Leadership Mojo

Another Day, Another Miracle in ICU at Baylor Hospital

    All the daily life activity around me pales in comparison to one event that started 11 days ago. Even though I have a list of topics to write about, I can't seem to get there, because this takes precedence in my life, consuming most of my thoughts.
    A week ago last Saturday, I was a carefree guest dancing the night away at the 50th anniversary of the Dallas Theatre Center at the new, state-of-the-art sophisticated, ultra modern Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre. The crowd there was glittering and excited to be a part of Dallas history, the unveiling of this spectacular new theatre. Former first lady Laura Bush was radiant, smaller in person than she seems on television in a lavender cocktail dress. It was a perfect, romantic night.
    At 9 am the next morning, I answered one of those calls you never want to take.
   

The Ghost Map

    A peculiar phenomenon follows me when I walk into a book store: Books speak to me. I'm not schizo. I don't literally hear words such as, "You hoo, here I am." On the other hand, I might as well, since the end result is the same: I buy them. Could you resist a book that spoke to you?
     I am magnetically drawn to certain volumes and can't explain why. When this happens, I simply know to buy. Such was the case recently at one of my favorite independent bookstores, Warwick's while I was in La Jolla, California. For synergistic reasons that became clear to me later, The Ghost Map, a book I'd never heard of nor expected to have any interest in, was the one that yelped at me. The choice was oddly prescient considering current events as well as an unexpected encounter on the plane to Southern California.
     You see, The Ghost Map is all about the great cholera epidemic of London in 1854, and the day I bought it was the day Swine Flu jumped across the border into the United States and declared a pandemic - only when I handed my credit card to the clerk, I didn't know any of that news.
      

Gigapan.org

 Gigapan.org is worth a few minutes of your time. Especially for the purposes of this column, being a reflection on leadership, it inspires the imagination.

When you open it, you will see an enormous long-shot panorama of the inauguration. Impressive, but it is when you zoom in, with exceptional clarity, to any detail, that you feel as though you are stepping into history.  

You see Aretha Franklin's hat, Mrs. Bush's lap blanket, President Clinton's intense gaze, President Bush No. 1's fur hat, and President Carter shivering among thousands of other details. Besides the coldness-and I'm not referring to the frosty look on Mrs. Cheney's face, studying this group of former presidents and leaders of our country as they watch a new president take office is an extraordinary snapshot into history. Can you begin to imagine what the different players are thinking during this historic 2009 inauguration? You genuinely feel as though you are there. Unlike most edited photos that we see in the news, this one gives an entirely different perspective. Go look. It is worth it.