Leadership from both men and women will help to sustain America’s place in the world economy, said Carly Fiorina.

Fiorina, named the “Most Powerful Woman in Business” by Fortune magazine and the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company, addressed a packed crowd in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Monday.

She defined leadership and talked about how leaders in this century will be able to use technology and globalization to push the American economy into the future.

She said everyone, regardless of gender or background, should be called upon to lead.

“The truth is that we need more of both [genders] because this is a century of great challenge as well as great opportunity,” Fiorina said.

She said leadership transcends gender.

“Leadership is a human quality, not a male quality or woman quality,” Fiorina said. “But I think we need more women leaders.”

Fiorina proposed ways to lead America economically, which included focusing on small businesses to create jobs, training workers for the future, leading in innovative industries and tackling comprehensive immigration reform.

“It’s small businesses that create most of the jobs in this country,” Fiorina said. “We have to worry about small businesses because job creation is an economic priority.”

Leading innovations in the energy, health care, space technology and information technology industries is an important component in helping America lead in this century, Fiorina said.

“We have to think about how to lead in the area of brain power,” Fiorina said. “Choose to lead in the industries that will define this century.”

Helping to teach workers new skills will help to keep them ahead of the curve, Fiorina said. It is part of her philosophy of lifelong learning.

“We cannot choose to simply leave workers behind,” Fiorina said. “You are always learning new skills because the world is always changing and moving on.”

Fiorina said immigration reform is one issue that could be resolved to help bring more brain power and leadership to America.

“We must tackle comprehensive immigration reform,” Fiorina said. “This country has always led because people from all over the world wanted to come here.”

She said these four priorities need to be paired with the ideals of brain power, innovation and entrepreneurship.

“Those four things are at the center of an agenda for continued economic leadership for the twenty-first century,” Fiorina said.

Fiorina said she is optimistic for the future.

“I’m as optimistic as I have ever been,” Fiorina said. “I see so many leaders all over this country and all over this world — more leaders is always a good thing.”