Former founder and CEO of the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Institute, founded as the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management and renamed in 2012 to honor Hesselbein’s legacy and ongoing contributions. Frances passed away in 2022.
Hesselbein served as the organization’s founding president and chief executive officer from 1990 to 2000 and most recently served as chair of the board from 2000-2010. She held these positions following a distinguished tenure as CEO of the Girls Scouts of the United States of America from 1976 to 1990. As a “pioneer for women, diversity and inclusion,”
Hesselbein was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. A distinguished author and board member for several nonprofit and corporate boards, she serves as editor-in-chief of the award-winning journal Leader to Leader and is the coeditor of twenty-seven books in twenty-nine languages.
She has written numerous articles and books on effective leadership, including the best seller, The Leader of the Future, Hesselbein on Leadership, and her most recent publication More Hesselbein on Leadership.
Frances Hesselbein Key Talent | Respect for all people.
Principles I Live By | Leaders of the future manage for the mission, manage for diversity, and manage for innovation, or they are part of the past.
Critical Skills I Develop | Listening. It’s called appreciation, it’s called anticipation — and it’s called leadership. Focusing on task (the work we do), not gender. Moving beyond the old assumptions, practices, and language that can be barriers to equal access. One barrier is placing women in a special category of gender – “women leaders.”
The Best Advice I’ve Received | Respect for all people.
Lessons I Have Learnt | This could be anything from very simple small lessons, too much larger bigger lessons.
Always be on time. I grew up in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, where 5:30 means 5:30. The first time I met Peter Drucker, it was because we both showed up on time. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.
Resources I Use To Stay Inspired | Peter Drucker’s collection of leadership wisdom; the many contemporary books and films on management and leadership sent to me by today’s leadership practitioners; and the Millennial generation — young people ages 18 to 29, the greatest generation since the 1930’s and 40s.
On Inspiring Others | Engage great leaders, thinkers, from all three sectors in all aspects of our organization’s leadership and management challenges and opportunities. Practice “Ask, don’t tell.”
I Am Inspired By | My grandmother. When I was 8 years old, she taught me, “Respect for all people.” She remains my role model to this day. Abraham Lincoln. In a time when our country was torn apart he found the message and the language to bring the country back together. General Lloyd J. Austin III. General Austin, with whom I have worked since 2007 when he invited me to speak to the officers of 18th Airborne. He is now Commander, U.S. Central Command.
His quiet and respectful demeanor, combined with his love and devotion for our country, his deep respect for all people makes him one of the best communicators I have ever met. 9. What Legacy would you like to leave? “To serve is to live,” is my message, my legacy for leaders of the future. Part of that legacy is a passionate respect for all people and a total commitment to sustaining the democracy.
Contact Us at WeSpeak Global and click here to find more Motivational Speakers
Roman Rezac is a prolific South African retail entrepreneur with 25 years experience in a constantly evolving environment. He was an International knee-board surfer before he made his passion for beach lifestyle into a career. He opened his first Surf store in 1993 in Durban with borrowed capital and with hard work and perseverance he […]
Jon Boynton-Lee has it all! He is a South African actor, model, television personality and director who shot to fame in 2012 when he entered the Top Billing Dream presenter search and emerged the winner. This was followed up in 2014 when he was named as South Africa’s sexiest man by Cosmopolitan magazine as well […]
Alan Brand is a leading expert in the development and provision of innovative employee wellness strategies enabling business enterprises throughout South Africa to mitigate the threat of HIV and AIDS and other associated health and wellness risks. He has developed numerous outcomes based wellness training modules. His personal energy and unique and professional facilitation skills […]
Amit Virmani’s debut, “Cowboys in Paradise”, was one of the most talked-about Asian documentaries in recent years. The controversial film was featured on CNN, BBC and various international media, and is regarded as a valuable counterpoint to “Eat, Pray, Love”. His follow-up, “Menstrual Man”, was a Netflix audience favourite at Hot Docs and will be […]
Desiree-Anne Martin Legacy Project believes in the inherent ability for anyone to change. Her mantra is that there is hope, always and she is a Change Facilitator and Inspirational Speaker. Desiree-Anne has her Postgraduate Diploma (with Honours) from UCT and is a Honorary staff member at WITS University where she is a consultant to the […]
Alex Okosi is a Nigerian-born, US-educated media executive responsible for developing and launching MTV Africa (MTV Base) in February 2005. Currently, he is responsible for managing the growth and development of the Viacom International Media Networks Africa business – a multichannel portfolio that reaches over 100 million viewers and includes MTV, MTV base, Nickelodeon, VH1, […]
Trevor Mclean-Anderson is Founder & CEO of Axis House, a billion Rand turnover multinational business servicing mines with a range of highly specialised proprietary chemical products. My Definition Of Success | In the beginning, success meant the accumulation of wealth or the accumulation of recognition in one’s chosen industry. I was very lucky that early on […]
Every month I select someone out there who is still a bit too young to be concerned about building and leaving a legacy, but who is nevertheless absolutely ‘crushing’ it and Banele Christopher is my pick for this month’s RISING STAR. With a background in strategic communications, he is a Jozi-based entrepreneur and social media […]
These remain the property of its owner and are not affiliated with or endorsed by WeSpeak Global.
Our Mission
© All rights reserved 2025. Created using VOXEL THEME
