Okay, so I don't have a lot of time. But I was stuck in traffic today and got to hear 90% of President Obama's defense speech today. First of all, I can't think of another person on the planet who could give a speech about defense that I would listen to for more than two minutes, so that is amazing in and of itself.
But the real reason I felt compelled to write something is below the lacy squiggle. . .
Although President Obama has received a lot of praise for his amazing speaking ability, I realized today that his greatest strength is his ability to LISTEN.
I mean REALLY listen. Even if he doesn't agree with you. Even if he is going to move in the opposite direction of what you are begging him too. He does HEAR us. ALL of us.
Today when a heckler pretty much just took over his speech, he actually stopped and LISTENED to what she had to say. (Of course, the lady didn't give him much choice, but still! lol)
I can't think of another President that has done that. It feels good to be HEARD even if I don't get what I want. And sometimes, even when I don't get what I want right away, President Obama will do something LATER that demonstrates that he THOUGHT about what he heard, and decided to change course.
The ability to LISTEN, combined with the ability to THINK, and when need be, APOLOGIZE and CHANGE COURSE makes President Obama one of the most amazing leaders I have been privileged to observe.
Love him or hate him, he is THINKING about big issues, he is trying to solve the tough problems, and he is humble enough to take his lumps and keep it moving anyway.
I can't think of many other politicians that have that particular combination of qualities . . . glad to have a second term of sanity in the White House.
P.S. Hillary Clinton has proven to be a pretty resilient problem solver in her own right . . . not to get ahead of myself!