She's Got Nerve – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Christoffersen who is currently serving as the first woman to be appointed Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. 

Susan discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. 

Episode Resources

• The Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE) at the Rotman School of Management https://www.gendereconomy.org/
• Babcock, L., Zackman, G., Peyser, B., Vesterlund, L., & Weingart, L. R. The No Club: Putting a stop to women’s dead-end work. New York, NY Simon & Schuster, 2022.  https://www.thenoclub
• Hewlett, Sylvia. Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.
• Kennedy, Pagan. “How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity.”  The New York Times (January 2, 2016). nytimes.com/2016/01/03/opinion/how-to-cultivate-the-art-of-serendipity.html.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Heather Munroe-Blum who served as Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University from 2003-2013.

Heather discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. 

Episode Resources

• Brown, Brené. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. New York: Avery, 2012.
• Hewlett, Sylvia. Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode Martha and Indira speak candidly with Maria Klawe, the fifth and first woman president of Harvey Mudd College from 2006 to 2023. 

Maria discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.

Episode Resources

Maria’s acronym - Long Creeks Past Dazzling Waterfalls
L - Listen until the full stop
C - Confirm what you have heard
P - Prepare and take notes at meetings
D - Don’t have to answer immediately
W - Waffle and don’t answer too directly
F - Flee before failure - don’t get frustrated
Hewlett, Sylvia. Forget a Mentor, Find a Sponsor: The New Way to Fast-Track Your Career. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2013.
Landaw, Jared L. "How Diverse is Your Board, Really?" Harvard Business Review June 11, 2020). hbr.org/2020/06/how-diverse-is-your-board-really.
Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021.
www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Shirley Tilghman who was the first woman to serve as president of Princeton University from 2001-2013. 

Shirley discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. 
 
Episode Resources

• Haslam, N. (2016).  Bell-Shaped Distribution of Personality Traits.  In Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds).  Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer.Cham.
• Kennedy, Pagan. "How to Cultivate the Art of Serendipity." The New York Times (January 2, 2016). nytimes.com/2016/01/03/opinionhow-to-cultivate-the-art-of-serendipity.html
• Lewis Centre for the Creative and Performing Arts: https://arts.princeton.edu
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com
• Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." The Atlantic (July/August 2012). theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Anne Giardini, a Canadian business executive, journalist, lawyer and author who served as the 11th Chancellor of Simon Fraser University.  She was president of Weyerhauser Company Ltd. and has written two novels, The Sad Truth About Happiness and Advice for Italian Boys. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Order of British Columbia.

Anne discusses her experiences in the position and how she had the 'nerve' to get there.

Episode Resources

• Giardini, A. (2010). Advice For Italian Boys. HarperCollins Canada.
• Giardini, A. (2011). The sad truth about happiness: A Novel. Harper Collins.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021.www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Alison Richard, a distinguished anthropologist who is widely known for her research on the evolution of complex social systems among primates, was the first woman to be appointed Vice-Chancellor (President) of Cambridge University.  

Before arriving at Cambridge, she served as the Provost of Yale University.  She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire and has received numerous honorary degrees from universities in the UK, China, Madagascar, Canada, Korea and the US. 

Alison discusses her experiences in the positions and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there.

Episode Resources

• Bateson, M. C. (1990). Composing a Life. Plume.
• Darwin, C. (2013). The Voyage of the Beagle. Simon and Schuster.
• Richard, A. (2022). The Sloth Lemur’s Song. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226817576.001.0001
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021.
  www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Drew Faust, an American historian who was the first woman to serve as president of Harvard University from 2007 to 2018.  

She received her bachelor’s degree with honors in history from Bryn Mawr College and her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history from the University of Pennsylvania. As a scholar she specializes in the study of the South in the antebellum period and the Civil War, authoring seven books, including her most recent memoir entitled Necessary Trouble: Growing Up at Midcentury.  

Drew discusses her own experiences in the position and how she had the ‘nerve’ to get there. 

Episode Resources

• Drew Gilpin Faust. (2023). Necessary Trouble. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021.
   www.nerve2021.com
• Sommers, Christina Hoff. "A Necessary Option."  The New York Times (September 6, 2016).  nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/17/single-sex-schools-separate-but-equal/a-necessary-option.
• Slaughter, Anne-Marie.  "Why Women Still Can't Have It All."  The Atlantic (July/August 2012).  theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/07/why-women-still-cant-have-it-all/309020/.
• Indiana University.  "Men Do Hear--But Differently than Women, Brain Images Show." Science Daily (November 29, 2000). sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/11/001129075326.htm.
• Coats, Cari H.  "Grit and Grace: A Power Combination for Women Leaders."  Forbes (August 12, 2019).  forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/08/12/grit-and-grace-a-power-combination-for-women-leaders/?sh=5b111428404a.

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Elizabeth Cannon, a leading geomatics engineer, served as the eighth president and vice-chancellor of the University of Calgary from 2010 to 2018. Prior to her appointment as president, she was dean of the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. 

Appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member to the Alberta Order of Excellence, she has worked tirelessly to raise public awareness about science and engineering careers for women.

Episode Resources

• Elizabeth Cannon M. Enhancing Your Higher Education Presidency: Fifteen Lessons on Leadership. RENSAR Publishing; 2020.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Rt. Hon. Kim Campbell, who served as the 19th prime minister of Canada – the first and only female prime minister of Canada. She was the first young woman president of her high school student council, the first woman president of UBC’s freshman class, the first woman to serve as minister of justice in Canada and the first woman to become minister of defense in a NATO country, to name a few. 

She has served as Secretary-General of the Club of Madrid, an organization she helped found, which includes former heads of government and attempts to enhance democracy. A Companion of the Order of Canada, she is recognized internationally as a trailblazer and a leader of leaders! 

Episode Resources

• Campbell, Kim. Time and Chance : The Political Memoirs of Canada’s First Woman Prime Minister. Toronto ; New York, Doubleday Canada, 1996.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!

In this episode, Martha and Indira speak candidly with Susan Hockfield, an American neuroscientist and the first woman to serve as president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from 2004 to 2012.  Prior to becoming president, Dr. Hockfield served as Dean of Yale’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and Yale’s Provost.  

As the first life scientist to be appointed president of MIT, her scholarship involved the use of monoclonal antibody technology in brain research.

Episode Resources

• Hockfield, S. (2019). The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Piper, Martha and Samarasekera, Indira. Nerve: Lessons on leadership from two women who went first. Toronto, Ontario ECW Press, 2021. www.nerve2021.com

Contact She's Got Nerve

• Email nervebook2021@gmail.com
• Visit our website https://nerve2021.com/
• Follow us on Instagram @nervebook2021 and LinkedIn @she'sgotnerve

A special thanks to our team:
Marketing Manager & Producer | Orla McErlean
Show Manager | Eilis Courtney

Thanks for listening to She's Got Nerve!