Leading With Heart - An Interview with the FDA's Director of OEEO, LaKeisha McClendon
Leadership, by definition, is a role that takes guts.
You need a stiff spine, a strong voice, and eyes that can see past the immediate moment and into the future of a group or organization. What we often forget, however, is that leadership also takes heart.
Ms. LaKeisha McClendon is a perfect example of what “leading from the heart” truly means. And when she talks about leadership - especially the kind of leading she’s done lately in her role as the FDA’s Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity - you can tell that she does mean it, and she means it deeply. Leadership is a topic that forms the compass by which she navigates her life and the many roles that fill it each day.
The Fem Word had the privilege of speaking with her about the topic of leadership as both a role she fills and a passion she holds dear. Ms. McClendon was kind enough to share the valuable insights she has gained throughout her career and life as a leader in countless diverse roles and settings.
We began by talking about milestones.
It Begins With Your Village And Ends With The Gifts You’re Given Along The Way
Like most women in leadership, Ms. McClendon finds that her milestones have followed along the paths her role models and community influencers have cleared for her. From there, they have unfolded into a story of feeling, principles, and lifelong learning.
On a surface level, our culture tends to look at leadership as a lonely occupation. Individualism is celebrated and informs our image of leaders as singled-out figures who go “ahead of the pack” as their followers trail behind them.
In reality, leadership is as much about the people giving you the title as it is about the label of leader itself. Ms. McClendon’s reflections make this clear from the start.
“My journey begins with the village that raised me—my mother, grandmothers, aunts, and mentors who told me that I could do anything I put my mind to [and meant it],” she says. “My family and community are the foundation of who I am and the shoulders on which I stand.”
It was “by building on that strong foundation,” Ms. McClendon feels she was able to become the young woman who forged her path into a career within the government space - a space that she would come to occupy for the next seventeen years.
She began her federal career with the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), and she jokes that “[she] was so happy to have my foot in the door, they could have given [her] a job doing just about anything.”
“All these leaders and many others have impacted me in my journey by giving me a safe space to think through my career and leadership challenges, all while challenging me to push past my limits and not be afraid to lead from where I stand.”
~ LaKeisha McClendon
“Anything” turned out to be a position as a Health Insurance Specialist. While this post allowed her to use her “baseline” competencies and education, Ms. McClendon soon became aware of the fact that it wasn’t aligned with her true gifts, talents, and deeper values. These factors were important to her, and they all centered on her affinity for working with people rather than for or around them.
“After about two years of doing healthcare fraud and operations work,” she reflects, “I knew I needed to get into a space where I was able to do organizational development, training, and human capital work.”
Those opportunities led her to the organization for Human Capital within the CMS, where she was “very intentional” about seeking a “team of people who did the work that [she] was interested in.” An initial lack of positions didn’t hold her back either, as Ms. McClendon did what she refers to as “relationship management.”
“I followed up and continued to follow up until an opportunity aligned for me to get a formal interview and I was later reassigned,” she says. This persistence was to be an omen of her general talent at staying steady when it comes to her deeper missions and goals. Once she made it into the world of Human Capital, she found herself “fortunate to have a leader who was willing to give me space and the opportunity to do what I was really interested in doing.”
Eventually, she crossed the FDA’s radar and was brought in as a Team Lead - her first official leadership position with the federal government. Of her early career experiences, she says, “the lesson for me is, always follow the work that you love and leverage your gifts and talents.”
Letting the “Who” Fuel the “What” - Leadership As Collaboration In Action
When asked about the influences that had the greatest impact on her journey, Ms. McClendon answered not with a what but with a collection of whos.
What was the greatest influence she encountered?
“People,” she answers easily. “[More specifically], my ability to work with people - to create programs, experiences, and services that support people. [People] are the greatest asset to any organization. Any company or organization that has achieved success did it because of the people who execute the work and mission each day.”
Her own path, too, is a tapestry made up of the people who helped her to build it, of which there are many. “Identifying any one person or group of people who had the greatest impact on my journey is such a hard question,” she says. “I’ve worked with and for [so many] amazing leaders.”
“My journey begins with the village that raised me—my mother, grandmothers, aunts, and mentors.”
Ms. McClendon on her family, including her Nana (pictured here pre-pandemic).
“Through each experience” with those leaders, she notes, “[she] adopted new behaviors, styles, and approaches to leading people that stuck with [her].” These experiences and the people who influenced them cultivated Ms. McClendon’s natural draw toward the collaborative and complementary aspects of agency work.
While she finds it difficult to pick out just one or two names from the list of influential people who impacted her career’s trajectory, she fondly remembers mentors and colleagues like Dr. Trina Greer-Shields, former CLO for the U.S. Health and Human Services department, who told her that “[her] gifts and talents will make room for [her]” and, in other words, “to focus on the work and the promotions and [trust that] exposure will come.”
Other mentors reflected this philosophy - mentors like Dr. Gregory Branch, Baltimore County’s Health Officer and a friend of Ms. McClendon’s. “[He] would always share: ‘Character will get you places that your education won’t.’”
From other colleagues and characters along her path, she learned that a person can “never determine [their] priorities” and that “there is a 100% chance that things will not go as planned, but what [you] will be judged on is how [you] react to those challenges and obstacles.”
Even now, Ms. McClendon continues to learn from her many role models and mentors in the professional sphere as well as in her family and personal life.
She credits her current leader and mentor, Ms. Angelique Hebert- the Associate Commissioner for Operations and Deputy Chief Operating Officer of the FDA - with teaching her that she must “learn to pivot” and at times “lean forward” to get a job done, but “you can never forget the people who are working tirelessly beside you to achieve the mission.”
On Letting Values Lead the Way, In Work and In Life
In May of 2020, Ms. McClendon was featured on the Partners in Leadership podcast as a guest and speaker with experience in the leadership arena.
One of the more striking features of her interview was the way she seamlessly wove powerful personal values - values such as accountability and the power of vulnerability in leadership - throughout her answers.
“My three most deeply held values are honesty, humility, and genuine care for [other] people,” she says without hesitation, “and I always seek to nurture and support my colleagues by creating experiences for them.”
Those experiences hinge on Ms. McClendon’s use of consistent, honest, and regular feedback, which she says “is rooted in the goal of achieving outcomes that are in the best interest of the organization in totality—not just one person or team.”
Additionally, she views the twin values of humility and transparency as “key to forming a genuine connection and a space where it is ok to be part of the problem without fear of rejection or failure, but most importantly a space to learn, develop and—above all—to innovate.” Central to the concept of building this space for others is the notion of vulnerability, specifically within the role of a leader.
“Vulnerability does not make you weak; it makes you human,” she states, and “[her] advice to other leaders is to be confident enough in who you are as a leader and the strengths that you bring to be honest about what you don’t know, and when you make mistakes.”
For Ms. McClendon, this almost radical brand of leadership is central to the creation of a team where “you are honest with [...] when owning your successes and failures” and, by being honest in this way, “immediately give everyone else permission to own their mistakes and push forward with solutions.”
This is contrary to our culture’s traditional, more hard-hitting view of leadership, which prizes stoicism and an authoritative brand of confidence that often requires leaders to keep quiet about their human “flaws.” For leaders like Ms. McClendon, flaws are to be examined as a team and worked through, not hidden away behind a confident mask.
Of course, she adds, “this doesn’t mean that you don’t use discretion, as everything is not for everyone and timing is also key.” A bit of balance goes a long way when you’re manning the helm of a major organization, after all.
On Balancing Roles and Keeping the Faith During Our Nation’s “New Normal”
Like most women, Ms. LaKeisha McClendon lives in a constant state of role-juggling - it is a feat we are all too familiar with as the coronavirus pandemic passes the one-year mark and keeps many of us working from home.
The situation has left many women “leading on two fronts” as they simultaneously balance the needs of their families, who have become constant companions as we remain largely housebound, and the responsibilities they hold as workplace leaders, as well. Ms. McClendon is a poignant example of the way these roles and responsibilities can build on one another as we adapt to our “new normal” and aim for a brighter, post-pandemic future.
“My ‘new normal’ includes working from home with four teenagers, all of whom are homeschooled, and a spouse who is an essential worker, coupled with college planning,” she explains, adding, “I am constantly reminded of what matters most.”
This ties back to one of her aforementioned earlier lessons on priorities. Namely, that they often choose us, rather than the other way around. And when you’re a leader - and a mother - those priorities tend to grow out of other people’s priorities, and you are expected to nurture them before your own.
Ms. McClendon with her family, which now also includes her late friend’s teenaged son (October 2020).
“Like work, my home has many personalities, competing priorities, projects, goals, budgets, and operational challenges,” Ms. McClendon points out, and in both environments “expectations must be clear, feedback must be authentic and consistent, and defining the standard of excellence must be non-negotiable.”
The standard Ms. McClendon holds herself to is higher than most people could imagine, both at work and in her personal life. She is now a mother to five, having recently adopted the teenaged son of her late best friend after losing her this past Winter. With so many people depending on her in so many different ways, it’s hard for most people to picture how LaKeisha is able to keep up and lead so effectively.
“My unique leadership style - by my own definition - is that I really try to listen, to meet people where they are, to nurture [their] gifts and talents and never be afraid to bring my authentic self to the table,” she says, her casual explanation hiding an everyday kind of courage that has become characteristic of women and primary caregivers all over the nation.
“I encourage people to address challenges head-on,” she states, “though head-on doesn’t always mean right away.” Just as important as decisiveness is reflection, Ms. McClendon believes, and despite our collective difficulties as of late, there is “as with everything, a time to reflect.”
When she talks about her experiences throughout the pandemic period, her focus is on the moments she has had with her family, the unique ways they have found to be together in spite of major challenges such as her 79-year-old grandmother’s vulnerability and the rigors of managing a large team while also trying to be present in her children’s lives.
She doesn’t waste time dwelling on the negatives of her own situation, instead choosing to reflect on “all the families and people who have lost loved ones, who could not work because their jobs were closed down.” Her perspective on the new, unexpected demands of a workplace that lives at home is equally magnanimous.
“Each person [has] had to make a conscious decision to stop working at the end of the day, and it felt like the days never really ended because we did not have anywhere to go,” she observes. “We have a responsibility to ourselves to pause and give our minds a break. I have to lead by example and take time to disconnect so we can rejuvenate [as a team].”
She reminds all of us that “in every setback, there are always opportunities,” which “could be anything from an opportunity to take on new projects, [the chance to] start a business, to take on a new hobby, etc.”
Most of all, she says, we have the ongoing opportunity to “connect with people [we] didn’t make time to connect with before.” It’s an opportunity she - as a leader, a mother, and a woman defined by her relationships with the people around her - doesn’t intend to waste.
Education, Encouragement, and Final Thoughts - A Note On the Power of Empowerment for Women Leaders
To finish up the very-much ongoing story of Ms. McClendon’s journey into leadership is to once again return to the concept of values, the principles which have grown naturally out of her journey and its diverse cast of characters.
“Vulnerability does not make you weak; it makes you human.”
~ LaKeisha McClendon
On education, which forms the bedrock of Ms. McClendon’s leadership style both formally and informally, she says:
“The concept of education is so much more than the tangible degree that you earn. Education comes from relationships, networking, mentoring, experiences, and exposure [to opportunities]. The key to education is being intellectually curious and to have an appetite to fully understand the foundation and perspectives of any given topic and, as leaders, it is vital to be open to education, regardless of where [you] are in [your] career.”
To young girls and women looking to pursue a career in the traditionally male-dominated world of STEM and governance, she advises:
“Your network and alliances are critical. Diversify [it], ensure that you are exposed to people who are different from you in every aspect imaginable - it’s not just about race; it is also about experiences. Take time to reflect and think before you act and, lastly, find mentors and people who have gone before you and learn from their successes and mistakes.”
To The Fem Word’s traditional question of what makes you feel powerful? Ms. McClendon had this to say:
“I truly feel powerful when I can be my authentic self and own the fullness of my story—a story that includes being a girl from the west side of Baltimore, Maryland, born to teenage parents, the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree, two masters degrees, and become a member of the Federal government’s Senior Executive Service at the age of 45.
“I feel truly powerful when I can give without expecting anything in return, laugh at myself, make a mistake without fear of losing everything.
“I feel powerful knowing that my family can look at me with pride, and every person who has helped me can look at me with no regrets, knowing that their efforts were not in vain.”
And this, more than anything, is what it means to lead with heart.
Thank you to Ms. LaKeisha McClendon, the FDA’s Director of OEEO, for taking the time to share her story with us today.