June Ryan’s accomplishments are many: During her highly successful career in the Coast Guard, she was a trailblazer, achieving many historical firsts for women, including the first enlisted woman to rise to the rank of Rear Admiral. Ryan was also the first woman to serve as the Military Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security and only the third woman in our nation’s history to serve as the Military Aide to the President of the United States.

Today, Ryan is sharing the experiences and wisdom she acquired throughout her military career as a motivational speaker. One stop on her speaking circuit occurred last month at our sister brand’s Women in Retail: On the Road event in Columbus, Ohio. During her keynote presentation, Ryan shared with the audience the importance of holding the light as a leader of people.

What does Ryan mean by “holding the light”? She spoke of a harrowing rescue mission during her Coast Guard career when she was responsible for holding the light during the overnight mission in rough seas to enable the ship’s engineer and executive officer to steer the vessel. Without Ryan holding the light, a successful rescue mission would never have been possible.

“It was a very important lesson for me very early in my career,” recalled Ryan. “To put the experts where the experts need to be. Never does nature say one thing and wisdom another.

Ryan then challenged the audience of retail executives, asking them who are they lighting up within their organizations. Doing so she noted will help attract other very positive people to the organization. Ryan cited a quote from author Shawn Achor in his book “Big Potential“: “By becoming a positive node in your workplace and company or community and helping those around you, you improve other people’s creativity, proactivity, abilities and performance by you lighting them up.”

Furthermore, Ryan noted that by lighting other people up, you not only benefit the group, but you exponentially increase your own potential for success. This idea is counterintuitive to our competitive nature, but it’s important to practice.

“Holding the light for ourselves and holding the light for others actually strengthens us,” Ryan said. “To achieve more of what you want in your own life, you need to hold the light for yourself. You need to focus on your successes.”

Lastly, Ryan encouraged the audience to record and acknowledge the successes of their teams. In the day-to-day, they forget what they have accomplished, Ryan noted.

June Ryan will be a corporate partner workshop leader and keynote speaker at the 2024 Women Leading Travel & Hospitality Summit. Members can register now!