Leadership Lessons From Lisa Lutoff-Perlo's Accomplished Career

Today brings the new and inspiring book, Making Waves, by Lisa Lutof-Perlo. You will follow the impressive career journey of Lutoff-Perlo, from her stories as an ambitious young woman to first women President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises to Vice Chairman for External Affairs at Royal Caribbean Group.

In the book, she reveals how she navigated an extraordinary four-decade journey with boundless energy, quick wit, and the pursuit of excellence in the face of adversity.

At the heart of her vivid stories of triumphs, hardships, and never letting the word “no” dictate her destiny are essential lessons such as:

The importance of caring deeply for people and putting others first.
How to use your superpowers to set yourself apart from other leaders.
Why you don’t always need a linear plan—sometimes it can be a long and winding journey.
The value of looking at failure and setbacks as success in progress.
Why perseverance, resilience and tenacity are critical to achieving success.

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo

Some of my favorite takeaways from the book are these leadership lessons from Lutoff-Perlo:

At the end of the day, everyone wants the same things in a leader regardless of gender or subject matter expertise. They all want and need a leader who will stay true to the vision and strategy and support them in their jobs so that they can achieve their goals. They also want a leader who has courage and who inspires their employees.

Failure is inevitable; it’s what we do with those “failures” that counts. “The greatest minds in the world know this, and they know that true failure is only in not trying,” explains Lutoff-Perlo. “Every time we rise up and meet the 'failure' or manage the 'mistake,' we are actually progressing toward something greater. I’ve learned that failure is a very important experience in your journey toward success,” adds Lutoff-Perlo.

People aren’t looking for perfect leaders. They’re just looking for leaders. There’s a difference.

It’s really the trust your team has in you as a leader that will ultimately determine if they are going to stick around and go along with the ride.

Difficult times are those that prove how strong your leaders and your culture really are.

In explaining why she wrote the book, Lutoff-Perlo says, “My true motivation was to tell my story through the lessons I learned along the way to make the navigation of your careers and lives easier. If I have helped in any way – big or small – that will be my true reward."

Thank you to the authors for sending me an advance copy of the book.

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