October 22, 2007

When I was young I wanted to be a ballerina. I never imagined that I would have a public image beyond dancing on a stage during my 20s and 30s. So this is all a big surprise to me.

I was always someone in the background, willing to work on the team, not step up. I didn’t run for class president. I didn’t seek high office at any stage in my life until I was in my 50s, and then I did so very reluctantly.

In college, I volunteered in Shirley Chisholm’s office and I really became taken by the political process. In the late 1960s, I did analysis related to employment discrimination. It was transformative in many ways because I saw the work that I was doing resulted in the enhancement of federal policy. It was an opportunity for me to make a contribution. I knew then that you could change public policy as a result of analysis and innovation and creativity and brainstorming.

I stayed involved in politics, a variety of campaigns, fund-raising, community organization, what’s called field operations in politics. I developed a reputation for being able to bring people together, for being analytical, for presenting policy proposals and for helping to organize the grass-roots support necessary to effect public policy.

But I didn’t catch the leadership bug. I scrambled for the hinterlands. I scrambled for the back seat. I wasn’t confident enough.

Women need to help women understand that we were not all born with all of the skills, nor was anyone, men or women, that are necessary. But with hard work and passion, you can be recognized as a leader. My fears of failure, my fears of not being perfect, kept me from thinking that I could run for mayor. I was the top appointed woman in city government in my 40s. I stepped out, but I didn’t have the nerve to run. I was still the person behind the man. In my 50s, I was willing to be the woman out front and that’s when I ran for mayor.

I think people mature at different stages of their lives. Twenty years ago there were lots of barriers. There were social barriers, there were peer-groups pressures not to step out of line. So I think the younger generation can start as early as they feel comfortable.

The key is to find your own comfort level with taking the risk of leadership. Some people get it earlier than others. In hindsight, if I had been born 20 years later, I probably would have seized more opportunities at an earlier age.

I encourage young women to find what their passion is and to work hard. They should not see any limits. I’m a perfect example of that. I am very unlikely person to be in public life.

All of my family members would say that because I’m shy. I don’t like the limelight. I step back from it. I do my job, and my job means I have to be center stage, but I’m not a natural. And I’m 5 foot 1. When I ran for office, I wore three-inch heels because people thought I was too short to be mayor and too blond to be mayor. So I said, “I can manage the height, but I’m not changing my hair color.”

It was spiritual journey for me in some ways. It is impossible to offer limitless opportunities to young people if those of us who are older are not willing to take the risk.

At some point, I looked in the mirror and said, “You cannot give another graduation or baccalaureate speech, or another pep talk to a young woman that she has no boundaries and no limits if you in fact are limiting yourself by your fear.”

The best thing was running, and when I won, I was surprised. I was not predicted to win the way I won. I enjoyed every day of the campaign, and I enjoy every day, even the tough days, in the office.

I enjoy it because it’s a challenge. It’s a challenge emotionally, it’s a challenge intellectually, and it’s a challenge to find new ways to do what needs to be done to make this a great city.

And frankly, the public in Atlanta had not counted on Atlanta—on the city being in such bad shape, and I had to give them the bad news that we were close to bankruptcy, and that we would all have to really take a step back and reorder our priorities if were to get through it. So I knew we had to stay the course—we couldn’t turn the corner by creeping. We had to take a big step to turn the corner. So I love challenge, and I have not regretted a single day that I have been in office.