Statistikhengst
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Four presidential centers decided to collaborate to create an educational training problem for potential leaders in the future: the presidential centers of George W. Bush, William J. Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Lyndon B. Johnson.
In getting the thing going, two former Presidents were present: Bill Clinton (D, 1993-2001) and George W. Bush 43 (R, 2001-2009). Also, at the beginning, a letter of support from former President George H. W. Bush 41 (1989-1993). The letter is short, but outstanding. The video is about 42 minutes in length and both President Clinton and President Bush answered questions and gave some very interesting input. I think that many of the things that both of these men said are worth listening to and watching.
For instance:
5:57 (Bill Clinton): "I think we're in a great struggle in America and around the world, to define the terms of our interdependence. This is the most interdependent age in human history.... (a joke about "selfies"..." 6:36 "We can't get away from each other. The question is: how are we going to define the terms of our relationship, and that's going to take enormous amounts of leadership in every sector..." 07:03 "our military proves that you can TRAIN leaders, and their capacities can dramatically increase..."
08:20 (Bill Clinton) "I wanna say one thing about my friend here (GWB 43), I'll say more than one thing, but this particular one I'll say. He used to call me twice a year in his second term, just to talk. We'd talk, depending on how much time he had, because he was busier than me, somewhere between 30-45 minutes, for several years. It meant a lot to me. We never talked about it, we never talked about it in public, we talked about everything in the whole wide world - he asked for me opinon, half the time he disagreed with it, but I felt good about that, I thought it was a really healthy thing. And I'll never forget: my first week in office, all the young people who helped me with my campaign, and I said to them, if any of you come into this Oval Office and tell me what you think I want to hear, me goose is cooked and I might as well run the White House with a computer. You've got to cultivate people who know things you don't and have skills that you don't and yes, that can be taught."
10:42 (GWB 43) "I don't think you can teach humility. I don't think you can teach being secure. I don't think you can teach courage - I think you can give people tools if that is innately in their system (referring to leadership skills) and that's what we intend to do and that is why this program is aimed at people who have exhibited leadership characteristics that you can't teach. And give them tools, and, uh, confidence, I'm a real believer that this can be a confidence boost. People go through this program and they'll see other people their age or the same area of work and they'll say (to themselves) wow, I think I can do more...I've studied William J. Clinton or George W. Bush or LBJ or George H. and first they're gonna discover - we're just normal people who - got caught up through ambition and drive and through circumstance ended up being president and -man, if theses guys can do it, I can do it..."
About his father, George H. W. Bush 41:
12:11 (GWB 43) "I'm very fortunate to have watched a great man, and as a matter of fact, this book that I am writing, I'm marketing now, uhm, (laughter in the audience), which you can buy, I think, on November the 11th (more laughther in the audience), it's a love story. This is gonna irritate people in Washington, I suspect, or some, because it's a love story. It's a story about seeing somebody you admire and learning from them. And maybe this program will be able to do the same thing."
13:30 (Bill Clinton) "Let's explore that, it's one of the challenges. Last week, I went to Kennebunkport as the designated black sheep of the Bush brood (laughter from Bush, audience) to see President Bush (41) on the 70th anniversary of his being the youngest American pilot shot out of the sky in WWII (dead silence in the audience). Now, somebody taught him how to fly the plane, but he was 20 and he didn't wanna be up there. And we had a fly-over with an exact replica of the little bomber that he flew, and it was a small bomber compared to the larger ones that were developed later, and even smaller fighter planes that escorted them that were most famously flown by the Tuskegee airmen who were the only unit we had who never lost a bomber. Now, Benjamin O'Davis was the commander of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was a great leader. Why? Because he had simple sayings that he drilled into people, like he said, 'you know, our fighters cost $50,000, our bombers cost $250,000. Do not leave the formation to prove that you can shoot down a German fighter plane. Protect the bomber - that's our job', and that was a simple leadership strategy that resulted in their being the only unit in WWII never to lose a bomber. And I was talking to Pres. Bush (referring to 41) about it, and, uh, I told him I'd been thinking about it all day, and he said, he'd been thinking about it all day too and could still remember everything that happened 70 years ago on that day, when his life nearly ended. Now, he was too young to go through much leadership development except to learn how to fly the plane, but I also think he got better as he went along, I think that you (referring to 43) got better as you went along, I know I got better as things went along.... helping people to... keep their heads on straight is very, very important." (15:47)
16:54 (GWB 43) "For sure we want people from all walks of life and different political persuasions. We want people who have shown the capacity to suceed, people who work hard and who work with others in a good way, and people who, you know, launched a career in whatever field, and we want to be a little extra fuel. And, uhm, remember the Fellows, the White House Fellows, Bill and I both had the honor of meeting with those White House Fellows, an extraordinary group of people that would spend time at the White House, these were extremely motivated people, and it's not exactly like the White House Fellows but it's similar to the White House Fellows..."
Transcription mine.
There is a ton more at the video, with some very interesting surprises. Hearing both of these presidents talk about things and to each other in a venue that is not directly the White House, absent campaigns and partisanship, was truly interesting for me. It raised my respect for both of these men. I also notice that Presidents of all types tend to develop a bond to each other, being part of one of the smallest clubs in the world.
Go watch the video, maybe you would like to quote something and discuss it.
Remember, the topic is leadership, leadership training, leadership skills - and not just on the political level.
In getting the thing going, two former Presidents were present: Bill Clinton (D, 1993-2001) and George W. Bush 43 (R, 2001-2009). Also, at the beginning, a letter of support from former President George H. W. Bush 41 (1989-1993). The letter is short, but outstanding. The video is about 42 minutes in length and both President Clinton and President Bush answered questions and gave some very interesting input. I think that many of the things that both of these men said are worth listening to and watching.
For instance:
5:57 (Bill Clinton): "I think we're in a great struggle in America and around the world, to define the terms of our interdependence. This is the most interdependent age in human history.... (a joke about "selfies"..." 6:36 "We can't get away from each other. The question is: how are we going to define the terms of our relationship, and that's going to take enormous amounts of leadership in every sector..." 07:03 "our military proves that you can TRAIN leaders, and their capacities can dramatically increase..."
08:20 (Bill Clinton) "I wanna say one thing about my friend here (GWB 43), I'll say more than one thing, but this particular one I'll say. He used to call me twice a year in his second term, just to talk. We'd talk, depending on how much time he had, because he was busier than me, somewhere between 30-45 minutes, for several years. It meant a lot to me. We never talked about it, we never talked about it in public, we talked about everything in the whole wide world - he asked for me opinon, half the time he disagreed with it, but I felt good about that, I thought it was a really healthy thing. And I'll never forget: my first week in office, all the young people who helped me with my campaign, and I said to them, if any of you come into this Oval Office and tell me what you think I want to hear, me goose is cooked and I might as well run the White House with a computer. You've got to cultivate people who know things you don't and have skills that you don't and yes, that can be taught."
10:42 (GWB 43) "I don't think you can teach humility. I don't think you can teach being secure. I don't think you can teach courage - I think you can give people tools if that is innately in their system (referring to leadership skills) and that's what we intend to do and that is why this program is aimed at people who have exhibited leadership characteristics that you can't teach. And give them tools, and, uh, confidence, I'm a real believer that this can be a confidence boost. People go through this program and they'll see other people their age or the same area of work and they'll say (to themselves) wow, I think I can do more...I've studied William J. Clinton or George W. Bush or LBJ or George H. and first they're gonna discover - we're just normal people who - got caught up through ambition and drive and through circumstance ended up being president and -man, if theses guys can do it, I can do it..."
About his father, George H. W. Bush 41:
12:11 (GWB 43) "I'm very fortunate to have watched a great man, and as a matter of fact, this book that I am writing, I'm marketing now, uhm, (laughter in the audience), which you can buy, I think, on November the 11th (more laughther in the audience), it's a love story. This is gonna irritate people in Washington, I suspect, or some, because it's a love story. It's a story about seeing somebody you admire and learning from them. And maybe this program will be able to do the same thing."
13:30 (Bill Clinton) "Let's explore that, it's one of the challenges. Last week, I went to Kennebunkport as the designated black sheep of the Bush brood (laughter from Bush, audience) to see President Bush (41) on the 70th anniversary of his being the youngest American pilot shot out of the sky in WWII (dead silence in the audience). Now, somebody taught him how to fly the plane, but he was 20 and he didn't wanna be up there. And we had a fly-over with an exact replica of the little bomber that he flew, and it was a small bomber compared to the larger ones that were developed later, and even smaller fighter planes that escorted them that were most famously flown by the Tuskegee airmen who were the only unit we had who never lost a bomber. Now, Benjamin O'Davis was the commander of the Tuskegee Airmen. He was a great leader. Why? Because he had simple sayings that he drilled into people, like he said, 'you know, our fighters cost $50,000, our bombers cost $250,000. Do not leave the formation to prove that you can shoot down a German fighter plane. Protect the bomber - that's our job', and that was a simple leadership strategy that resulted in their being the only unit in WWII never to lose a bomber. And I was talking to Pres. Bush (referring to 41) about it, and, uh, I told him I'd been thinking about it all day, and he said, he'd been thinking about it all day too and could still remember everything that happened 70 years ago on that day, when his life nearly ended. Now, he was too young to go through much leadership development except to learn how to fly the plane, but I also think he got better as he went along, I think that you (referring to 43) got better as you went along, I know I got better as things went along.... helping people to... keep their heads on straight is very, very important." (15:47)
16:54 (GWB 43) "For sure we want people from all walks of life and different political persuasions. We want people who have shown the capacity to suceed, people who work hard and who work with others in a good way, and people who, you know, launched a career in whatever field, and we want to be a little extra fuel. And, uhm, remember the Fellows, the White House Fellows, Bill and I both had the honor of meeting with those White House Fellows, an extraordinary group of people that would spend time at the White House, these were extremely motivated people, and it's not exactly like the White House Fellows but it's similar to the White House Fellows..."
Transcription mine.
There is a ton more at the video, with some very interesting surprises. Hearing both of these presidents talk about things and to each other in a venue that is not directly the White House, absent campaigns and partisanship, was truly interesting for me. It raised my respect for both of these men. I also notice that Presidents of all types tend to develop a bond to each other, being part of one of the smallest clubs in the world.
Go watch the video, maybe you would like to quote something and discuss it.
Remember, the topic is leadership, leadership training, leadership skills - and not just on the political level.
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