DEL at White House

Photo courtesy of Megan Mendenhall

Getting a room of mid-career professionals to stand up and sing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” without a hint of irony is no small feat, but it seemed a natural task for Mamie Parker. Ms. Parker, former Head of Fisheries and Assistant Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was one of an impressive group of leaders to meet Duke DEL-MEM students during a weeklong December session in Washington, D.C. She was not the only speaker to elicit tears over the session, but she was the only one to inspire us to break out into song.

The course was designed to bring together DEL classmates, who mostly see each other in on-line classrooms, to meet with a variety of influential leaders. We heard the leaders’ stories—how they got to where they were, what they learned along the way, and how they defined leadership. We asked ample questions and then regrouped at the week’s end to reflect on common threads and discuss what resonated.

Congressman Scott Brown, the only elected leader of the bunch and a Duke alumnus, talked about the importance of collaborative efforts and not getting sucked into the typical D.C. mentality of “tell me what your rank is, and I’ll tell you if you have a good idea.”

Lester Brown, founder of both the Worldwatch Institute and the Earth Policy Institute reminisced about his time in grade school reading biographies of important leaders like Marie Curie and George Washington instead of doing his schoolwork, and lauded the virtues of public education.

Given that several DEL students work in the energy field, it was interesting to hear attorney Kenneth Feinberg tell his story of  devising and managing BP’s 420 billion compensation fund for damage claims associated with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After that event, portions of the Interior Department were reorganized to improve oversight of the country’s natural resources. Two of the featured leaders—Brian Salerno, Director of Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and Tommy Beaudreau, Chief of Staff, U.S. Department of the Interior, both imparted valuable leadership lessons learned in that transition process.

Other leaders the group met with included Donald Santa, President and CEO of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America; Kevin Moss, Global Director of the Business Center at the World Resources Institute; and Greg Martin, Executive Director, Global Public Policy at General Motors.

As Annie Spaulding, a first year student in the DEL-MEM program, notes “the D.C. series provided an unparalleled opportunity to meet some of today’s top leaders face-to-face and reflect on cultivating my own leadership style.”

For second-year DEL student Lee Ellen Carter, the advice of Admiral Robert Papp, currently Special Representative for the Arctic for the U.S. State Department, stood out. In captaining ships, the admiral had learned to always check in with the crew, ending talks with a question: “Any questions, comments, gripes, or opinions?” To constantly be listening and to emphasize communication was a recurrent theme for most of the leaders.

Overall, the D.C. session amplified the monthly leadership discussions led for each DEL cohort by advisor Don Wells. Over the week, the students grew closer together and accelerated their individual leadership journeys.

Summing up the DEL in D.C. experience, first-year Josh Jensen remarks that it “was a unique opportunity to collaborate with peers and recognized leaders on how to make lasting and meaningful change. Duke’s talented staff kept us aspiring leaders on our toes as we filled our leadership toolbox for application in real-world settings. The content of the DEL in D.C. program helped me professionally by teaching us that anybody at any level is capable of making a difference. This program was certainly a highlight of my DEL experience thus far.”

Rave reviews all around, but just why were we singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”? To paraphrase Mamie Parker, “Row, row, row,” reminds us not to stop. Don’t quit. Be persistent. And it’s “your boat,” not someone else’s, so find your own leadership style. And remember, take it “gently down the stream.” A gentle leader can still be an inspiring one. And leading can be done oh so “merrily, merrily, merrily.”

Sing it out, and let the lessons sink in.

written by Janet Larsen, DEL-MEM candidate ‘17