Looking Up: How a Different Perspective Turns Obstacles Into Advantages

We’ve all had moments of feeling like we didn’t belong, but imagine being born into a world where fitting in was never an option. Michele Sullivan, who has a rare form of dwarfism, shares how her physical posture taught her the most effective relational posture with others, which helped her become one of the most powerful women in philanthropy.

Born with a rare form of dwarfism, Michele has spent her life looking up. As the first female president of the Caterpillar Foundation, she has used her unique point of view to impact countless lives around the world.

As a child, Michele realized she had a choice to make. A life-changing choice.

• She could tailor her differences into something more suitable for the world.
• She could hide from the world and live on the fringe.
• Or, she could embrace her differences, turn them into assets, and come to recognize that there was a strength within them that could help others.

She chose the third option.

Looking Up is the story of how Michele became the smallest woman at the largest earth-moving manufacturer in the world. Her story begins with her passage from a young person who, in spite of being looked down upon by others, learned to look up: to find an elevated view of others that would change the course of millions of lives.

While her height has presented challenges that are different from those most have experienced (containing some uniquely humorous moments as well), it has allowed her to see things, literally and figuratively, that others do not. Embedded in this narrative are unique takeaways for individuals about the importance of making the first move, being wrong at first, choosing intimacy over influence, and learning that asking for help is a strength, not a weakness. Looking Up is poised to be an inspiring nonfiction work full of heartfelt lessons that will resonate with individuals in their lives and at work.

Michele Sullivan is the recently retired director of Corporate Social Innovation and president of the Caterpillar Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the $46-billion manufacturing giant Caterpillar, Inc. In addition to her thirty-year career holding various leadership positions at the company, she recently helped transform the foundation into one of the world’s most influential corporate foundations, through the launch of its collaborative impact platform known as Together.Stronger.™, a catalyst for shared prosperity that unites businesses, nonprofits, government, and citizens to combine their strengths to alleviate poverty for millions of people worldwide.