Video link(1:42): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b1OnUJOA8Q
Bill Clinton has always been an interesting leader and person to me. Despite scandal after scandal, former President Clinton always seemed to make it right. He is one of the more charismatic politicians in the recent era, and he wasn’t born in to it. He rose quickly the political ranks in Arkansas in the late 1970’s and eventually was elected to be the youngest governor in Arkansas history. He was also the youngest ex-governor in Arkansas history. He ran for governor again and won, and then became president. Bill Clinton is also the only president of the USA that I have ever met, and maybe that’s why I seem to respect his opinion more.
In the video clip, Clinton talks about leadership as continuing in the face of failure. He says that leadership is a state of mind, not just a place in a hierarchy. Clinton makes the point that an ordinary person, with a deep conviction, can make an extraordinary impact on the well-being of society. I find this to be true. Clinton goes on to say that he needs to find more people like that to help his humanitarian causes. Although I like everything that Clinton says, I think the most important piece is what he says about continuing in the face of failure. He talks about persistence and the importance of not giving up on a cause. As leaders, and as followers and people, being persistence is one of the most important traits a person can have. If you want something, or anything, you will most likely not get it on your first try. All of us are then faced with the choice, are we going to give up or are we going to try again. I think that most people will try again, given the opportunity of a second chance, or even a third, fourth, or fifth chance. However, some people give up due to the circumstances. Giving up can happen for a number of reasons, and I have seen too much of it around my life- suicide, failing out of school, closing out society. Nobody likes to fail, and my thought is that failures are misunderstood. There’s something more going on that might miss the eye. Understanding why you or someone you know failed is maybe more important than knowing why you were successful. If a few things can be pinpointed as reason for the failure, the process of change can be started. Look at me, I went from a back row (near) failure, to a straight A student. I was able to accept that fact that things were not going right and I needed to make a change. I went from sitting in the back row, to sitting in the front row. I stopped skipping classes, and I started attending classes. My life feels characterized by the failures, or mishaps, I have experienced; and in that way, I think I am similar to Mr. Clinton
Of all people, I would think Bill Clinton should understand why an ordinary person can make such an extraordinary impact. Bill Clinton is really just an ordinary person. He was born in a poor Arkansas town and his father died before he was born. There were plenty of people around Bill Clinton that didn’t make it and weren’t successful, and Bill Clinton went on to become the president of the USA. The example that Clinton gives in the clip, sounds somewhat similar to his own story. Of course Clinton did not have HIV, but he did have the want to want to be in public service. He wanted to make a difference, even though he was just an ordinary person. He learned how to adapt to his surroundings.
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