Page 110 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LISTENING TOURS

Hillary does “reach out,” but she also invites and seeks
out people to exchange ideas and add value to what-
ever topic is under discussion. She is motivated intel-
lectually to learn what she doesn’t know, but should
know, to better understand the issues at hand, and to
try to get it right. She is not a person to make snap
decisions, or believe that she is the only one with the
right answer—she strives to capture facts, data, and
perspectives to add to her own to arrive at solutions
that have a better chance of succeeding at improving
whatever situation she is addressing. Also, the board
we both served on was called the Child Care Action
Campaign, and it was in the 1980s. She was First
Lady of Arkansas at the time, and I was working on
Wall Street. I was serving as a committee chair and
had to call upon her to help with a project. What I
truly appreciated was her immediate responsiveness
coupled with her honesty about what she could and
could not do. She never overpromised, and she always
came through with whatever she committed to do. It
was truly productive to have a clear idea of what to
count on, and then to know that none of the things
that she had committed to would fall through the
cracks. This helped all of us do the work that was
necessary. She was always a direct, honest contribu-
tor to the thought process and to the tactical execu-
tion of a strategy or initiative. She stayed focused on

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