ELLISVILLE ā Mississippi Economic Council COO, Cathy Northington spent a morning at Ā鶹ֱ²„ recently sharing how Ā鶹ֱ²„ students can be leaders who make a difference as the guest speaker for the collegeās annual Black History Leadership program. Despite the many obstacles in her way, like leaving college to have a child and being raised by her grandmother, Northington discovered a way to be a leader in her field.
āI remember complaining to my grandmother, āIām tired and I want to stop working. I donāt feel like my voice is being heard the way I wanted it to be heard,āā explained Northington to Jones students. āMy no-nonsense grandma in her meek and mild manner told me, āItās not about you. Itās about what you can do for others.ā That was the gut punch I needed.Ā At that moment I knew that I needed to lead to make a difference.ā
The Jackson native studied marketing at Mississippi College and graduated from the Institute for Organization Management, an intensive four-year nonprofit leadership training program conducted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce at the University of Georgia. She was able to rise to the top as Chief Operating Officer of the MEC, Mississippiās leading and largest broad-based business organization, working part-time before becoming MECās Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer and current COO, because of that ādefining momentā with her grandmother.Ā She decided to become a leader who is teachable, compassionate and empathetic. As the, Our Mississippi Magazineās and the Womenās Fund, 2018 Business Woman of the Year, Northington applied her grandmotherās wisdom to become a successful leader.
āBeing a leader is one of the hardest jobs and itās also one of the most rewardingā¦. In order to be teachable, you have to understand youāre never too old to learn. You have to care about those that youāre leading to being compassionate. If you are empathetic, itās not always easy, but you have to allow yourself to be vulnerable. To whom much is given, much is required. Serve, even when youāre not getting paid to serve.ā
She challenged the audience to consider the āpearlsā of wisdom they can leave and collect, as well as what kind of blessings they can leave behind. Coordinator of the event and Ā鶹ֱ²„ās assistant to the president for corporate training, Dr. Samuel Jones, added we can all learn from each other, but we also have to discover our purpose in life to impact our surroundings.
āThere is a purpose for everything. I encourage you students to find the purpose in all of your challenges, in all of your struggles and in everything you face in this thing called life, because this is what leading to make a difference is all about,ā said Dr. Jones.
Northington also urged students to get out of their comfort zones and be disciplined to make the soundtrack of their lives what they want it to be; positive or negative.