One is simulation. I use it in my classes all the time and find it an excellent way to teach. Placing people into situations and actually making them play the situations out is a very good way to learn. Second, smaller group interaction on the heels

of larger group interaction — and also on the heels of technological interaction — is important.

As a director of Stanford’s Center for Global Busi- ness and the Economy, what are the major things you hope to accomplish? The main thing is to make sure that students and alumni realize that “global” is not a subject. It is a state of mind. When I talk to an organization, they say they didn’t really intend to go internationally but boundaries have greatly broken down. We tend to teach and look at things in silos. We

have to make sure to encourage learners to be sufficiently global. Many Stanford MBA students are from other countries, and that is a very good thing. I can teach about India or Pakistan, but to hear from others who live in these countries is an entirely different experience.

This does point out the need for organizations to invite attendees from other countries to partici- pate in their meetings. You indicate that global consciousness is a requirement for a 21st-century leader. How do you develop that competency? How do you teach global consciousness? By understanding what is going on in the world. We tend to develop caricatures of people from different locations around the world. China, for instance, is a terribly important country — big and complex. Yet we tend to characterize China only as a rising power economically without understand- ing the complexities of the culture and that we are not all alike but so different. Encouraging people to acknowledge that and

to want to know about other places and people is really very important. There are many world- affairs meetings focusing on international issues held all over the country that are open to the gen- eral public. I wish that more people would attend to broaden their thinking and knowledge.

There continues to be conversation about whether leadership is innate or learned. Is leadership some- thing that can be taught at conferences or in school

— and if so, how is it best done? I tend to think that leaders emerge based on

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‘I tend to think that leaders emerge based on certain circumstances but also that something is innate there. Great leaders have a combination of innate instincts and taking advantage of being present during extraordinary times.’

certain circumstances but also that something is innate there. Great leaders have a combination of innate instincts and taking advantage of being present during extraordinary times. It is inexplicable how Nelson Mandela sitting in

a jail cell could imagine a multiracial South Africa rather than one [in which] the dark population got power and oppressed the whites. Somehow his ability had to be innate. I think that great leaders are developed by a combination of having the right instincts and circumstances coming together at extraordinary times.

Let’s move on to women’s empowerment, as you are known to be a champion for women’s full partic- ipation in society. How do you go about encourag- ing women (and men also) to achieve their highest potential? If you read Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, could you also comment on her viewpoints? Women need to work hard at taking advantage of opportunities. I do like Sheryl’s idea that at some point you really have to lean in and go for it. If you don’t, you aren’t taking control of your circum- stances and rather being a victim by saying that this person or that is doing this to me. It is still difficult, as sometimes the cultural

cues are not clear about women and their roles. However, if you keep thinking that others are mistreating you because you are a woman, it is probably your fault and not theirs. Women need to take responsibility for their own situations and empowerment.

What would you say are the major reasons that women are not well represented in the C-suite of Fortune 500 companies? Their representation is growing. Women started by being more heavily represented as operations officers about 10 years ago, which was a good predicator of movement to CEO positions today. So, we really need to look at and further develop the pipeline. People say, well, we never had a woman

president. People are elected president from two categories of people — senators and governors. So, when you start to see a greater number of women senators and governors, you start to see a pool for presidential opportunities. And so, I am not surprised that the number is relatively low — but women’s opportunities are growing and will con- tinue to increase. I’m very optimistic.

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