Imagine being the first at something?  Dr. Darlene Iskra was the first woman Commander of a ship in the US Navy!  She served in the US Navy for 21 years..  She was also one of the first woman officers to serve as a Diving Officer and she served on four different ships before taking command of the Rescue and Savage ship USS Opportune during Operation Desert Shield/Storm in December 1990. She has a Ph.D in Sociology and an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.  She was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2008 and the San Francisco State University Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Covid 19 pandemic has brought businesses to crisis mode.  Leadership has never been more important.  This episode brings 6 different people from the trenches with boots on the ground navigating this uncharted territory day by day.  People need to hear facts and know the truth as everyone tries to figure out how to manage the next few weeks and likely months.  No one knows the answer but Leaders have to move forward and do what they can to help those counting on them for their livelihood.  In a crisis leadership matters.

Tyler Ott is the long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.  He has played for the team for 3 years and has a contract through the 2022 season.  He is a graduate of Harvard University where he won two Ivy League Championships and graduated with a degree in Economics and a minor in Environmental Science and Public Policy.   He shares his theory on leadership and has experience with 5 different NFL teams and describes how the team cultures are very different.  He believes Seattle under coach Pete Carroll is the best place to be in professional football and states many players want to play for this team and stay with this team because of the team culture the coaches and players have created.  As an unsung staple of the team he knows when he is doing his job when he is not mentioned on TV or in the media.  He talks about his leadership role on the team. 

Michele Heffron has over 30 years experience as an executive leader most recently in philanthropic non-profit organizations.  Currently she is the executive director in the Pacific Northwest for One Love Foundation.  One Love is the nation's leading educator of young people on the topic of healthy and unhealthy relationships.  She also serves on the National Leadership Team for the One Love Foundation.  She has also held positions as Director of Resource Development and Capital Campaign for the Boys and Girls Club of Bellevue, Washington.  She also shares her expertise with other foundations and organizations through her own consulting business.  She lives and works and works in the greater Seattle area.  

www.joinonelove.org 

Isabelle Nussli is a seasoned senior executive who lives in Switzerland.  She is the current Chairperson at Responsible Leadership AG.  She is a leadership and life coach and the author of "Cockfighting: Solving the Mystery of Unconscious Sabotage at the Top of the Corporate Pyramid."

She has an executive Masters in Coaching and International Business Law.  She also holds an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management from Northwestern University.  Hear how she believes unconscious biases

can lead to difficult relationships at the top of organizations where power becomes a struggle.  She has interviewed 150+ CEO's to find out who they are and how they think.  Her knowledge on leadership and how people got their is immense.

Marc Berejka is the government affairs Director and community affairs Director at REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)  REI is a national outdoor retail cooperative with over 16 million members and annual sales exceeding $2.5 billion.  The co-op's mission is to "inspire, educate and outfit people for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship."  

He has worked as an executive at Microsoft, was a technology policy advisor to then-Secretary Gary Locke at the US Department of Commerce, and in the first part of his career he was a telecommunications attorney.  He walks the talk by being an avid outdoorsmen and gives time and money to charities he supports in his local community.   Marc is a leader who believes in being a part of a greater purpose than yourself and helping people enjoy the benefits of interacting in a responsible way with nature. 

Pearls of Wisdom summaries will be released as episodes periodically to highlight insightful points made by guests of Profiles in Leadership.  The goal is to choose impactful themes and use exerts from the interviews to dig deeper into leadership strategies and philosophies.  This is the first such episode with more to follow. 

Nancy Reese is an advocate for infusing leadership training into Physical Therapy education.  These students have had be such achievers their whole lives to be qualified to get into school and now that they have made it they struggle to change their mindset from achieving steps to success to long term leadership and clinical development through practice, failure and learning over a long period of time.  Bringing leadership training to every phase of physical therapy education from day one hopefully better prepares a professional and not just a clinical technician.  Hear  her approach to teamwork, visionary thinking and using your strengths as a strategy to learn and grow and develop into a leader physical therapist that can influence and contribute to a broader community.  

Ed (Eddie) Anderson was a professional baseball player in the 1950's. He graduated from the University of Montana as one of the most decorated and talented athletes in its history. He is in the University of Montana Grizzly Hall of Fame. Ed was signed by the New York Yankees. After his first year as a professional he was given a high draft notice which forced him into enlisting in the Air Force. His early career was interrupted as he was stationed in Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He tried to re-enter the MLB and after a storybook spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida with a Yankee team of icon and Hall of Fame players and a short stint in the "Bigs" in Yankee Stadium he was sent to the minor leagues where he finished his career. He became a teacher and a coach at the high school and colleague level. He is 87 years old and is my Father.