Elizabeth Dole says to be successful women must plan for the unexpected, trust their instincts and keep their integrity.

"As a woman, the flexibility that you bring, the ability to think on your feet and the ability to juggle four or five things at once - which we all do - will serve you well," she said at the Conference on Active Citizenship for Women in Columbus, Ohio.Dole, a Cabinet secretary in two Republican administrations, is president of the American Red Cross. Her husband, Bob Dole, was a longtime Republican senator from Kansas.

She told the crowd of 900 that success can come in many areas, like motherhood, business or volunteering. It can be "finding something that leads you to say `Nothing I ever did made me feel this important.' "

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