As an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, Christy Rutherford spent 16 years honing her leadership skills. But when she left the military and sought to develop future leaders, she encountered resistance when she tried to cross over to the civilian sector. Since then, she has authored six best-selling books and founded Live-Up Leadership, a company that provides professional training and coaching. She also attended the Program for Leadership Development (PLD) at Harvard Business School (HBS) Executive Education, to which she attributes much of her current success. In this interview, she shares her thoughts about her experience in the program.
Why did you choose to apply to PLD?
One of my friends, who was a Major in the Marines and currently works for the federal government, completed the General Management Program (GMP) at HBS. When I expressed frustration that my military leadership experience did not translate well to the civilian sector, he encouraged me to apply to GMP. But after reading the course description for PLD, I felt this program was a better fit. I became excited to apply after I spoke with Lisa Hughes, the program director, and gained additional insight into the benefits of the program and the world-wide community of participants. And the program became even more appealing when I learned that the GI Bill, Yellow Ribbon, and Harvard would pay for a significant portion of the cost because of my service in the U.S. military.
What benefits were you hoping to take away from the program?
I was hoping to learn how my leadership experience from the U.S. Coast Guard could be applied in the civilian sector. People kept placing limits on who I was capable of training, saying that I should seek to train only minorities, women, or military members. But leaders are important in every organization around the world, so I needed a program that would prepare me to train leaders on a global level, which is what I felt I was capable of achieving. With the insight, network, knowledge, and experience I gained at PLD, there are no limits to what I can achieve. I can honestly say that I now appreciate the people who sought to limit my potential after leaving the Coast Guard, because they made me look for other ways to expand.
Did the program meet your expectations?
PLD exceeded my expectations, in every way—including the quality of the case study work, the exceptionalism of the professors, and the international connections and network. The staff that facilitates the program was also world class. They went above and beyond in everything they did to ensure that we had everything we needed, and they coordinated activities that allowed people from different backgrounds to connect. PLD is an amazing program, and I've already recommended it to several friends and contacts.
What did you learn in the program that helped you connect with other aspiring leaders?
The biggest benefit of attending PLD was learning to understand corporate language. With my background in the Coast Guard as a federal regulator of large oil companies, I had a difficult time identifying the civilian equivalent of my experience. As a first responder during emergencies such as Hurricane Katrina, as well as maritime accidents where ships sank or produced large oil spills, I worked tirelessly with thousands of local, state, and federal agencies with different backgrounds and jurisdictions to create solutions for saving people and mitigating environmental damage. But I couldn't quantify what I did, and I didn’t understand how to talk about it—that was very frustrating. However, the more I read and studied, the more I could articulate the exact value I could add to an organization. At that point, culture and change management rose to the forefront, and that's how I now market my company. Additionally, I learned that great leaders share traits and behaviors that are grounded in time-tested principles, and having the ability to bring clarity to those principles provides a framework for aspiring leaders. When they realize that they share these same traits with individuals such as Thomas Edison, Oprah, Andrew Carnegie, or Michael Jordan, they know they are in good company and that they will succeed if they are persistent.
Which aspects of the program contributed most to your success?
The content, the faculty, and the community were all strong pillars that made the program exceptional. The case studies provided incredible insight into the challenges that companies experience as they face change—for example, USA Today shifting from a print-only to a digital format and NASA shifting to open innovation. We studied a wide range of challenges that companies experience in finance, branding, culture, corporate accountability, and other areas. My favorite modules were the ones that focused on culture, change management, and leadership.
As for the faculty, I'm not sure if I can adequately describe how impressed I was with them. I had encountered some very good professors while earning past degrees and certifications, but the professionalism and passion of the professors at HBS set a new standard. I was in awe from the first week all the way through the last course in Module 5. Professor Tsedal Neely's passion could be felt at the cellular level, and she kept me engaged throughout the course. Professor Michael Tushman gave me so much perspective on the importance of a strong corporate culture and the detrimental effects of not paying attention to it. I wasn't as interested in economics, but Professor Gunnar Trumball taught with such excitement and passion that he fully engaged my attention. HBS has some of the greatest, if not the greatest, faculty in the world.
Finally, when I spoke with Lisa Hughes prior to applying to the program, she told me that I would make lifelong friends during PLD. I thought it was a nice sentiment, but I didn't expect to establish deep connections with people in such a short amount of time. I can honestly say, however, that I’ve built lasting friendships with a number of my classmates. I talk to some of them regularly by video and phone, and I look forward to getting together with them at PLD reunions and visiting them in their home countries. I feel very fortunate that I had the chance to meet them.
What would you say is a unique benefit of attending this program?
The unique benefit of PLD is getting a global perspective on leadership and having the opportunity to learn with—and from—professionals and leaders from around the world. We all had an opportunity to add to each other. Whether I was interacting with a banker from Poland, an engineer from India, a marketing executive from Denmark, an IT professional from South Africa, or a consultant from France, I gained knowledge and expertise that's invaluable. PLD has opened more doors than I could have ever imagined. I'm honored, humbled, and grateful to be a part of such an amazing community.
Is there a common thread that runs through your Coast Guard experience, your writing, and PLD?
Absolutely! As a leader, I love studying leadership and the principles of success. I recognize that all great leaders share common principles regardless of their backgrounds. When one understands this, leadership and success are predictable—which is what I've written about in several of my books. In the PLD program, I had the opportunity to see these traits, or lack thereof, in the case studies and in my 180-plus classmates who came from 45 countries. This learning experience was amazing, and it further strengthened my belief in principle-based leadership.
Why was it important for you to finish PLD, come back for Module 5, and become an alumnus of the school?
One of my goals in attending PLD was to gain alumni status, so Module 5 was a great opportunity for achieving that objective. Having access to the HBS network and the Harvard Business Clubs was also important to me, especially as an entrepreneur. People do business with individuals they know, like, and trust. Having the opportunity to be a part of the HBS community and connect with like-minded professionals enables me to enhance my network and grow a global company. HBS is a great place to be.
What inspired you to start Live-up Leadership?
As a leader in the Coast Guard, I coached and trained my personnel to achieve high performance. I also mentored an additional 70 personnel outside of my office in an effort to help minorities similarly advance. However, because I was a high achiever and a workaholic, I never stopped to see the impact that I was having in the lives of others. I was always working on the next project or challenge that needed to be addressed. After leaving that career, I took some time to reflect on the impact I had made and began to recognize a pattern in the individuals who had worked for me. I saw that my direct reports were all rock stars who had been promoted several times and had outperformed others on a nationwide level for elite jobs and special opportunities. And I realized that their characteristics, in turn, had trickled down to the personnel who worked for them. I sent a survey to 20 people at various levels and asked for their feedback about leadership and what made me different than other leaders with whom they had worked. I learned that I had demonstrated the same traits and behaviors of the leaders I was studying at the time—among them Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, Wallace Wattles, and Dorothea Brande. This inspired me to create Live-Up Leadership, which is a training company for teaching foundational principles. PLD gave me the clarity to expand my company into training organizations on managing change and creating cultures of high performance. It was a natural fit.
What has driven you to seek additional programs at HBS?
I have concepts for several businesses that are focused on helping the veteran community. These are huge projects. I launched two of them several years ago, but I failed miserably. At the time, I didn't know how to properly build a company of that magnitude, and other business owners took advantage of me by exploiting my blind spots. It was a painful experience. Although I've successfully launched a leadership development company, my other projects have always been in the background waiting for timing and opportunity to get them off the ground. I have been exploring funding for these projects, but I'm still accumulating the knowledge about who, what, why, and how—and I've been fearful about being taken advantage of again. These projects are too important to fail a second time, but they need to be launched. That's why I'm very excited about two other programs that will fit well with my goals—Launching New Ventures and Foundations of Private Equity and Venture Capital.