Jeanne Linder Johnson Phillips joined President Turner and students of the university at this year’s first President’s Leadership Summit Wednesday evening. Phillips, the current senior vice president of corporate affairs and international relations at Hunt Oil Co., spoke of her experiences as a leader, relating times of hard work, second chances and personal growth.
“Sometimes you know in your heart, when you’re little, that you’re a leader. Especially like me, if you were bossy,” said Phillips.
She began by always claiming the role of teacher in play times with her cousin and continued to fill the role of a leader when she broke ground by becoming the first female elected student body president at a Little Rock high school.
“Leaders have to be willing to listen. When you listen, it helps you determine what the roadmap is for what you want to accomplish,” she said, claiming that listening is one of the key characteristics of a good leader. Phillips also said that leaders can bring a consensus point of view to a situation, a quality she found particularly useful as a U.S. ambassador in Paris.
Reflecting on her past at SMU, she said, “I think SMU is one of the best universities for meeting people who get things done.”
Phillips graduated from the university in 1976 following semesters spent at both Baylor University and the University of Arkansas. After graduation, she worked at Cox School of Business for about four years before leaving to start her own business. She said her company allowed her to earn money and volunteer on the side so she could “keep [her] hand in politics.”
While working at SMU, she would take her lunch hour at 4 p.m. and then drive to George Herbert Walker Bush’s campaign center and volunteer until midnight. This pattern of full-time work and volunteering not only prepared her for future work in politics, but further interested Phillips in campaign work. She said she had always wanted to work in the field of politics and that one should “never let anyone take away your dreams.”
Phillips later became involved with George W. Bush’s campaign for governor and, eventually, both of his campaigns for the presidency. As a close friend of Bush, she spent almost two years prior to the election traveling with the president and for 14 months commuted from Dallas to Washington, D.C. in order to balance commitments in both cities.
Bush asked her to organize and carry out both of his inauguration celebrations, a role which Phillips loved. Her dream was to become the chief of protocol, or, as Phillips put it, “Queen party giver of the U.S.” Her dream became a reality when Bush did indeed ask her to fill this position, but her desire to be with her young daughter and family led her to write him a letter turning the offer down.
“You don’t want to tell the president no, but you don’t want to be away from home all of the time, either,” Phillips said.
It wasn’t long, however, until another unexpected opportunity came along, and Phillips was asked to become a U.S. ambassador to an economic organization in Paris. “You have to know when to hold’em and when to fold’em,” said Phillips, adding that “[y]ou always have to be in the moment” to be a successful leader. Taking the job in Paris allowed her a second chance to serve the president in a way she had not previously expected.
Currently working at Hunt Oil Co., Phillips describes her journey through career paths and leadership positions as a “line of dots that have somehow all connected together.” “Follow your instincts about what you love and don’t do things just because other people tell you to,” she said.
As she concluded her message, she emphasized the importance of leaders being able to listen and focus on what is truly important in life. “Keep into focus your priorities, and don’t chase the dollar too fast,” Phillips said.
President Turner’s next Leadership Summit will take place on Nov.14 at 5 p.m. The summits occur four times a year, twice in both the fall and the spring.
