About Karen Horting, MBA, CAE
This article is based on an interview with Karen, who is the Executive Director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers.
From Karen:
“Great leaders aren’t hatched. They develop over time, leveraging lessons learned along the way, and sharing those lessons with their team. Leadership is like a game of Chutes and Ladders. Sometimes you go down a chute, sometimes you simply make a lateral move and sometimes you go up the ladder. But you learn something from each roll of the dice.”
Have you ever wondered what makes someone step up and say, “I can lead this team”? I recently had the chance to chat with Karen Horting, the Executive Director and CEO of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and let me tell you – her story has some powerful takeaways for all of us trying to find our leadership voice.
When Someone Sees Your Potential
Karen’s leadership journey didn’t start with a grand announcement. Like many of us, she was working hard in a male-dominated field (the paint industry, in her case) when she faced a familiar roadblock. Despite her company paying for her MBA and seemingly grooming her for leadership, when opportunities arose… nothing happened.
Sound familiar?
It wasn’t until she switched to her first nonprofit role that someone finally recognized what she brought to the table. Her boss noticed something special: “Karen, you know what I love about you is that you see something that needs to be done, and you get it done.”
That simple recognition changed everything for Karen. Rather than micromanaging, her boss gave her space to take initiative while he traveled internationally. The result? Promotions, global responsibilities, and a powerful leadership lesson she still applies today: reward the initiative-takers on your team. Look for those entrepreneurial spirits who don’t wait to be told what to do.
Taking the Leap (Even When Terrified)
Let’s talk about that scary moment when opportunity knocks. For Karen, it was asking, at just 25 years old, for a promotion to her company’s Baltimore location. The response? “Give me two hours.” Two hours later, she had the job and two weeks to move!
“Oh my god, what have I done?” she remembers thinking that night. “I don’t know how to run a distribution center. I’ve never worked in manufacturing.”
But here’s the mindset that’s carried her through her entire career: “If it doesn’t work out, I’ll figure it out.”
That’s it. No complicated formula: just trust in yourself to navigate whatever comes your way. When I asked Karen about teaching this kind of confidence to others, she admitted it’s not something easily taught – it’s something you develop by doing.
Seeing What Others Miss
Ever noticed how some people just seem to spot opportunities and problems that others miss? I was curious about this visionary quality in Karen.
For her, it started at home. As an only child, she was constantly told, “Well, you need to figure it out.” Whether it was car troubles or household problems, the message was clear: identify the issue, analyze it, and handle it.
Her problem-solving approach is refreshingly practical: identify what needs fixing, weigh the risks, and take action. When I asked about her confidence to just jump in and fix things, she laughed and said, “I’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”
This approach paid off brilliantly when she improved metrics at work by doing something surprisingly simple; she asked frontline workers for their ideas. These employees, some who’d “been there longer than I’d been alive,” had valuable insights that nobody had bothered to ask for before.
Why We Need More Women Leaders
Karen doesn’t just talk about leadership. She’s passionate about it. Karen has dedicated her life to getting more women into leadership roles. And not just because it’s fair.
“Organizations who have women in leadership are more successful, they’re more innovative, they’re more profitable,” she told me. “The data shows that.”
She pointed out a fact we often overlook: women bring different leadership qualities to the table. Where “macho leadership” often involves one person needing to have all the answers, women tend to be “much more collaborative and willing to listen to ideas from their teams.”
When leading her own teams, Karen makes it a point to remind everyone that “whether a person has been here 10 years or 10 days, they may have a great idea.”
Talking Yourself Through Tough Times
We all face overwhelming challenges. For Karen, the past year has been particularly tough with personal and professional hurdles. How does she stay resilient?
“I do the weird pep talk to myself,” she admitted. Breaking enormous tasks into one-day-at-a-time chunks helps her manage overwhelming projects. “All right, we’re going to take this one day at a time. You can do it.”
She also swears by a simple practice: 15 minutes of walking without music or distractions. Just fresh air, deep breaths, and space to think. This small reset has helped her make critical decisions, especially during the pandemic when leadership decisions had to be made quickly with limited information.
The Freedom of Clarity vs. Certainty
Perhaps my favorite insight from our conversation was Karen’s distinction between clarity and certainty. “You’re never going to be 100% sure of something,” she explained. “You’ll never make a decision if you’re waiting for that certainty.”
Instead, she aims for clarity – understanding why a particular decision makes sense without demanding absolute certainty about the outcome.
This approach perfectly captures Karen’s leadership style after 12 years as CEO: See what needs improvement. Trust yourself to handle whatever happens. Take action before you have all the information. And keep moving forward – one day at a time.
What’s your approach to leadership challenges? Do Karen’s insights resonate with your experience? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Anne E. Collier, MPP, JD, Professional Certified Coach, is the CEO of Arudia, a firm dedicated to improving leadership, culture, collaboration and communication. She is an expert leadership coach steadfast in her commitment to excellence and her clients’ goals. She coaches and delivers programming designed to support individuals, teams and organizations in amplifying their accomplishments. With confidence, intentionality and resilience, individuals and organizations alike manifest the extraordinary as they actualize greater financial stability and better outcomes. anne@arudia.com
