Bob McDonald and Heidi Woodbury - U Can't Train Love

Today, Leentje chats with two incredible guests and Eccles
community members, Heidi Woodbury and Robert "Bob" McDonald.





Heidi joined the University of Utah’s senior leadership team as
the new Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Previously,
she served as the Assistant Dean for External Relations at the
David Eccles School of Business.





Bob McDonald graduated from the United States Military Academy at
West Point in the top 2 percent of the Class of 1975 and earned
his MBA from the University of Utah in 1978. Before joining VA,
he was Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The
Procter & Gamble Company (P&G). He was confirmed
unanimously by the United States Senate to serve as the Secretary
of Veterans Affairs under President Obama.





Bob and Heidi narrate a little bit about their backgrounds. They
share their connection to the Eccles school, how they came to
know each other, and the projects they have worked on together.





They share their views on empathy and how they applied it
throughout their career. They also explained the role empathy
plays in leadership development.





Finally, Bob and Heidi offer their advice to people on finding
and discovering their life purpose and Bob shares his infamous
leadership tenants that have guided Heidi throughout her career.



Episode Quotes:




What is empathy?





Bob - "(Empathy) to me is an incredibly
important leadership trait. (You) really have to be able to put
yourself in the other person's position and understand that, not
just logically, but viscerally, to be able to provide the proper
leadership."





Heidi - "As far as putting somebody else before
you or putting yourself in their shoes, the golden rule is to
treat others as you would like to be treated. And the platinum
rule is to treat others as they would like to be treated. And I
think we miss that so often. Sometimes we're not listening to
what it is they're trying to tell us. And sometimes, it's just
the little things that go a long way."





Empathy on leadership development





Bob - "I can train you in all the behaviors of
leadership, their technical behaviors. We can give you the
judgment to decide to use them. What I can't train you in is the
love you have to have for the people you work with. And it's that
love that makes your behaviors authentic. It's that love that
leads to empathy. I believe the very best leaders have that love,
and that love shows up as empathy."





Heidi - "Most people don't want to fail. We have
a hard time accepting failure. I feel empathy is a great way to
help people recover. They've got to figure out how to get back
out there, and you can't just tuck in and go away; you've got to
brush off and figure out how you're going to go back out and try
it again."





Heidi on her life purpose - "This university is
my purpose. It has been a transformative experience for me. Every
day that I come to work, this is a calling for me, and I'm
blessed to have that. How many people can say they have a job
that has so much meaning to them?"





Bob's advice on finding life's purpose -
"Sometimes it takes time, but my suggestion is to look back
across your life and look for threads of continuity in your life.
As you try to connect those various activities in your life and
get in touch with your passion, you try to articulate how that
may ladder up to a bigger purpose."