How to break through fear and become a leader | Valerie Montgomery Rice
Sep 16, 2024
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Valerie Montgomery Rice, the president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, shares her inspiring journey from humble beginnings to a leadership role in medicine. She discusses vital qualities like vigilance, grit, and resilience, learned from her childhood in Georgia. Valerie emphasizes turning fear into empowerment, advocating for women's rights, and fostering diversity. Her personal anecdotes encourage listeners to reflect on their own experiences and realize the transformative power of embracing courage in their leadership journeys.
Valerie Montgomery Rice emphasizes that embracing fear rather than avoiding it is essential for personal and professional growth in leadership.
She advocates for women supporting each other by sharing their stories to address systemic disparities and empower collective change.
Deep dives
Foundation of Courage and Resilience
Valerie Montgomery Rice’s journey begins in a small pink house in Wrens, Georgia, where her mother and grandmother modeled courage and resilience in the face of challenges. This background instilled in her the values necessary for overcoming life's obstacles, serving as an early classroom for leadership lessons. Despite the struggles her family faced, including leaving an abusive relationship, these experiences taught her the importance of accountability and taking action in adverse situations. The memories of her upbringing not only shaped her identity but also provided the foundation needed to navigate her professional life, inspiring her to rise in her career as a prominent medical professional.
Embracing Fear and Resilience
Montgomery Rice emphasizes the significance of embracing fear rather than allowing it to hinder progress. She recounts her professional downfall when she was asked to step down from her esteemed position, experiencing deep feelings of loss and humiliation. Drawing strength from her past, particularly from her mother's resilience during difficult times, she realized that experiencing fear is a natural aspect of striving for one's dreams. This lesson helped her understand that being fearless does not mean living without fear but learning to use it as a driving force for action and perseverance.
The Importance of Giving Back
As CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, Montgomery Rice highlights the importance of paying it forward and sharing one's story as a means of empowerment. She stresses that it is crucial for women to voice their experiences and support one another, especially in navigating personal and professional challenges. By advocating for diversifying the healthcare workforce and discussing issues like reproductive rights, she aims to uplift others while addressing systemic disparities. Her commitment to social justice and community engagement reflects a deep understanding of the collective struggle for equity, urging others to recognize their responsibility to foster change.
Vigilance. Grit. Resilience. Valerie Montgomery Rice, the president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine, shares where she learned these key qualities of successful leadership, offering three lessons for anyone who wants to overcome their fears, stand up for what’s right and build opportunity for all. After the talk, Modupe urges us all to tell our own stories.