Ruth Lenrow

Board of Trustees Chair
Goucher College

The past year has added a level of stress to the daily lives of business leaders that was unimaginable before March 2020. As someone who has sustained achievement, what advice can you give to the Top 100 Women on how they take care of themselves while trying to help so many others (home, work, community)? We all know self-care is critical but also very hard in stressful times.

My advice for my fellow Top 100 Women is to take things not only one day at a time but also one meeting and one task at a time. Many people have a tendency to plan far into the future. One thing COVID-19 has taught all of us, is that in order to be resilient and thrive, we need to be flexible and expect the unexpected. Reaching out to others for their help, advice and expertise is a sign of leadership and not weakness. None of us have all the answers. Additionally, we must remember to keep physically active, which is critically important during stressful times.

How do you and your other Circle of Excellence honorees use your influence and achievement to help the women who want to grow to your level of success?

Mentoring has been a big part of how I try to help other women. I did this in my professional career and continue to do this now in my philanthropic life. Numerous examples come to mind but here is a recent one. I met with a young female freshman at Goucher who told me she was considering transferring to a larger college that had more offerings in her field of study. To convince her that Goucher was able to fulfill her needs, I introduced her to helpful faculty and the result is that she will be pursuing a doctorate in economics starting next year.