RALEIGH – Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good is widely regarded as the most powerful woman CEO in North Carolina, runs one of the nation’s largest energy holdings and makes a cool $21.5 million a year.

It’s probably safe to say that she doesn’t get stumped very often.

But that wasn’t the case on Tuesday. After giving the final keynote at North Carolina Chamber’s Women > A Force in Business conference, an attendee asked her a personal question: What women do you admire the most?

“I’m not sure there is a single one that comes to mind,” she replied, after a brief pause.

Sure, she then tipped her hat off to German chancellor Angela Merkel, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and, lest we forget, “any woman working right now in the Oval Office” – all of whom are dealing with “tough assignments”.

But as for her personally, she said: “So much of my career, the people who I have been mentored by, have been men. So I haven’t had a woman close to me in my career that I could point to.”

“But I’m hoping all of you will,” she quickly followed up to the 1,000-strong crowd packed into the Ballroom at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good delivered the keynote address at Tuesday’s North Carolina Chamber’s Women > A Force in Business conference.

It was a telling exchange for one of the nation’s most powerful women to an audience of hopeful female professionals gathered for the one-day event billed as a celebration of women’s leadership in the workplace.

Few still occupy C-suite

It’s no wonder that Good struggled to name one woman who had mentored her. Female CEOs are a rare breed, even today.

Of North Carolina’s top 100 public companies ranked by market value, just five are led by women. That’s according to Charlotte Business Journal’s recent annual review.

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Good ranked the highest in third spot, followed by Susan DeVore, of Charlotte-based health care company Premier, in 23rd place. The others include Leslie Kass, of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (52), Michelle Berrey, of Chimerix (56) and Renee Shaw, of Wake Forest Bancshares (87).

The low percentage of women at the top reflects a national trend. Scan down the latest Fortune 500 list, and only 24 companies are led by women – a drop from 32 companies the year before, due mostly to recent resignations.

Good’s career low

The daughter of a high school principal, Good got her start at Arthur Andersen & Co. as an auditor in the early 80s. By 1992, she had ascended to become one of Anderson’s few female partners.

But as she recalled, her world came crashing down when Anderson collapsed after being indicted for its role in the Enron scandal in 2002.

“[That was] probably the biggest setback in my career,” she recalled. “Everything I worked for disappeared, and I needed to find a new job.”

Her biggest lesson: She is her biggest asset.

“During the demise of Anderson, it was so easy to feel sorry for yourself. I had nothing to do with Enron. Why did I find myself here? But it didn’t matter. I needed to keep going.

“What I learned from that, which sticks with me today, is that my assets that I have to offer in the workplace is me. It’s not the firm I work for; it’s not title I hold, so I need to keep my skills current. I need to be prepared at anytime to pursue a new career.”

Not long after, she began her utility career with the Cincinnati-based Cinergy, which merged with Duke Energy three years later. She advanced to head the unregulated commercial business during its initial development of renewable energy projects, rising up the ranks to become CEO in 2013.

The road to success

Good names two key factors to her success. The first is resilience.

“I’ve had a lot of setbacks in my career, like anyone who strings together 30-35 years. There are going to be a few things that go wrong. Your success depends on how well you work through those events.”

The second key to success, she said, is a willingness “to stay on a steep learning curve”.

“[It’s] not being afraid to take on a new assignment. Demonstrate some courage when you’re asked to do something when you feel, ‘Wow, am I qualified to do that?’ Take the assignment. Give it your very best.

“That reticence to take a risk, in my mind, is more consistent with women than it is with men,” she added.

“We feel like we should know. I’ve checked all the 16 boxes on the application; therefore I know I can do this job. Well, if you can check all the 16 boxes, you’re probably doing the job. Then there is no risk. You have to get yourself to take the assignment because you never know if you’re successful unless you take [it]. Take the leap.”