In this inspiring episode of Frontline Voices, Dr. Condoleezza Rice joins the show to discuss the origins of the Hoover Institution’s Veteran Fellowship Program and the themes from her book Extraordinary, Ordinary People. She reflects on the power of mentorship, overcoming imposter syndrome, and why every veteran, regardless of background—deserves a seat at the table. Dr. Rice also opens up about her upbringing in segregated Birmingham, the enduring values of faith, family, and education, and the responsibility of lifting others as we climb. This episode is a call to action for anyone committed to service, leadership, and legacy.
Recorded on April 29, 2025.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Condoleezza Rice is the Director of the Hoover Institution and a Senior Fellow in Public Policy at Stanford University. She served as the 66th U.S. Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under President George W. Bush, becoming the first Black woman to hold each role. A longtime Stanford professor and former provost, Dr. Rice has authored several best-selling books and remains active in public service, business, and education. She is a founding partner at Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC and serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice holds a Ph.D. in political science and over 15 honorary doctorates.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[MUSIC]
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (00:10):
Welcome to Frontline Voices, a podcast brought to you
by Stanford University's HooverInstitution, where we explore leadership,
service, and real world solutions to someof our nation's most pressing issues.
In this special episode, I sit down withDr. Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary
of State, and current Director ofthe Hoover Institution, for a heartfelt
(00:31):
conversation about faith, family,mentorship, and the power of belief.
Dr. Rice opens up about what it means tolift others as you climb, how her parents
instilled in her a sense of unshakableconfidence, and why the Veteran Fellowship
program at Hoover is designed to helpveterans write their next chapter.
We also talk about imposter syndrome,the danger of internalizing statistics,
(00:55):
and how mentors, whether they're teachers,drill sergeants,
or coaches like me, can change thetrajectory of a life you've ever doubted.
Whether you belong in rooms of power orwondered if your story matters,
this conversation will remind you thatyour background doesn't disqualify you,
it prepares you.
This one is for every underdog veteran and
(01:17):
change maker stepping intothe arena on a daily basis.
As always,I hope you enjoyed today's show and
I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Dr. Rice, thank you so much for coming onFrontline Voices and also allowing me to,
you know, host this podcast onbehalf of the Hoover Institution.
We're doing some great work withthe Veteran Fellowship program, and
(01:39):
I think it'd be great for, you know,the community to hear from you,
particularly around kind of the originsof the program as well as the theme
from your book, Extraordinary OrdinaryPeople, and how that ties into the type of
talent we're hoping to attract andparticipate here at Hoover.
Well, thank you very,very, very much, Mike.
Of course, you were part of the firstclass, the first cohort of veterans
(02:02):
fellows, and you are an example of why wedid the program, which is that we believe
very much that those who put on theuniform, those who served, have something
special to give back to the country andthat they are, in fact, doing that.
And they're doing it in their communities,doing it in schools.
And we wanted to honor veterans in theirservice by recognizing that everybody
(02:25):
talks about the greatest generation,which was of course,
the generation of World War II, butwe have another greatest generation.
They took up the callafter September 11th.
They went to Afghanistan, or Turvak,or they defended us at the front
lines of freedom in Asia andin Europe and in the Middle East.
(02:46):
And so we really believe that by givingthese veterans an opportunity to reflect
on how they are contributing to theircommunities, you have a Capstone project
that you work on to take advantage of theresources here at Stanford and at Hoover.
People at the Graduate School of Businesswho know how to build a business,
(03:07):
people in the sciences andengineering who can help
with some of the technical aspectsof what our veterans want to do.
And so what we think, it's a very,
very wonderful partnership betweenthe Hoover Institution and
people like you who put on the uniform andare now serving in a different way.
(03:29):
As to extraordinary, ordinary people,I'm one of the luckiest kids
ever in America because, as I say,the book is about my parents.
And really the reason it's called thatis that they were in many ways ordinary
people.
My mom was a schoolteacher,my father was, count them,
Presbyterian minister, football coach,
(03:49):
high school guidance counselor, andlater on, a university administrator.
And so in some ways, they were ordinarypeople, but they were extraordinary in
what they expected for me,what they gave me access to.
And so I think part of the reason thatI'm so happy as a professor is I can
pass on some of that tremendous confidencethat they had in me to my students.
(04:15):
I had an opportunity to read your book,and by the way, I love that name.
It stuck with me.
And like I told you before we went live,
I didn't realize that you wentto the University of Denver.
I'd always assumed that, you know,you graduated from Stanford or some other,
you know, I hate to use these terms,but, you know, elite institutions.
But you are the epitome of whatyou talk about in that book, and
(04:36):
you show what's possible.
Now, you came up in a very challengingtime, the civil rights movement,
and people would argue that this can be alittle bit of a challenging time as well.
But one thing I respect about you,
you've always managed to kindof stay above the noise, right?
Poise, dignity,I think those are themes throughout.
And so, when you think about the veterancommunity and even this VFP coming out of
(04:59):
the pandemic, right, going through that,we've seen the Afghan withdrawal,
which touched a lot of people likemyself who served over there,
and then know where it seems like peopleare not communicating with one another,
you know, there's a lot of divisiveness.
You know, I would love to kind of hearyour thoughts on that and bridging that,
that gap that seems to betaking place in America.
>> Condoleezza Rice (05:20):
Yes.
Well, one of the things that my upbringingtaught me, and as you're right,
I grew up in segregated Birmingham.
I was eight whenthe Civil Rights movement,
when the Civil Rights act passed,my parents and
I couldn't go to a movie theater or toa restaurant, but they had me absolutely
convinced that I could be President ofthe United States if I wanted to be.
(05:40):
And so, I think that sense of confidencethat whatever your circumstances,
they don't have to define you.
And that is probably the lesson, not justfor me, but it's the lesson of America.
When you think of where so many peoplehave come from to serve the country, so
many people have come from,to be successful in, in the United States,
(06:03):
and then the fact that you have to giveback to help others become successful too,
that's kind of the American story.
And so from my point of view, I was lucky.
You know, my parents were educated, AndMike, it was faith, family, and education.
Those were that,that's what it was all about.
(06:24):
And so, the fact that I was able to growup in an environment in which I could
be encouraged in, they made me think thatI could do anything that I wanted to do.
I think, why wouldn't I be optimisticabout what can be achieved in America?
And maybe if we start to focus more onthat than our differences, if we start to
(06:49):
focus more on the tremendous opportunitythat is very much in our grasp.
And then if we make surethat we are determined that
nobody is going to missout on that opportunity,
that we are personally goingto take responsibility for
kids who might not havethe opportunities that I had,
(07:12):
kids who didn't go to the Naval Academy.
I know the kind of work that you do,having been yourself a boxing champion and
now using those skills to give kids asense of themselves and what they can do.
So it's a story of not letting your owncircumstances define you, but then making
sure, when you quote, unquote, make it,that you are going to give back and
(07:36):
make sure that somebody elsehas a chance to make it, too.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (07:40):
Why do you think there's so much pushback on that theme?
And I can even set context for that.
When I was growing up,I was raised in a single parent home.
My mom, Willen Steadman.
I'm 38.
I never met my father.
And my mom's been in a nursing homesince I've been at the Naval Academy.
And so when people used to tell me Icould be anything that I wanted to be,
even before the Naval Academy.
It almost felt like people were kindof putting a thumb in my eye, you know,
(08:03):
because I hadn't seen it,I hadn't experienced it.
My world was, you know, my little bucket.
But as I had opportunity to go tothe Annapolis as opportunity to serve our
country, as an opportunity to move toNewark and become an entrepreneur,
it exposed me to so many different things.
And I realized that I had to changemy thinking because I was one
of those people that had labels put onme at risk youth, single parent, home.
(08:26):
And I cannot tell you the mentalchallenge has been to overcome that.
I've had to invest in a lot of coaching,I've had to talk to other people.
And so I, I try my best to kindof share that message, but
I just noticed that people are so beatup by life at times that it's hard for
them to actually receive that.
And when you went on your podcast, youwent on the, the, the View, I believe, and
you made a comment that I thought wasvery enlightening, that in order for
(08:49):
me to feel good about myself, I don'thave to make you feel bad about yourself.
And I think that wentover people's heads or
they just refused to accept that message.
>> Condoleezza Rice (08:59):
Well, we have gotten ourselves into a frame of mind these
days that it's not okay tosay I can overcome, right?
I have to take on and internalize all of
the statistics about how andwho I might become.
(09:19):
I work a lot with Boys andGirls Clubs of America.
And I remember one younggirl came up to me,
she was probably about 12 years old,and she said, how 75.
She said, I'm gonna not gonna beable to graduate from high school.
She's 12 years old.
I said, why?
She said, because 80% of the people in my,
in my elementary school don'tgraduate from high school.
(09:41):
And I said, why can't you be in the 20%?
And so I just think we the it and,and people need help.
I, I'd be the first to say, you know, I,
I didn't come from reallya difficult background.
Yes, Birmingham was difficult,but my parents were able,
because they were educators to openup the world of education to me.
(10:02):
So if you have a child whodoesn't have that opportunity,
at some point somebody has to advocate forthat child.
And maybe it is that they end up inthe military and they learn themselves.
Colin Powell used to talk about,what does he put it,
What a goof off he was untilhe went into the military.
(10:22):
Sometimes it is a teacher, sometimes it'sa staff member at the Boys and Girls Club.
So even if somebody doesn't see thatpath to a better life through hard work,
and like, there's somebody whocan show them that path and
he can help them along that path.
And I don't mean to suggest it's easy.
(10:44):
There are going to be timeswhen it's really, really hard.
But that's when you need somebody to pickyou up and somebody who believes in you.
And I've always said about mentors,
mentors are people who see more inyou than you even see in yourself.
And soif you try to be then a mentor to others,
you will very often see in one of yourstudents or one of your friends or
(11:08):
one of your colleagues somethingthey don't even see in themselves.
And what a gift to be ableto give that to somebody.
And I can't tell you how much I thinkyou benefit yourself from having given
that gift.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (11:22):
One thing I've had an epiphany about lately is that.
And I'm going to use myself as an example.
Right.
The chip, right, there wassomething about carrying the chip,
and it's actually harder to let go of thechip because it exposes you to yourself.
And I think sometimes it's easier for
us to carry this chip on our shoulderbecause it makes us feel safe.
>> Condoleezza Rice (11:44):
Right, I agree.
And when I was a kid,my parents were teachers, and
my mom in particular taught in a verytough neighborhood called Inslee.
It was shot at Weston Olin High Schoolin Inslee, outside of Birmingham.
It was steel mill country, andit was known as a rough neighborhood.
(12:08):
And I even remember when my momwas assigned to Weston Olin,
my father didn't want her to go because hethought the neighborhood was too rough.
But she believed in those kids and shewouldn't let them carry a chip on their
shoulder about who they were and wherethey were born and their circumstances.
And she said, in those days, you're goingto learn classical music just as if you
(12:31):
were raised in the best white homes,you're going to learn classical music.
And she would have showswhere they would perform.
And there was somethingelse that school had.
It was a split school.
You had the kids who wentto school all day and
took classes preparing them for college.
And you had the kids whowent to vocational school.
(12:52):
And so they would go half a day and
then they would go to cosmetology tolearn how to do hair or shop or whatever.
And there was a tendency for
that school to look down on the kidswho were in the vocational school.
And I Love the way my mother believedthat those kids in the vocational school
deserved all the same benefits thatthe kids who were in the regular school,
(13:15):
as they called it, were deserving of.
So the way that you get rid of that chipis sometimes you have to have somebody
come and knock it off your shoulder.
And it might be a teacher orit might be a drill sergeant, or
it might be a football coach or
a boxing coach who says,I'm not going to let you be that way.
(13:37):
And so one of our important goalsas people who want to mentor
others is we can't let ourmentees get away with sloppiness.
We have to say, we expect the best ofyou and so expect the best of yourself.
And then we have to be there for them,
because sometimes people are going tofall down in those circumstances, and
(13:59):
you have to be there to helpthem get up and keep going.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (14:03):
I was listening to a business coach recently, and
one of the things he said was hewas interviewing a farmer, and
a farmer made a comment to him that 90% ofsuccess being a farmer is dirt management.
If you take care of the dirt right,it takes care of everything else.
And when I think about our communityof veterans, non veterans,
change makers, frontline voices,okay, having a foundation, right,
(14:25):
of key relationships, mentors, coaches andstuff, et cetera, is very crucial,
I think, to succeed,particularly when you're doing this work.
Now, when I think about you, you'veoperated at the highest level, you know,
and something that comes up a lotis like imposter syndrome for us.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say hownervous I was having the opportunity,
(14:45):
you know, to interview you forthis platform.
But you've, you know,director of the Hoover Institution,
former Secretary of State.
Did you ever deal with imposter syndrome?
And if so,
how much was your foundation a keycomponent of allowing you to overcome it?
>> Condoleezza Rice (15:02):
Well, my foundation was everything to overcome it.
And I want to let you in on a little,little secret.
I don't care who you are,where you've come from,
how privileged your background might be.
Everybody has imposter syndrome.
Everybody walks into that first job.
Everybody walks into that firstclassroom and thinks, can I make it?
(15:24):
Am I going to be here?
I see it at Stanford.
I see these kids who've goneto really fine high schools.
They've done great on the SAT.
They've got great grades, andthey sit in that classroom, and
maybe there's somebody next tothem who's just that much smarter.
And they think, ooh, how did I get in.
So part of it is to recognize thateverybody feels in the new environment
(15:46):
somewhat insecure.
And sohow do you overcome that insecurity and
not try to tell yourself, I don't feel it?
Well, that's where mentors are helpful.
That's where that foundationthat you talked about, that's.
That's where the fact that if you'vedone something hard the next time and
succeeded at it the next time you have todo something hard, it'll be easier for
(16:08):
you if you just keep doingthings that are easy for you.
Just keep taking the classesthat you're good at doing.
If you're good at math,just keep taking math.
If you're good at writing,just keep taking writing.
I tell my students all the time,do things that are hard for you,
because if you do things that are hard foryou,
it's is more fulfilling than justcontinually doing things that are easy.
(16:31):
And that's another way that you overcomethat moment when you walk in and
you say, wow.
I'll tell you a funny story aboutone of my heroes is Tiger Woods.
So Tiger woods, the great golfer,was a Stanford student.
And Tiger will tell you that whenhe first arrived at Stanford,
he had a kind of swagger.
He was going to be the greatest golfer ofall time until he realized that the kid in
(16:54):
his dormitory next door was 16 andwas already building his own computer.
And he said at that point he felt like,okay,
did they make a mistakein letting me in here?
So there's nobody,no human that at some point doesn't feel
a little bit of that insecurity andfoundation and mentors.
(17:16):
And having overcome somethinghard before will help you get
through that sense of imposter syndrome.
We usually associate imposter syndromewith underrepresented minorities or
with women.
Trust me, I've taught for 40 years.
Everybody has it.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (17:35):
So what do you say to the veterans that we have tuning in
from all over the country, all overthe world that are considering, you know,
applying for the Veteran Fellowshipprogram, but for whatever reason,
they have that voice intheir head that they think,
the Hoover Institution is not forme, Stanford is not for me.
That's for other people.
Because we know than the veteran communityyou have, officer, you have enlisted.
(17:56):
Some of us went to state colleges,some of us went to Ivy League,
some of us went to service academies.
And my mission with this platformis to cast a wide net and
make sure that people are aware that, hey,
this program isn't just forthis type of veteran, it's for all of us.
But sometimes you have toput yourself out there.
You have to step into the ring.
>> Condoleezza Rice (18:15):
Well, one thing that the U.S. armed forces, to my mind,
stand better than any other institutionis that it brings people from
all of those backgroundsof those circumstances.
And when you're eitherserving your country or
maybe you find yourself in Danger.
It really doesn't matter whether you wentto a state college or an Ivy League.
(18:37):
It really doesn't matter whetheryou're underrepresented minority or
from the majority.
It really doesn't matter any of that.
It just matters that you are together ona task to try to deliver security for
your country.
And so you've already had thatexperience as a veteran of being with
people who come from allkinds of backgrounds.
(18:59):
And that's true here at Stanford,and it's true at Hoover.
If you were to walk these halls andcollect the stories of the people,
most of them are stories that startedin pretty humble circumstances and
they found their way up.
And so you'll be right at home,whether you're enlisted or officer,
whether you went to the Naval Academy orwhether you went to a community college,
(19:23):
you're going to find that this is a placethat's welcoming, because the American
story is you can come from humblecircumstances and you can do great things.
Nobody in America should ever feel thatthey are born into certain circumstances,
and therefore,
those will be the circumstanceswhen they pass from this earth.
(19:43):
No, it's quite the opposite.
You have a chance to write your story.
And one of the reasons that we wanted todo the veterans program is that we want to
help veterans write that next chapter.
Having served, write that next chapterin what now are you going to do for
your community?
What are you going to do to overcomesome of the divisions that we have?
(20:05):
What are you going to do to passit on to people who are in need?
And the Hoover Veterans Fellowship willput you in the company of other people who
have the same desires and ambitions, and
in the company of people who can helpyou get there through the work that
they've done as researchers andsome of us who've served in government.
(20:27):
I think it's a great experience, andI hope people will take us up on it.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (20:30):
Well, Dr. Rice, I want to be respectful of your time.
First of all, we appreciate your voice.
I wish we could hear more inthe media to counter some of these
other narratives out there.
But before I let you go, I will be remiss.
We took our group photo aspart of the inaugural cohort.
I got to talk to your photographer, and
I asked your photographer, how longhave you been working with Dr. Rice?
And I think he said, like, 30 years.
(20:51):
And so when I was doing my researchon you, I started to notice
that you've brought up so many peoplealong with you and people that know me.
One of my personal philosophies is liftingas we climb, because what's the point of
making it to the mountaintopif you're the only one there?
Now, you don't beat it on your chest,but you do it.
You pull people up andyou lift people up, and I want to and
acknowledge you for that.
(21:11):
You know, I consider myself in that cohortnow as part of the Veteran Fellowship
program and just want to say thank you somuch for what you do.
Thank you for being you and you'rea welcoming voice in today's society.
>> Condoleezza Rice (21:24):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for
the opportunity to be on this podcast.
Thank you forreaching out to all of these veterans, and
thanks for everything that you do as well.
And I will just say this.
I've been teaching a really,really long time.
I still love it.
I still love doing it every day, even if Inow have students who are coming up to me
(21:46):
and saying, you were my mother's advisor.
So even with that,I'm still loving teaching.
And it's one way to give back.
Our veterans show us many,many ways to give back.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (22:00):
Thank you, Dr Rice.
And for those tuning in, please makesure you head over to hoover.org bfp and
apply for the program.
Thank you.
[MUSIC]
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (00:10):
Welcome to Frontline Voices, a podcast brought to you
by Stanford University's HooverInstitution, where we explore leadership,
service, and real world solutions to someof our nation's most pressing issues.
In this special episode, I sit down withDr. Condoleezza Rice, former US Secretary
of State, and current Director ofthe Hoover Institution, for a heartfelt
(00:31):
conversation about faith, family,mentorship, and the power of belief.
Dr. Rice opens up about what it means tolift others as you climb, how her parents
instilled in her a sense of unshakableconfidence, and why the Veteran Fellowship
program at Hoover is designed to helpveterans write their next chapter.
We also talk about imposter syndrome,the danger of internalizing statistics,
(00:55):
and how mentors, whether they're teachers,drill sergeants,
or coaches like me, can change thetrajectory of a life you've ever doubted.
Whether you belong in rooms of power orwondered if your story matters,
this conversation will remind you thatyour background doesn't disqualify you,
it prepares you.
This one is for every underdog veteran and
(01:17):
change maker stepping intothe arena on a daily basis.
As always,I hope you enjoyed today's show and
I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Dr. Rice, thank you so much for coming onFrontline Voices and also allowing me to,
you know, host this podcast onbehalf of the Hoover Institution.
We're doing some great work withthe Veteran Fellowship program, and
(01:39):
I think it'd be great for, you know,the community to hear from you,
particularly around kind of the originsof the program as well as the theme
from your book, Extraordinary OrdinaryPeople, and how that ties into the type of
talent we're hoping to attract andparticipate here at Hoover.
Well, thank you very,very, very much, Mike.
Of course, you were part of the firstclass, the first cohort of veterans
(02:02):
fellows, and you are an example of why wedid the program, which is that we believe
very much that those who put on theuniform, those who served, have something
special to give back to the country andthat they are, in fact, doing that.
And they're doing it in their communities,doing it in schools.
And we wanted to honor veterans in theirservice by recognizing that everybody
(02:25):
talks about the greatest generation,which was of course,
the generation of World War II, butwe have another greatest generation.
They took up the callafter September 11th.
They went to Afghanistan, or Turvak,or they defended us at the front
lines of freedom in Asia andin Europe and in the Middle East.
(02:46):
And so we really believe that by givingthese veterans an opportunity to reflect
on how they are contributing to theircommunities, you have a Capstone project
that you work on to take advantage of theresources here at Stanford and at Hoover.
People at the Graduate School of Businesswho know how to build a business,
(03:07):
people in the sciences andengineering who can help
with some of the technical aspectsof what our veterans want to do.
And so what we think, it's a very,
very wonderful partnership betweenthe Hoover Institution and
people like you who put on the uniform andare now serving in a different way.
(03:29):
As to extraordinary, ordinary people,I'm one of the luckiest kids
ever in America because, as I say,the book is about my parents.
And really the reason it's called thatis that they were in many ways ordinary
people.
My mom was a schoolteacher,my father was, count them,
Presbyterian minister, football coach,
(03:49):
high school guidance counselor, andlater on, a university administrator.
And so in some ways, they were ordinarypeople, but they were extraordinary in
what they expected for me,what they gave me access to.
And so I think part of the reason thatI'm so happy as a professor is I can
pass on some of that tremendous confidencethat they had in me to my students.
(04:15):
I had an opportunity to read your book,and by the way, I love that name.
It stuck with me.
And like I told you before we went live,
I didn't realize that you wentto the University of Denver.
I'd always assumed that, you know,you graduated from Stanford or some other,
you know, I hate to use these terms,but, you know, elite institutions.
But you are the epitome of whatyou talk about in that book, and
(04:36):
you show what's possible.
Now, you came up in a very challengingtime, the civil rights movement,
and people would argue that this can be alittle bit of a challenging time as well.
But one thing I respect about you,
you've always managed to kindof stay above the noise, right?
Poise, dignity,I think those are themes throughout.
And so, when you think about the veterancommunity and even this VFP coming out of
(04:59):
the pandemic, right, going through that,we've seen the Afghan withdrawal,
which touched a lot of people likemyself who served over there,
and then know where it seems like peopleare not communicating with one another,
you know, there's a lot of divisiveness.
You know, I would love to kind of hearyour thoughts on that and bridging that,
that gap that seems to betaking place in America.
>> Condoleezza Rice (05:20):
Yes.
Well, one of the things that my upbringingtaught me, and as you're right,
I grew up in segregated Birmingham.
I was eight whenthe Civil Rights movement,
when the Civil Rights act passed,my parents and
I couldn't go to a movie theater or toa restaurant, but they had me absolutely
convinced that I could be President ofthe United States if I wanted to be.
(05:40):
And so, I think that sense of confidencethat whatever your circumstances,
they don't have to define you.
And that is probably the lesson, not justfor me, but it's the lesson of America.
When you think of where so many peoplehave come from to serve the country, so
many people have come from,to be successful in, in the United States,
(06:03):
and then the fact that you have to giveback to help others become successful too,
that's kind of the American story.
And so from my point of view, I was lucky.
You know, my parents were educated, AndMike, it was faith, family, and education.
Those were that,that's what it was all about.
(06:24):
And so, the fact that I was able to growup in an environment in which I could
be encouraged in, they made me think thatI could do anything that I wanted to do.
I think, why wouldn't I be optimisticabout what can be achieved in America?
And maybe if we start to focus more onthat than our differences, if we start to
(06:49):
focus more on the tremendous opportunitythat is very much in our grasp.
And then if we make surethat we are determined that
nobody is going to missout on that opportunity,
that we are personally goingto take responsibility for
kids who might not havethe opportunities that I had,
(07:12):
kids who didn't go to the Naval Academy.
I know the kind of work that you do,having been yourself a boxing champion and
now using those skills to give kids asense of themselves and what they can do.
So it's a story of not letting your owncircumstances define you, but then making
sure, when you quote, unquote, make it,that you are going to give back and
(07:36):
make sure that somebody elsehas a chance to make it, too.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (07:40):
Why do you think there's so much pushback on that theme?
And I can even set context for that.
When I was growing up,I was raised in a single parent home.
My mom, Willen Steadman.
I'm 38.
I never met my father.
And my mom's been in a nursing homesince I've been at the Naval Academy.
And so when people used to tell me Icould be anything that I wanted to be,
even before the Naval Academy.
It almost felt like people were kindof putting a thumb in my eye, you know,
(08:03):
because I hadn't seen it,I hadn't experienced it.
My world was, you know, my little bucket.
But as I had opportunity to go tothe Annapolis as opportunity to serve our
country, as an opportunity to move toNewark and become an entrepreneur,
it exposed me to so many different things.
And I realized that I had to changemy thinking because I was one
of those people that had labels put onme at risk youth, single parent, home.
(08:26):
And I cannot tell you the mentalchallenge has been to overcome that.
I've had to invest in a lot of coaching,I've had to talk to other people.
And so I, I try my best to kindof share that message, but
I just noticed that people are so beatup by life at times that it's hard for
them to actually receive that.
And when you went on your podcast, youwent on the, the, the View, I believe, and
you made a comment that I thought wasvery enlightening, that in order for
(08:49):
me to feel good about myself, I don'thave to make you feel bad about yourself.
And I think that wentover people's heads or
they just refused to accept that message.
>> Condoleezza Rice (08:59):
Well, we have gotten ourselves into a frame of mind these
days that it's not okay tosay I can overcome, right?
I have to take on and internalize all of
the statistics about how andwho I might become.
(09:19):
I work a lot with Boys andGirls Clubs of America.
And I remember one younggirl came up to me,
she was probably about 12 years old,and she said, how 75.
She said, I'm gonna not gonna beable to graduate from high school.
She's 12 years old.
I said, why?
She said, because 80% of the people in my,
in my elementary school don'tgraduate from high school.
(09:41):
And I said, why can't you be in the 20%?
And so I just think we the it and,and people need help.
I, I'd be the first to say, you know, I,
I didn't come from reallya difficult background.
Yes, Birmingham was difficult,but my parents were able,
because they were educators to openup the world of education to me.
(10:02):
So if you have a child whodoesn't have that opportunity,
at some point somebody has to advocate forthat child.
And maybe it is that they end up inthe military and they learn themselves.
Colin Powell used to talk about,what does he put it,
What a goof off he was untilhe went into the military.
(10:22):
Sometimes it is a teacher, sometimes it'sa staff member at the Boys and Girls Club.
So even if somebody doesn't see thatpath to a better life through hard work,
and like, there's somebody whocan show them that path and
he can help them along that path.
And I don't mean to suggest it's easy.
(10:44):
There are going to be timeswhen it's really, really hard.
But that's when you need somebody to pickyou up and somebody who believes in you.
And I've always said about mentors,
mentors are people who see more inyou than you even see in yourself.
And soif you try to be then a mentor to others,
you will very often see in one of yourstudents or one of your friends or
(11:08):
one of your colleagues somethingthey don't even see in themselves.
And what a gift to be ableto give that to somebody.
And I can't tell you how much I thinkyou benefit yourself from having given
that gift.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (11:22):
One thing I've had an epiphany about lately is that.
And I'm going to use myself as an example.
Right.
The chip, right, there wassomething about carrying the chip,
and it's actually harder to let go of thechip because it exposes you to yourself.
And I think sometimes it's easier for
us to carry this chip on our shoulderbecause it makes us feel safe.
>> Condoleezza Rice (11:44):
Right, I agree.
And when I was a kid,my parents were teachers, and
my mom in particular taught in a verytough neighborhood called Inslee.
It was shot at Weston Olin High Schoolin Inslee, outside of Birmingham.
It was steel mill country, andit was known as a rough neighborhood.
(12:08):
And I even remember when my momwas assigned to Weston Olin,
my father didn't want her to go because hethought the neighborhood was too rough.
But she believed in those kids and shewouldn't let them carry a chip on their
shoulder about who they were and wherethey were born and their circumstances.
And she said, in those days, you're goingto learn classical music just as if you
(12:31):
were raised in the best white homes,you're going to learn classical music.
And she would have showswhere they would perform.
And there was somethingelse that school had.
It was a split school.
You had the kids who wentto school all day and
took classes preparing them for college.
And you had the kids whowent to vocational school.
(12:52):
And so they would go half a day and
then they would go to cosmetology tolearn how to do hair or shop or whatever.
And there was a tendency for
that school to look down on the kidswho were in the vocational school.
And I Love the way my mother believedthat those kids in the vocational school
deserved all the same benefits thatthe kids who were in the regular school,
(13:15):
as they called it, were deserving of.
So the way that you get rid of that chipis sometimes you have to have somebody
come and knock it off your shoulder.
And it might be a teacher orit might be a drill sergeant, or
it might be a football coach or
a boxing coach who says,I'm not going to let you be that way.
(13:37):
And so one of our important goalsas people who want to mentor
others is we can't let ourmentees get away with sloppiness.
We have to say, we expect the best ofyou and so expect the best of yourself.
And then we have to be there for them,
because sometimes people are going tofall down in those circumstances, and
(13:59):
you have to be there to helpthem get up and keep going.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (14:03):
I was listening to a business coach recently, and
one of the things he said was hewas interviewing a farmer, and
a farmer made a comment to him that 90% ofsuccess being a farmer is dirt management.
If you take care of the dirt right,it takes care of everything else.
And when I think about our communityof veterans, non veterans,
change makers, frontline voices,okay, having a foundation, right,
(14:25):
of key relationships, mentors, coaches andstuff, et cetera, is very crucial,
I think, to succeed,particularly when you're doing this work.
Now, when I think about you, you'veoperated at the highest level, you know,
and something that comes up a lotis like imposter syndrome for us.
I'd be remiss if I didn't say hownervous I was having the opportunity,
(14:45):
you know, to interview you forthis platform.
But you've, you know,director of the Hoover Institution,
former Secretary of State.
Did you ever deal with imposter syndrome?
And if so,
how much was your foundation a keycomponent of allowing you to overcome it?
>> Condoleezza Rice (15:02):
Well, my foundation was everything to overcome it.
And I want to let you in on a little,little secret.
I don't care who you are,where you've come from,
how privileged your background might be.
Everybody has imposter syndrome.
Everybody walks into that first job.
Everybody walks into that firstclassroom and thinks, can I make it?
(15:24):
Am I going to be here?
I see it at Stanford.
I see these kids who've goneto really fine high schools.
They've done great on the SAT.
They've got great grades, andthey sit in that classroom, and
maybe there's somebody next tothem who's just that much smarter.
And they think, ooh, how did I get in.
So part of it is to recognize thateverybody feels in the new environment
(15:46):
somewhat insecure.
And sohow do you overcome that insecurity and
not try to tell yourself, I don't feel it?
Well, that's where mentors are helpful.
That's where that foundationthat you talked about, that's.
That's where the fact that if you'vedone something hard the next time and
succeeded at it the next time you have todo something hard, it'll be easier for
(16:08):
you if you just keep doingthings that are easy for you.
Just keep taking the classesthat you're good at doing.
If you're good at math,just keep taking math.
If you're good at writing,just keep taking writing.
I tell my students all the time,do things that are hard for you,
because if you do things that are hard foryou,
it's is more fulfilling than justcontinually doing things that are easy.
(16:31):
And that's another way that you overcomethat moment when you walk in and
you say, wow.
I'll tell you a funny story aboutone of my heroes is Tiger Woods.
So Tiger woods, the great golfer,was a Stanford student.
And Tiger will tell you that whenhe first arrived at Stanford,
he had a kind of swagger.
He was going to be the greatest golfer ofall time until he realized that the kid in
(16:54):
his dormitory next door was 16 andwas already building his own computer.
And he said at that point he felt like,okay,
did they make a mistakein letting me in here?
So there's nobody,no human that at some point doesn't feel
a little bit of that insecurity andfoundation and mentors.
(17:16):
And having overcome somethinghard before will help you get
through that sense of imposter syndrome.
We usually associate imposter syndromewith underrepresented minorities or
with women.
Trust me, I've taught for 40 years.
Everybody has it.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (17:35):
So what do you say to the veterans that we have tuning in
from all over the country, all overthe world that are considering, you know,
applying for the Veteran Fellowshipprogram, but for whatever reason,
they have that voice intheir head that they think,
the Hoover Institution is not forme, Stanford is not for me.
That's for other people.
Because we know than the veteran communityyou have, officer, you have enlisted.
(17:56):
Some of us went to state colleges,some of us went to Ivy League,
some of us went to service academies.
And my mission with this platformis to cast a wide net and
make sure that people are aware that, hey,
this program isn't just forthis type of veteran, it's for all of us.
But sometimes you have toput yourself out there.
You have to step into the ring.
>> Condoleezza Rice (18:15):
Well, one thing that the U.S. armed forces, to my mind,
stand better than any other institutionis that it brings people from
all of those backgroundsof those circumstances.
And when you're eitherserving your country or
maybe you find yourself in Danger.
It really doesn't matter whether you wentto a state college or an Ivy League.
(18:37):
It really doesn't matter whetheryou're underrepresented minority or
from the majority.
It really doesn't matter any of that.
It just matters that you are together ona task to try to deliver security for
your country.
And so you've already had thatexperience as a veteran of being with
people who come from allkinds of backgrounds.
(18:59):
And that's true here at Stanford,and it's true at Hoover.
If you were to walk these halls andcollect the stories of the people,
most of them are stories that startedin pretty humble circumstances and
they found their way up.
And so you'll be right at home,whether you're enlisted or officer,
whether you went to the Naval Academy orwhether you went to a community college,
(19:23):
you're going to find that this is a placethat's welcoming, because the American
story is you can come from humblecircumstances and you can do great things.
Nobody in America should ever feel thatthey are born into certain circumstances,
and therefore,
those will be the circumstanceswhen they pass from this earth.
(19:43):
No, it's quite the opposite.
You have a chance to write your story.
And one of the reasons that we wanted todo the veterans program is that we want to
help veterans write that next chapter.
Having served, write that next chapterin what now are you going to do for
your community?
What are you going to do to overcomesome of the divisions that we have?
(20:05):
What are you going to do to passit on to people who are in need?
And the Hoover Veterans Fellowship willput you in the company of other people who
have the same desires and ambitions, and
in the company of people who can helpyou get there through the work that
they've done as researchers andsome of us who've served in government.
(20:27):
I think it's a great experience, andI hope people will take us up on it.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (20:30):
Well, Dr. Rice, I want to be respectful of your time.
First of all, we appreciate your voice.
I wish we could hear more inthe media to counter some of these
other narratives out there.
But before I let you go, I will be remiss.
We took our group photo aspart of the inaugural cohort.
I got to talk to your photographer, and
I asked your photographer, how longhave you been working with Dr. Rice?
And I think he said, like, 30 years.
(20:51):
And so when I was doing my researchon you, I started to notice
that you've brought up so many peoplealong with you and people that know me.
One of my personal philosophies is liftingas we climb, because what's the point of
making it to the mountaintopif you're the only one there?
Now, you don't beat it on your chest,but you do it.
You pull people up andyou lift people up, and I want to and
acknowledge you for that.
(21:11):
You know, I consider myself in that cohortnow as part of the Veteran Fellowship
program and just want to say thank you somuch for what you do.
Thank you for being you and you'rea welcoming voice in today's society.
>> Condoleezza Rice (21:24):
Well, thank you so much, and thank you for
the opportunity to be on this podcast.
Thank you forreaching out to all of these veterans, and
thanks for everything that you do as well.
And I will just say this.
I've been teaching a really,really long time.
I still love it.
I still love doing it every day, even if Inow have students who are coming up to me
(21:46):
and saying, you were my mother's advisor.
So even with that,I'm still loving teaching.
And it's one way to give back.
Our veterans show us many,many ways to give back.
>> 'IRON' Mike Steadman (22:00):
Thank you, Dr Rice.
And for those tuning in, please makesure you head over to hoover.org bfp and
apply for the program.
Thank you.
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