As a leader in the corporate world, Gail McGovern, A&S '74, often offered her teams a dose of perspective whenever they faced a challenge.
"I would always say to people, 'Hey, calm down, we're not saving lives here,'" she says.
After becoming CEO of the American Red Cross, though, she sang a different tune.
"You couldn't say that," she quips, "because we were saving lives."
But when McGovern joined the Red Cross in 2008, it was the organization that needed saving. It faced dire financial challenges, including a $209 million operating deficit, a pension fund that was short nearly $1 billion, and more than $600 million in loans to repay.
"We had a burning platform to fix," says McGovern, who is stepping down as the organization's CEO in June after 16 years.
The task would draw on every aspect of business expertise McGovern had acquired over a career that included roles as AT&T executive vice president, Fidelity Personal Investments president, and Harvard Business School faculty member. But it also required a change in her leadership approach.
Image caption: Gail McGovern witnesses the destruction caused by the massive earthquake in Bhaktapur, Nepal, in 2015.
Image credit: Paula Bronstein/American Red Cross
McGovern recalls the first few months of her Red Cross tenure, when she traveled to Sichuan, China, following a horrific 8.0 magnitude earthquake, then to the Gulf Coast of Texas in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes. The experience of visiting people in shelters drove home for her that this was truly a beyond-the-bottom-line business.
"We're helping [people] in their darkest hours to get back on their feet," McGovern says. "Without the Red Cross, where would these people be?
"When I joined the American Red Cross, I was leading with my head," she adds. "But the Red Cross taught me how to lead from my heart."
Under her leadership, the Red Cross consolidated its back-office functions, overhauled its IT systems, and refreshed its brand on the way to stable financial footing. The organization also became a nonprofit-sector leader in the adoption of mobile technology, developing and releasing a series of apps that put lifesaving skills and information at people's fingertips.
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McGovern retires as the Red Cross' longest-serving chief executive since the organization's founder, Clara Barton. It's a fitting bookend for McGovern, who began her career with distinction as a member of Johns Hopkins' first cohort of undergraduate women. In April, many of those women joined McGovern on campus to celebrate their 50th reunion.
Hopkins honored the women at a ceremony during halftime of the Blue Jays lacrosse game against Penn State. As the crowd gave them a standing ovation, McGovern looked down the line of her fellow alumnae. She remembers feeling both awe and gratitude.
"I am so proud to be a part of this incredible cohort of amazing women," she says. "They have made, collectively, such a difference in the world."
Her happy Hopkins family: McGovern's daughter, Anne McGovern, A&S '12, and grandson, current undergrad Ryan McGovern, are also proud Blue Jays.
Books she'd recommend to aspiring leaders: The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen, Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter, and Games Mother Never Taught You by Betty Harragan.
Favorite moment as a Yankees fan: Throwing out the first pitch at a game in the Bronx in 2010. "I trot over to the lip of the mound and the catcher is looking at me like, 'Are you kidding me? This little old lady thinks she will be able to reach the glove here?' I think there was divine intervention because I reared back and threw a perfect pitch right into his glove. I don't know who was more surprised, him or me."
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