The Martha Stewart Leadership Philosophy

Did you watch the Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix that launched last week? I was intrigued for a couple of reasons.

1) I am a Martha fan and have subscribed to her "Your Home Should Reflect the Seasons" since I was a newlywed.

2) She is a polarizing person - you either love her or hate her. I listen to a podcast where there is no love lost on Martha, so I realize she's an acquired taste.

3) She is flawed as a person and has had to "start over" with her career, failed at love, been in prison, and has a distant relationship with her only child. She is intriguing!

4) And lastly, in true Martha spirit, she openly announced that she didn't like the way she came off in the film as a lonely, old woman. So you know I had to watch it!

First of all, she has had a fascinating work life. Stockbroker, caterer, self-taught home renovator, TV host, Omni Media CEO, prisoner, corporate reject, and then start-over-Queen! You have to admire her resilience and her vision of what she was determined that her life would be. So often, women are seen as "too nice" to run a business, but such was not the case with Martha! She is blunt and direct and she wants it the way she wants it. There's no apologizing, making herself smaller, building up the male ego, or making the men feel like it was their idea ----- no sir! She is unapologetically who she is.

She has two mottos that she lives by:

1) Learn something new every day.

2) When you are through changing, you are through.

Who can argue with this approach to living! And now at 83 she is still going strong and making friends with unlikely companions like Snoop Dogg and loving every minute of it. Sure, she is still a crispy person, but you have to hand it to her from a vision and resilience perspective. She is determined to change and grow every day and she is relentless in this pursuit.

Another learning from the documentary is how sometimes your career can have a resurgence when you least expect it. I don't want to be a spoiler, but let's just say it had something to do with Justin Beiber and it was an assignment that was out of character for her --- watch the movie for more details!!!

We all can learn something from Martha as a leader. And let the record show, that if I'm walking around my massive estate wearing leather pants when I'm 83, I will consider it a win! Such a crazy life for us to admire and do some self reflection about ---- I bet you are going to love the film even if you don't love Martha!