Leadership Unscripted: Navigating Your Leadership Journey Dr. Virginia Hardy

Dr. Sterling Freeman is a leadership coach, Christian minister, and activist. Leadership is about relationships, making room for people.  Being a leader means being human, not perfect, but humble and authentic. Dr. Freeman discusses the intricacies of a more inclusive model of leadership.

Satana Deberry, elected District Attorney for Durham County is motivated by a desire to serve and give to a community that has often been failed by the system. She believes a leader should be open, honest, transparent, and willing to follow as well as lead.

CEO of Locklear Roofing, Jackie Locklear runs one of the few 100% woman and minority-owned roofing companies in the United States. Inheriting the family business from her father, whose handshake was his contract, Jackie is guided by values learned early. Those values are reflected day-today operations of her company. Jackie states building your reputation by focusing on quality is paramount to success.

Anita R. Brown-Graham is UNC’s Gladys Hall Coates Distinguished Professor of Public Law and Government, and the founder and director of the ncIMPACT Initiative at the UNC School of Government. Collaborative leadership is bringing people together to help them accomplish things they may not realize they can accomplish individually or collectively. An effective collaborative leader does this without leaving a lot of fingerprints.  An analogy from a colleague likens the leadership style to being a midwife, critical to the process but no one remembers you afterwards.

Kevin Kruger, CEO for NASPA, has more than 40 years of experience in higher education. He states, a strong organizational culture starts with an unclouded vision that identifies strategies and opportunities that empowers and values people. The actions of a leader must be consistent with the values they expound. The words of a leader must be followed-up with tangible acts.

ECU alumnus and former Pirate football player Ed Watkins says that his upbringing and athletics gave him a never give up mentality and the core values for life. Leadership, he says, is the ability to make a difference.  The best way to make a difference is to lead by example.