I have just finished reading Michelle Obama’s book, “Becoming”. It moved me. It has moved me to write this. It struck me through reading it that, for me, theirs was an embodiment of human and purposeful leadership. I remember being deeply moved by his 2008 victory speech in Grant Park that sparked in me a sense of a new and unfamiliar humanity now in residence at the White House.
Michelle’s book puts more flesh on the bones of this humanity from the way it describes and brings to life the sense of purpose they both hold, their commitment to a cause bigger than themselves, coupled with a deep care for their children and each other. It describes so clearly their determination to see, to respect and to include those who are so often invisible and ignored, a determination developed to a large degree, it seems, from their own experience of invisibility, through their race and the colour of their skin. And finally the grace with which they held their positions and their power.
Grace: now there’s a word. I remember hearing it spoken at a conference some years back when a female speaker talked about the imperative for more grace in the Board Room. It struck a chord with me then. And reading Becoming, it struck a chord with me again. Intuitively, for me, leading with grace feels to be important; a sense of elegance of spirit that manifests respect and humility and has a foundation of compassion and inclusiveness about it. These are my words, my sense of grace and my sense of the Obamas’ leadership. Personally, I think we need more of it, in our political leaders, in our organisations, in our communities and in ourselves.
If you’ve read the book, tell me what you made of it.