Elon student experience.