Friends,

We had a meeting with Patricia Ball, (aptly named for she is a ball of energy), the Executive Director of the Free Press International Marathon last week.  It's clear that under her leadership this Marathon is picking up speed.

Someone at the meeting asked her how fast a certain celebrity runner was, and she said, "Oh, he's not fast at all."  Now, you have to understand that Pat spends a lot of time courting, following, and supporting the elite runners who move at incredible speeds -- like 5-minute miles for the entire 26 mile race.  The person asking the question said to Pat, "I just wanted to make sure Dan could keep up with him."  Pat clarified the celeb: "He only runs a 9 minute per mile pace."  Just as she was saying it, she and I shared a look of hope: she was hoping that I was fast, and I was hoping she would say something like "the guy runs a 12 minute pace."  So, our look of shared hope quickly turned to one of mutual embarrassment, as it was now my turn to clarify.  Drawing on my small supplies of humility and self depreciating humor I said, "I'm hoping to tear the course up at a 9 minute pace."  The truth was out and I had to accept it: I'm just slow!

This should not have come as news to me.  During the summer I ran a couple of timed races, and at the end I checked out the results sheet printouts.  In my first half-marathon I finished 126th out of 170 in my age group.  And in a race on Mackinac Island, I was 15th out of 29 -- the perfect midpoint.  Sometimes, I think I was given a huge ego in life to learn this critical lesson: You can lead from the middle, too.

The truth is: the middle is where most of us find ourselves all the time.  If I had the time, I could argue quite persuasively that even a powerful governor, like my wife, is more accurately seen as "in the middle" than "on top."  She must set goals, stay positive, motivate, and empower.  And she must do this even while she is pressed in upon by the legislature, the opposing party, the media, and even competing thinkers and advisors in her own circle (including, sometimes, her husband and kids).  The truth is, we're all leading from the middle.

Often, we act as though leadership must come "from the top."  And, so we miss opportunities.  Sometimes, we wish we were at the top, and we're busy making our moves to get there.  And, so we miss opportunities.  From the time we were children, we avoided full responsibility by hiding from the authorities, blaming the authorities, or occasionally taking on the authorities.  Some seem never to realize that they may always be in the middle, yet they still have the ability to be on top of their game.  It is more challenging and more fruitful to lead from where we are, than to grouse about where we're not.  In the end we are all in the middle.  And for those who appear to be "on top," the other side of this challenge is never far away: how do you get the masses in the middle to realize that the organization will move forward only to the degree they feel empowered and responsible and lead.

As you think about how you lead from the middle, let me thank those of you who responded to my invitation last week to help Think Detroit.  They are leading magnificently from the middle, with their astounding vision of reaching 50,000 kids by "building character in young people through sports and leadership development."  If you meant to support them, but forgot, it's not too late: www.thinkdetroit.org.  And, it's not too late to join me in the middle, to run a good 5K or the marathon on Sunday at the Free Press International Marathon, at whatever pace works for you!

And THANKS!  To all you who have helped us get across our starting line towards our BHAG.

Have a great week!

Dan

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Daniel Granholm Mulhern
First Gentleman
Office of the Governor
State of Michigan
(517) 241-0534

"Seeing the magnificence in all people -- dedicated to their fullest success."

Copyright 2004 Daniel Mulhern.  I distribute RFL without charge to people with an interest in leadership, and grant permission to these recipients to distribute copies of these works to personal contacts for non-commercial purposes only.  All other rights are reserved, and requests for copying and distribution of these works may be made to TheFirstGentleman@Michigan.gov.  The views of this and other RFLs reflect my personal beliefs and may or may not reflect the views of my wife, Jennifer Granholm, or any other officials of the State government.