This week we welcomed Anita Zucker who spoke to the club about Leadership and Resilience. You can see the video of our meeting here; Anita was introduced by former member Sandy Morckel (starting at 9:09) Anita's speech starts at 13:28). To see more screenshots, go to our Flickr page
Anita is past President of the Charleston Rotary club and the Chairman and CEO of The Intertech Group. She is an education activist and philanthropist who supports and serves on the board of numerous non-profits and institutions in the Charleston region and nationally.
Anita said in her family resilience was taught by her mother. Though she was small in stature with humble demeanor, Rose had the heart of lioness. When the Germans invaded her Polish village, Jews were sent to live in ghettos. Over the next year, the Germans conducted several actions against the Jews in the ghetto, killing many, including Rose’s father, brother, and other family members. Rose hid her family in multiple places she called “living graves”: underground, under barns, and other places. She saved her mother, 2 younger brothers and a baby niece. When she returned to Ludmir in 1945, there were only 125 surviving Jews from what was a population of over 25,000.
Anita spoke of the leadership qualities of Women. Women tend to view work more holistically, as a component of their life than men. They value meaning, purpose, and connection with co-workers. They are great listeners, motivated by challenge, multi-taskers, and have high emotional intelligence.
Thanks to values and perseverance of late husband Jerry Zucker when the time came for her to step forward and lead, Anita was ready to put her own strengths into action. She said they had a wonderful team in place and no leader can accomplish great things without talented and gifted individuals who support them.
Her company has adopted a strategic approach to make a profit and give back. Their mission statement: Invest profitably in a diverse global group of business while retaining our core values and providing for our employees, communities, and world at large. They strive to be good stewards in companies in which they invest. Anita feels that great achievements are made by leading by example and inspiration rather than dictation. She said one of the major realizations she had as a leader was recognizing the power of her voice. No matter what our position or role in life, each of us was placed here for a reason, and we all need to speak up for a greater good.
Anita said that 2020 has challenged us to be resilient, but life and healing must go on. We have to be aware of the impact of our actions and the legacy that we leave. Legacies are not just about oneself, they are about other people and what they gain as a result of interacting with us. The key question we must consider is: How am I making a difference?
She fights hard for racial equity, social justice, diversity, and inclusion and educating people about these issues. She is using her voice to fight for hate crimes legislation in South Carolina.
*********************************************************************************************