Carly Fiorina: Our Next President?

Carly Fiorina – 2006 Memoir – Tough Choices 

Former CEO Hewlett-Packard – First Woman to run a Fortune 30 Company

Fortune Magazine:  Most Powerful Woman in Business…for 6 consecutive years

Presidential Candidate

Shall I write another word?  This post is finished.

This caption is reason enough you would want your daughter to read Tough Choices….especially if she’s a business major.

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Good late Thursday morning to you.

After analyzing the GA readership data yesterday, I had a fleeting thought that just perhaps I should hold off writing, yet, another book review or a post dedicated only to daughters.

But I believe it is paramount to “Do what you say you’ll do”.  Period.

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There is no doubt in my mind that Tough Choices would have been a gift to my daughter when she graduated from high school….or college.

I have described this book as a condensed college degree in:  Career Management. Business Politics. Corporate Cultures.

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Remember last week when I wrote that I am never ‘the-smartest-woman-in-the-room’?  And if I ever thought I was, I’d run to another room?

Well, Carly Fiorina would be running to a lot of different rooms. No doubt, she is the smartest woman wherever she goes.

After reading Tough Choices, I could not imagine ever meeting a smarter, more poised, and composed business woman.

When I recommend books to close associates, I use the term ‘quick read’ a lot.  This book definitely does not fall into that category.

In my opinion, It reads like an intense, historical account of how a business woman began as a Secretary filing and typing….and ended up in the CEO’s office orchestrating mergers and acquisitions.

 I found my bookmark I used in 2006 when I first read Tough Choices.  Not real meaningful, I know.  But it’s my feeble attempt to add a personal touch.

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In my opinion, the best part of the book is the beginning ….when Carly narrates the story of her childhood as Cara Carleton Sneed (named after her father’s mother).

She recounts how her parents set the stage for success.

“My father wanted his children to be educated in a classical way – history, literature, Latin.”

“…so I was taking French lessons at four, going to the opera at seven, visiting museums and taking classical piano.  She wanted her children, son and daughters alike, to be cultured, refined, successful.  If my father judged his success by his own career, my mother judged her success by her children.”

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The book is a perfect accounting of Fiorina’s early career at AT&T and later at Lucent.  The vivid details of people and events are nothing short of remarkable.

As I read these chapters, I kept saying to myself…”There’s no way I could remember this much about my own life in such perfect order.” 

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During the last few chapters, I could not put this book down.

Here’s one of my favorite passages describing the eve before Fiorina’s days at Hewlett-Packard.

“I drove to the parking lot of Marcus & Millichap.  I sat in my car and thought about the significance of going from typing and filing to becoming CEO of a Dow 30 company without traveling more than a block.”

These words gave me great inspiration.  From ‘pink collar’ to ‘white collar’.

I am sure this phrase is no longer politically correct….and if you know me, you know that I mean no harm in using it. (When I was a secretary, ‘pink collar’ was common vernacular.)

And, I’ll end with my least favorite part of the book when HP’s Board of Directors asked for Fiorina’s resignation.

Long text…but well worth your while.

“I knew that every leader has a season, and as I sat in that hotel room I realized that my season was perhaps coming to an unexpected and abrupt end for reasons I did not understand.  And yet I expected the Board to look me in the eye and tell me why.”

“They did not have the courage to face me.  They did not thank me and they did not say good-bye.  They did not explain their decision or their reasoning.  They did not seek my opinion or my involvement in any aspect of the transition.  When I finally received the call to rejoin the meeting, I thought about each Board member as I rode the elevator down past those twenty-four floors.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I assumed I would be facing them.  I wasn’t prepared for the empty conference room I entered.”

“When I opened the door and realized all but two Board members had already left.  I knew I had been fired.”

If you are interested in securing a copy of Tough Choices, click here.  Amazon is one of the many stores where this book is available.

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Thank you for reading yesterday and today.

Sandberg.  Fiorina.  Two woman.  Two corporate giants.  Two role models for young women.

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Come back tomorrow for Friday’s short and sweet inspiration message. 

It’s part scientific, psychological, and as always, inspirational.