Ubben Posse Fellow Interviews: Jill Tiefenthaler

The Jeff Ubben Posse Fellows Program awards five exceptional Posse Scholars $10,000 each and the chance to spend 4-6 weeks during the summer shadowing and learning from a major industry leader. The interview below with Jill Tiefenthaler, CEO of National Geographic Society, was conducted by Posse Scholar Sofia Hegstrom, now in her junior year at Colby College, who worked with Jill Tiefenthaler as a 2024 Jeff Ubben Posse Fellow. The conversation has been edited and condensed.

SOFIA: How do you feel that your upbringing, being from the middle of rural America, positioned you to be the leader of this highly visible global organization? What are the advantages you’ve seen to how you grew up?

JILL TIEFENTHALER: I grew up in not only a small town, but one that was full of my relatives. There were about 400 people in the town, along with a larger farm community surrounding it. Both my dad and my mom were from the community.

I equate my childhood to a hug, because there was a lot of family and a very strong emphasis on community. This really shaped my values and instinct to be part of a community. That’s been a huge part of my leadership.

The other part is, I think in the world today, global communities are places where there’s, in a strange way, much less polarization than in a lot of America now. If you look at the evidence, there’s a high correlation between zip codes and wealth, political belief, race, education level, everything else — even within a particular zip code. That was not the case in my hometown. Even though it wasn’t racially diverse, there was a much broader spectrum of people in terms of income, backgrounds, and political beliefs. So, I always felt there was a strong sense of people pulling together for their community. I felt comfortable in many different rooms with many different types of people, which I feel was an asset that helped me as a leader. I think I do a pretty good job of making people feel comfortable, and being accessible has been a positive part of being able to do so within this organization.

You have a diverse professional experience, as a professor of economics, president of Colorado College and now CEO of the National Geographic Society. Could you talk about how your previous experiences come together in this role?

There are a lot of similarities that surprised me. When I was first called about this job, I thought it sounded too far outside my expertise. But now doing it, there are so many similar parts of the job, and many of the tools I’ve developed are valuable here.

For example: elevating talent. Whether you’re a CEO or president of a college, you try to put together the right mix of people. When you’re in higher ed, it’s about how you figure out ways to make people better at what they’re trying to do: to produce research and faculty contributions of knowledge in their fields, and to educate people who are going to go out and make a difference in the world.

We do a lot of the same work at the National Geographic Society. We elevate our Explorers — provide them with all the tools, resources, and support so that they can go out and realize the mission. We do that directly through some of our programs here with our staff, but the idea is figuring out: How do you make change in the world, and then how do you support the people to get that done?

In higher ed, you have all these experts — chemists, artists, economists, political scientists, and more — doing all this different amazing work, and you get to learn a little bit about all of them so you can tell their stories, raise money, and get support for their work. It’s similar here as well! It’s how you understand the breadth of the organization, knowing that being an expert in everything is impossible.

There are also many similarities in the economic models, from endowment management to fundraising, in terms of what you do to get revenue and be relevant in the world. The roles are very similar in that respect.

Economics, academia, wildlife conservation and science — these are all very male-dominated fields. How has this truth impacted your own journey and how does it affect the female employees that you lead?

I think it’s easier today than it was 30 years ago. There are more women and people of color, and spaces feel more comfortable than they did once upon a time. There’s a huge difference as a woman in a leadership role, where you always have to earn everything — rather than being given it — and risk losing it. On the positive side, when you do a good job, it’s almost like people see you better than they would have; they’re more “wowed” by it. People don’t expect it from a woman, which is unfortunate, but you have to take what you can get.

I also have to say that I’ve had many great mentors in my career, and that’s really made a difference. A lot of them have been strong women — women who have paved the way in a much more difficult time than I did. And then I’ve had some great male mentors who were very committed to being supportive and championing me, rather than just a pat-you-on-the-head kind of a mentor.

Finally, representation made a difference for me. My advisors at Duke University were two tenured women and seeing them there made a huge difference. So, when I went to Colgate University and I was the first woman on the tenure track, I knew my being there made them better. Sometimes being the only person to do something makes you realize “Wow, they actually need my voice here.” This has reinforced my belief in how important it is to have diverse leaders at the table.

With storytelling being a huge part of the National Geographic Society, how do you feel your own story and personal narrative fits into your role as the leader and face of this company?

A huge part of my story as a leader is about seizing opportunities, doing new things, and sometimes just going for it. Moving from being a faculty member for 16 years at Colgate to earning tenure, I thought I’d stay there forever. Then getting the chance to go to Wake Forest University, and then the presidency at Colorado College, and then this role coming out of nowhere, a part of my story really is being present and immersing yourself in whatever you’re doing! That’s when the greatest opportunities happen. Every job I’ve left, I’d been in a great place when I was in that role, not looking for anything else but willing to go to something new — not because I was in something bad but because something could be even better! Part of this organization is being curious, taking risks, and opening the door. Challenging and meaningful work has propelled me throughout my entire career.

Even as a kid, we talked about working hard. Challenging, meaningful work and family are the two things most important for my personal happiness. And that means mission, but it also means not being willing to do just what’s easy. Doing hard things — like building a new headquarters — and trying to make things better, but also doing things that really matter. Waking up thinking, “Can I do something today that can actually make some things better?” is really exciting.

Something you just mentioned is responsible risk-taking. It’s something that you promote even within NG Next, the Strategic Plan for the Society’s future. So, how do you responsibly take risks? For some people it’s an oxymoron. What are some responsible risks you’ve taken?

You don’t want to be reckless, which is very different from taking calculated risks, and the biggest thing is being okay with not getting it right. Perfection is the enemy of better. One of the things I believe in the most is trying something and then correcting it. Just because you tried something, that doesn’t mean you have to commit to it. Part of that is change — to be able to try and correct something effectively, you must be willing to change. Comfort with that ambiguity is essential. Incremental moving is the only way to really improve because very few places go huge and get it exactly right. That doesn’t happen that often.

I always tell the team: pilot and pivot. Let’s try it, and fix things, and make them better. The problem is, it’s often not going to be perfect. At the same time, you open yourself up to a lot of criticism that it’s not going to work. In my 30 years in higher ed, which is a very change-resistant industry, moving in this way was the only way I could really move. I’m a strong believer in “Don’t spend years trying to figure out what you’re going to do, just get started.”

In my own career, I think I’ve taken a pretty big risk out here. For example, just taking this job!

I think, to your point, it has to be very clear you’re not being reckless. A calculated risk means you thought through the consequences, the upsides, and the downsides — and the downsides can’t be too highly probable or really devastating. That’s why some incremental movement is the way to go.

It’s funny because we’re not really talking about economics at all, but all I’m hearing is risk-to-reward-ratio and cost benefit analysis.

That’s very true! Even though I don’t practice economics anymore, it is a huge part of the way I think about the world.

I want to end on a question that might be a little bit cliche, but as a former little girl myself, I think it’s an important question to ask. If somehow a young Jill was in front of you right now, what would you tell her?

I would tell her to put herself out there. Try new things, even the things that might seem difficult or scary. Tell her not only to try new things and to have courage, but to do the things she knows she should do. I would tell her to do the right thing, to live by her values, and to have her integrity. And I would tell her that it will be easier if she can do some of those hard things in the moment.

But also, enjoy this amazing world we have, because truly the more you get out there, the more you see how amazing it is — how amazing people are, everything is, nature is. Enjoy it!