Women’s History Month panel members emphasize empowerment as key to workplace productivity, performance

Story and photos by Bill Pierce, Ohio National Guard Public Affairs

Senior leaders of the Ohio National Guard stand with panel members (front row) who took part in the Women’s History Month panel discussion, “Weaving the Stories of Women’s Lives,” March 22, 2017, at the Maj. Gen. Robert S. Beightler Armory in Columbus, Ohio. The discussion was part of the ongoing Ohio National Guard Leadership Development Series, which focused on why diversity and inclusion matter not only in the workplace, but in our daily lives.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (03/22/17) — Nearly 150 Members of the Ohio National Guard and civilian employees gathered for a panel discussing the significance of why diversity and inclusion matter, as part of the organization’s ongoing leadership development series. The panel, “Weaving the stories of Women’s Lives,” brought in women of industry who in their own way, focus on leading teams by empowering them through inclusion and engagement in order to achieve peak performance in the workplace.

“We are extremely honored to have these three accomplished leaders of women taking part in our panel,” said Maj. Shaun Robinson, state diversity & inclusion advisor for the Ohio National Guard and one of the event’s organizers. “Their expertise in the subject of diversity and inclusion was evident in the sharing of their personal situations they had to overcome in order to be where they are today.”

Each of the panelists shared stories of how they got to their current positions in the workforce. One underlying point made during the discussion was making sure you are fully engaged in a conversation while at the same time, having the emotional intelligence of being aware of where you stood.

“Emotional intelligence is essentially made up of four buckets: self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy and social skill,” said panelist Megan Cleghorn, president, Cleghorn Performance Elevation, LLC.

Jeanetta Darno, CEO of Strategic HR Advisors, is a military veteran of Operations Desert Shield and Storm. Her company focuses on enabling leaders and leadership teams to achieve peak performance through inclusion and engagement.

“Everyday, leaders make a choice to opt in and determine who they bring to the table to help them deliver results,” Darno said, also highlighting the importance of continuing to push mentorship so that young, diverse people can seek out valued information on their pathway to success.

“This observance showed how important it is that we continue to grow our Diversity & Inclusion program because it is founded on building equality and mutual respect among all personnel, which will make us the best we can be,” Robinson said.