3 Tips for Keeping Calm Under Pressure
May 16, 2011 by Kevin Michael Gray
According to Janny Scott, author of “A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother,” a biography of Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama’s mother, the Javanese attribute the president’s coolness under fire to his upbringing in Indonesia. (Java is its largest island.) As Scott said on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” young Barry, as Obama was then called, might have honed his composure in reaction to being teased mercilessly by classmates, some even throwing stones at him. His “crime”? Being darker-skinned than other children. Obama endured.
Javanese regard such composure as a symbol of strength, and so do I, though no person I know would condone the harsh treatment Obama endured as a child. Obama might have gained insight into what it means to rise above the fray as a child, but it takes some of us years to develop or, in the case of hotheads, not develop at all.
Composure is a desired leadership attribute... READ THE FULL ARTICLE
