Nancy discusses her personal philosophy on leadership...


  • Taking action is the best way to soothe our collective anxiety about the leadership crisis we are in. Just like each of the leaders in Forged in Crisis, we must step into the fear and do something – call our representative, volunteer for a social or environmental organization, involve ourselves in local politics, speak up for someone being exploited by an organization or larger system—to help move the Boulder of Goodness forward.
  • The silver-bullet solution is a myth: Solving our most pressing issues, including addressing global climate change, creating a functional and sustainable health care policy, narrowing income inequality and designing humane, effective, and fair immigration policies – requires not just one solution, but instead a compilation of ideas and efforts.
  • It’s critical for courageous leaders to practice discernment and to identify the one, two, or three essential issues facing them in a given moment. From there, leaders must give themselves permission to let other issues go or delegate them to others.
  • In today’s world of 24-hour news and constant messaging that stimulates fears of impending disaster, leaders must summon the emotional discipline to turn their attention away from constant reference to the worst-case scenarios and back to the road ahead. They can then take the next step forward on that road.