Wake Forest University welcomed Linda Hudson to the Charlotte Center on June 9th to share insights about the key traits of leadership. Hudson is the CEO of the Cardea Group, and her career in the defense, aerospace and security industries has spanned 42 years. As the first female CEO of a major US national security company, Hudson has observed many leadership successes and failures throughout her trailblazing career.
Ms. Hudson shared the following three critical traits of a leader:
- Courage—leaders need courage to continuously move towards their dreams and goals, despite the obstacles they encounter. Courage is also very important in making tough decisions and taking action to implement the decisions.
- Conviction—leaders need the conviction or strength of will to implement their vision, even when others do not believe it is possible. For instance, Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, believed in his vision for a new distribution system despite experts’ opinions that it was not possible.
- Accountability—leaders assume responsibility for their own and their organization’s actions. For instance, General Eisenhower writing a letter assuming all blame if the D-Day invasion was not successful. Assuming responsibility allows leaders to control their own destinies and navigate tough situations.
Ms. Hudson is the retired President and CEO of BAE Systems, Inc. and serves on the boards of Bank of America, Ingersoll Rand and Southern Company. She serves on the executive board of the Wake Forest Charlotte Center.
Before joining BAE Systems, she also held leadership positions at General Dynamics Corporation as an officer and vice president as well as president of General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products.
Among numerous awards, Ms. Hudson was selected as the USO’s 2011 Woman of the Year, as Fortune magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and one of Washingtonian magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Washington.
A graduate of the University of Florida, Hudson earned her bachelor’s degree in Systems Engineering with honors. She remains active in the alumni and athletic associations and serves on advisory boards for the College of Engineering. Honored as a Distinguished Alumnus, Linda also is a member of the Industrial and Systems Engineering Hall of Fame. She holds an honorary doctorate in engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and received an honorary doctorate in science from the University of Florida in December 2014.