Page 43 - Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton

LEADERSHIP SECRETS OF HILLARY CLINTON

Jean King, a longtime tennis legend. They were joined by
many young women athletes, who were assembled on the
stage with a large banner behind them that said, “Dare to
Compete,” the title of the HBO film. Then the captain of
the girls’ basketball team at the high school where the event
was being held, Sofia Totti, introduced Hillary. Hillary
went to shake her hand, and Sofia leaned forward and
whispered in her ear, “Dare to compete, Ms. Clinton.”
“Dare to compete.” This caught Hillary so much off guard
that it got her thinking after she left the event. In her own
words, as shared in Living History, she thought, “Could I
be afraid to do something I had urged countless other
women to do?” She then said, “Why am I vacillating about
taking on this race? Why aren’t I thinking more seriously
about it? Maybe I should ‘dare to compete.’”
This encouragement from Sofia was an important turn-
ing point for Hillary to move beyond her comfort zone.
Hillary’s inner beliefs, values, and inner strengths began to
take over her thought process, and she knew that running
for the U.S. Senate would be hard and challenging, but if it
wasn’t hard, then everyone would do it—being hard was
what made it important and great. Smart leaders approach
a challenge with a positive yet realistic mindset. They move
beyond the assumptions or beliefs of others and find their
core strengths, beliefs, and intentions, all of which serve as
the compass and give them the confidence to tackle almost
any challenge.

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