I don't know what particular thing I learned today, but I did have a very unique afternoon. I was able to scoop up my parent's invite to see former President George W. Bush this afternoon at the Gerald Ford Museum. My co-worker Chris and I headed over to the museum a little after one and President Bush went on stage around 2:00pm for a little over an hour. It is amazing how when you are sitting 30 feet away someone in a room all of a sudden they become just like anyone else. He was just a man, sitting on stage, having a conversation with us. It was pretty incredible really. Some people might think it's not that exciting to see a president, but I disagree. It is very powerful sitting in a room with someone who made insanely hard, history changing, decisions on a day to day basis. I can't imagine. I can barely decide on what font my e-mails should go out in. Now I'm not 100% certain but I believe this will mark my third presidential encounter. I have met Jimmy Carter a few times and and I have a faint memory of meeting Gerald Ford when I was little although neither my mom or my dad can confirm or deny that. My mom knows that she did. My dad knows he wasn't with her. They are uncertain of my whereabouts at the time. So, for the sake of trusting my extraordinary memory let's just go with the fact that I was more than likely with my mom when she met him. Ta da, three.
So what did I learn from President Bush today during this hour question and answer session? I learned that the hardest part for him about having his father be president was hearing people criticize his dad. I learned that he once had a drinking problem and his decision to quit completely changed his life. I learned that he is pretty funny. I thought an interesting thing he talked about was what it takes to be a leader and in his opinion to be an effective leader you need to allow the people in your organization to be open and not afraid to tell you the truth about things. He mentioned that sometimes when you're the head of an organization, or in his place, the country people will often go into his office and say "oh you look pretty" when really, you look like crap. To be in a strong position of authority you need to have the people surrounding you giving you unbiased feedback when asked for it and then once a decision is made, to follow it. The importance of balance of power in the workplace can be a very interesting dynamic and I found his comments on that thought provoking. Look at me, the Center for Community Leadership must really be rubbing off on me.
Overall, it was an incredible interesting day and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to come in contact with my third President of the United States. Now if only I could catch Bruce Willis on the street tomorrow my week would really be complete... :)
-Lizzie
P.S. The pic is from Chris's phone so it's not that great. My apologizes.