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Stories
3-Minute Briefing: Leslie Hale (MBA 2001)
Topics: Career/Life ExperienceCommunication, BehaviorFinanceDemographics-DiversityDemographics-Race-African American, BlackDemographics-WomenManagement, Leadership
3-Minute Briefing: Leslie Hale (MBA 2001)
Topics: Career/Life ExperienceCommunication, BehaviorFinanceDemographics-DiversityDemographics-Race-African American, BlackDemographics-WomenManagement, Leadership
3-Minute Briefing: Leslie Hale (MBA 2001)
Photo by Stephen Voss
I was born into an entrepreneurial family. My parents owned a small business in the day care industry, so I have been working since I was seven years old. But I didn’t start getting paid until I got out of college.
Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, there were a lot of opportunities to become a statistic. I was determined not to be a statistic.
I fell in love with finance. I fell in love with the concept of being able to take a dollar and make it into two.
You can have a great vision, but if you don’t have your balance sheet in order, then you can’t make it happen. All roads lead to the balance sheet.
The most important thing is the people. If you love a job but hate the people, you will not survive. If you love the people but hate the job, you’ll be OK.
Sometimes in life you have to hitch your wagon to someone. When I met [the former CEO of RLJ] Tom Baltimore, he just checked off all the boxes. Here was somebody who was going to coach, mentor, advise, and give me opportunity.
I got some important advice early in my career: stay on the revenue-generating side of a business. Oftentimes women are encouraged to take the lead in support roles. Those roles are impor-tant, but that’s not where I wanted my career to go.
I saw how hard my parents worked. I didn’t want to be an entrepreneur. But growing up just a step away from the decision makers was like the Hamilton song. I knew I wanted to be in “the room where it happens.”
My leadership style is one of collaboration. I surround myself with very smart people. But don’t confuse my desire to be collaborative with an inability to make decisions.
I’m honored and humbled to be the first African American woman to become CEO of a publicly traded real estate investment trust—but I don’t want to be the last. I am where I am because of all the great advice I received along the way. Now I’m trying to pass along the lessons I’ve learned.
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