I had never met a General before so I was kind of nervous but excited. It turned out to be a great experience. He sat in the back seat with me and talked the whole way from Pensacola to Mobile. It was kind of funny because the LTC told me that this General would talk a little bit then play on his blackberry. That was not the case this time! As I said, he talked the entire time with and sat in the back seat. On the way back to Pensacola he sat up front and visited with the LTC. Another funny from the trip was that we rode in a Nissan Versa. Have you seen this car? They are tiny, I mean tiny. Luckily no one was Brad’s size. I felt like we were in a clown car and it was funny to watch the 4 of us pile out (the 4th person was the General’s aide).
Our conversation mainly revolved around work. We talked about the definition of success and leadership. He believes that success is measured by metrics, believes in the book "Good to Great," and that leaders need to look at the strategic goals. I really related to one of his analogies. He said, “where do you see yourself when you are 70 and what are you doing to get there?” It really made me think about my personal life (more than my work life, which is what he was really relating it to). He also made an analogy with our time. He related spending time everyday towards the big goals to an automatic savings plan, pay yourself first.
I also had the privilege of sitting in on the meeting he was leading with the senior leaders in our District. I have always enjoyed these higher level meetings because it puts my work into perspective; I get to see how my little job fits into the big picture. The meeting was centered on budgeting issues for future years.
I thought about taking my camera and asking for a picture, but thought that might be a little unprofessional. So, a picture of Paige will have to do (nothing wrong with that!).
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