16 Feb WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE “TEAMWORK, TONE, TENACITY” (T3) LEADERSHIP: SUSAN B. ANTHONY

Susan B. Anthony, leader of America’s women’s suffrage movement, was born OTD 1820. She was a remarkable exemplar of someone who shared a vision for the future, provided total devotion to a cause and fight corrupt exercises of power.  Her speeches and keynote addresses touched women nationwide and brought tens of thousand to support the suffrage cause. She was the first woman depicted on U.S. currency with the 1979 one dollar coin. Slight of stature but with an incredibly powerful character, her inspirational leadership style emphasized:

• TEAMWORK:  Loyal and purpose driven. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who became her lifelong friend and co-worker, primarily in the field of women’s rights. In 1866, they initiated the American Equal Rights Association, which campaigned for equal rights for both women and African Americans. In 1869, they founded the National Woman Suffrage Association as part of a split in the women’s movement. In 1876, they began working with Matilda Joslyn Gage on what eventually grew into the six-volume “History of Woman Suffrage.” 

• TONE:  Her rallying cry was, “Failure is impossible.” On election day, Nov. 5, 1872, Anthony and 14 other women cast their ballots in Rochester, NY. A poll watcher challenged their right to vote, but the inspectors allowed the women to proceed. On Nov. 18, the women who voted and the election inspectors who allowed them, were arrested. The judge – in writing – directed the jury to deliver a guilty verdict and denied Anthony’s attorney’s request to poll the jury to get their opinions. The judge asked Anthony if she had anything to say. “You have trampled … my natural rights, my civil rights, my political rights, my judicial rights.” When ordered to pay a $100 fine, Anthony refused, “I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty” – and she never did. The court took no further action. The trial of Susan B. Anthony made women’s suffrage a national issue. Anthony, died in 1906, 14 years before American women were granted the right to vote via the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

• TENACITY:  Traveled tirelessly in support of her cause, giving as many as 100 speeches per year and working on many state campaigns. She worked internationally for women’s rights, playing a key role in creating the International Council of Women, which is still active.

Ridiculed for decades, public perception of Susan B. Anthony changed radically during her lifetime. She celebrated her 80th birthday at the White House at the invitation of President McKinley. In addition to being the first woman to appear on U.S. coinage, she was also one of the first American women depicted on a U.S. postage stamp.  Anthony did not live to see the achievement of women’s suffrage at the national level, but at the time of her death, women had achieved suffrage in several states (Wyoming the first), legal rights for married women had been established in most states, many professions had at least a few women members and there were an estimated 36,000 women were attending colleges and universities, up from zero a few decades earlier.. Two years before she died, Anthony said, “The world has never witnessed a greater revolution than in the sphere of woman during this fifty years.”  That is in large part due to her “T3” leadership!

– Rear Admiral Paul Becker, USN (Ret) is a leadership expert.  He is the CEO of The Becker T3 Group, a platform for his motivational and national security keynote speaking. A former Naval Intelligence Officer, he’s successfully led large, diverse, high-performing teams afloat and ashore in peace, crisis and combat.  In 2016, The Naval Intelligence Community established “The Rear Admiral Becker ‘Teamwork, Tone, Tenacity Award for Leadership” in his honor.