Leadership Wisdom for Women – “I’m Not Suppose To Be Here”

On a regular Tuesday afternoon on a quiet college campus, it was anything but ordinary and calm in the auditorium packed full of mostly women. The first words uttered from the special keynote speaker, Nancy Zimpher, 12th Chancellor of the SUNY System was, “When you put yourself forward, others see you.” Zimpher delivered a brilliant, positive and poignant speech with the theme “I am not suppose to be here” as she recounted her rise in professional ranks from college graduate to leader of one of the largest university systems in the country.

The program produced by New York State Senator Patty Ritchie called “Ladies Who Lead” was a panel discussion hosted by SUNY Oswego featuring several female speakers who emphasized the need to empower women in the business and education fields and their communities. Every time Zimpher broke another glass ceiling within her career, she said to herself, “I’m not supposed to be here – but I am.” She acknowledged that women can be anything they want to be even if the world says, “you aren’t supposed to be here.”

Deborah Stanley, SUNY Oswego President, one of the 25 women leading one of the 64 SUNY colleges said, “I made sure not to listen to anyone say I couldn’t do something. I never took “no” for an answer and that was key in my career success.” For most of the panelists, success was summed up in this one statement, “We talk about success as monetary gain but success is about changing the world for others in your own special way and offering the world something you can be proud of.”