A New Day
Two days after Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the U.S., I found myself quite coincidentally on a business trip in Washington, D.C. On Friday morning I awoke, got dressed and left the hotel at 6 a.m. for what was going to be a short morning run.
As I headed up Pennsylvania Avenue, I found myself wondering if I could make it to the Lincoln Memorial and back. It was a longer run than I had planned on, but something was tugging at me to get there. I ran around the pond and as I made my way up the steps I saw a security guard watching over the scene. He was an African American man, probably in his late 60’s, guarding the site and watching the joggers pass by. Several people stopped and briefly spoke with him. Others offered big high-fives. When I had my turn at the top of the stairs and our palms met, I said, “It’s a new day isn’t it?” – and he gave me a wide, peaceful smile and said, “Oh yes, man - what a new day it is!”
I circled around the steps, looked at the sculpture of Abraham Lincoln and the intensity of the moment caught up with me. I made my way down the stairs with a huge lump in my throat and found myself at the edge of the Reflecting Pond where Martin Luther King declared his revolutionary vision in the “I Have a Dream” speech.
There I was, just yards away from the feet of Lincoln, across from the monolithic Washington Memorial, and astride the very spot where King called for “an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality…”
Indeed, I was there in that moment. The air was crisp, the sun had just risen, and I could smell the change in America, and the change in the world.
The run back to my hotel was one of the most joyous I have ever experienced. I left the monuments and history behind me, and envisioned Barack and Michelle, Sasha and Malia walking into the White House for the first time. I was so caught up in possibility that I even got lost for a short while and added 40 minutes onto my run – but it was worth every second.
The experience left me grateful for many things, including the promise of great leadership, and a chance to be part of it.
I have devoted the past 15 years of my life studying leadership, and working closely with leaders from corporations and the community sector, and I can honestly say I have never seen anybody with as much potential as the man who will be leading our country for the next four years.
I believe time will show that his presidency will be one of the greatest of our history. I believe the entire world will be better off for it, and that under his leadership we will truly become a world that works for everyone - with no one left out.
Until Next Time,
Mike