Interview with Dr. Bernice Ledbetter

I recently had the fantastic opportunity to talk with Dr. Bernice Ledbetter, Director of the Center for Women in Leadership at Pepperdine’s Graziado’s business school. She is an award-winning professor with a truly impressive research background. Dr. Ledbetter specializes in women in leadership, organizational ethics, non-Western approaches to leadership, and gender differences in the workplace. 

I asked her about the center at Pepperdine, her global projects, changing the lives of women business leaders, and her advice for girls like me interested in business. Below are my notes summarizing our chat. I hope you enjoy and learn lots of new things, as I did. Many thanks, Professor Ledbetter!

Center for Women in Leadership

Dr. Ledbetter not only serves as Director of the Center for Women in Leadership at Pepperdine’s business school, but she also came up with the idea for the Center. She said that one student’s paper really stood out to her. It talked about how, in the student’s culture, it was highly unusual for women to be allowed to lead, but the student’s father believed in her and made it possible for her to study in America. 

This led Dr. Ledbetter to reflect on her personal goals. She asked herself “What is the difference that I want to make? What is the legacy that I want to lead and leave behind?” She soon had her answer. “The first thought that came to my mind was the ambition to start a center focused on women and leadership,” she said. She wrote her idea down on a Post-it note, stuck it on her computer, and wondered how she would ever be able to do such a thing. After some time, she decided to compose a proposal for a competitive grant program for the students, staff, and faculty. It was approved in 2014, and a year later, the Pepperdine Graziadio Center for Women in Leadership was launched! The main purpose of the center is to educate and empower women in positions of leadership. They do this through mentoring, skills development, research, and by contributing to an ongoing dialogue. They have created a six-month leadership development program, a mentoring program, a staff training program, and an extensive amount of research. You can read more about the center on their website.  

50/50 Women on Boards

Dr. Ledbetter also is part of an organization called 50/50 Women on Boards. It is committed to accelerating gender balance and diversity on boards of Russell 3000 Index companies, with women holding 50% of the board seats and women of color holding at least 20% of the board seats. It was started in 2020 with the target of having women occupy 20% of corporate board seats and their goal was achieved. According to 50/50 Women on Boards, “As of March 31, 2023, women hold 28.9%” of board seats, which means there is still work to be done. They ask companies to be transparent, embrace diversity, and remove barriers. If you’d like to learn more, check out their website. 

Projects Around the World

In 2020, Dr. Ledbetter wrote about Women in Leadership in Uganda from a research trip in 2017. One thing that she found amazing was all the stories of the women, which were similar to many young women in the US. They had many challenges often dealing with familial expectations and other limitations. 

In 2023, she took a school trip to Rwanda with a few students to learn about the country and culture and understand the social enterprises. They talked with three different NGOs and spoke with teenage moms, some of whom graduated from an organization that prepares social entrepreneurs to be successful in their business adventures with a mindset to give back to their communities. 

Advice

The #1 piece of advice that someone had told her was to do “everything that you do with the highest degree of excellence that you can muster.” One of the principles that she follows is that nothing you do in life is wasted, and that everything you put time and effort into will be useful in one way or another. So if you don’t know what path in life you’d like to take, that’s ok.

Her #1 piece of advice she would have given herself when she was growing up is to not be afraid. She said “Don't let your perceptions of yourself hold you back. Don't worry about making a mistake. And try to go for the impossible thing, because it isn't.”

Closing  

I had such a fantastic time getting to interview Dr. Ledbetter. I hope you were as inspired as I was. Thank you so much, Dr. Ledbetter!