Centered Leadership project
In 2004, McKinsey Women, under the leadership of Joanna Barsh, launched The Leadership Project: Portraits of Women Leaders, to collect oral histories of top women leaders from different regions, age groups, and career paths. Over the past 5 years, Joanna and her team have gone on to collect more than 100 video interviews with women leaders.
These conversations helped lay the foundation for the groundbreaking model of Centered Leadership, a distinctive approach to developing female leaders with roots in positive psychology and extensive research on leadership. All together, they form the basis of Joanna Barsh and Susie Cranston's new book: How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life.
To view the Centered Leadership interactive, click here.
To see video interviews with women leaders, click here.
To find out more about the book, How Remarkable Women Lead: The Breakthrough Model for Work and Life, click here.
To read Joanna's essay published on TheDailyMuse.com as part of their "Lessons to My Younger Self" series featuring inspirational women, click here.
Below, meet seven amazing international women leaders who Joanna interviewed who participated in the FORTUNE/U.S. State Department Mentoring Partnership, a remarkable mentoring program supported by the Vital Voices Global Partnership, which we've supported since 2007.
Amina Suzanah Agbaje (Nigeria)
Amina Suzanah Agbaje is the principal partner in the Agbaje, Agbaje & Company, a law firm in Abuja with offices in the northern cities of Jos and Kaduna. She is passionate about being a role model for young women lawyers in Nigeria. Her mentoring experience will not only impact her, but also other women lawyers in the Nigerian Bar Association and the Federation of Women Lawyers in Nigeria.
Mentor: Antoinette Cook Bush – Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom L.L.P.
Archana Surana (India)
Archana Surana is the Founder and Managing Director of the Arch Academy of Fashion Art and Design, which was established to impart specialized and industrially relevant education to prepare students for the fast changing world of fashion, art and design. Thanks to her dedication, Archana has been successful in reviving the dying fabric arts and crafts of Rajasthan and has helped hundreds of artisans who were on the verge of giving up their traditional professions. In 2005, she launched Arch Study Centers in the cities of Agra and Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. In addition to the Arch Academy, Archana founded Arch Apparel Exports which exports designer apparels and accessories.
Mentor: Andrea Jung – CEO, Avon Products
Emma Fundira (Zimbabwe)
Emma Fundira is the managing director and co-founder of Finesse Advisory Services, a financial consultancy, which provides much-needed corporate financing and asset management solutions. Emma oversees a staff of 14 people who offer training, company analysis, and regulatory advice to Zimbabwe’s largest companies. Finesse was recently responsible for the privatization of a state-owned company. Prior to her current position, she worked for Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe and for Standard Chartered Merchant Bank.
Mentor: Mary Meeker – Managing Director, Morgan Stanley
Le Thi My Pham (Vietnam)
Le Thi My Pham is the director of Le & Associates, Co., Ltd., which provides business management and consulting services focused on human resources and strategy management, management training, personnel services and recruitment advertisement, etc. In addition, Le is a co-founder of IT Solution Co., Ltd., which specializes in marketing corporate management software, developing websites, E-business consulting and training. As an executive member of the Ho Chi Minh City’s Young Business Association, Le has been involved in policy advocacy and human resources development. Le also often organizes free career counseling and soft skill training for students who are getting ready to graduate from universities.
Mentor: Barbara Byrne – Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers
Maria Esther Landa (Peru)
Maria Esther Landa is the owner and general manager of Santa Maria Eventos, a company which fabricates and rents out metal scaffolding and structures for tents and outdoor events along with everything acquired for the event. In a business dominated by men, Maria has been recognized for her determination and professionalism with numerous awards, including the Female Small Business Person of the Year award for the Lima region and the Young Business Person of the Year in her own neighborhood of Villa El Salvador.
Mentor: Donna Orender – President, Women's National Basketball Association
Maria Gabriella Hoch (Argentina)
Maria Gabriella Hoch is the founder and director of MGH Communication Management, a communications and public relations consulting company. She holds a master’s degree in communication management from Universidad Austral and a bachelor’s degree in public relations from the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa. Maria is a member of the Institute for the Development of Enterprise in Argentina (IDEA) and a member of the Professional Council of Public Relations. She would like to use her mentorship to gain a better understanding of how the PR industry functions in the U.S. and/or how a FORTUNE 500 company manages PR related issues and activities.
Mentor: Deborah Fine – President, iVillage
Mei Jingsong (China)
Mei Jingsong is a channel supervisor and editor-in-chief in the Sina Corporation, a leading online media company and value-added information service provider for China and Chinese communities worldwide. It has over 20 million web users in China. It also has branches in the U.S., Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Mei manages the budgetary planning, human resources management, marketing, and financing for the women’s channel, the real estate channel, and the life and automobile channels. She hopes to use her mentorship to gain a better understanding of leadership, sound business practices, and American media industry standards.
Mentor: Ann S. Moore – Chairman and CEO, Time, Inc.