LGT 2021 | Michele Stanley
What is your theme song?
At the moment it is “Sunday's Best” by Surface. Music is a powerful thing. I think depending on the season of one's life, different songs speak to us differently.
What inspires you?
I get inspired by a lot of things; change, or more specifically seeing people's reaction to change, experiencing others' personal growth, my mother, my son and my family.
What is the most important characteristic that every leader should possess?
When I think about leaders that truly inspired me, I think of the passion they had for the work they were doing and the drive it put in me. They led with integrity without being pushy, they allowed me to face challenges and work through those with assistance or on my own, and when I failed, they didn't keep me down. They pulled me back up and made it OK to learn from it.
What is the meaning of your name?
Wikipedia shows it as a Hebrew name derived from Michael meaning, "Who is like God?" whose answer is "there is none like God." In the Urban Dictionary the meaning indicates, "super passionate humanitarian, compassionate animal lover, very intelligent, humorous and very resourceful. A VERY SPECIAL GEM UNLIKE ANY OTHER!!" I would like to think this is spot on. My mom tells me my father named me, and I think he did a pretty good job.
What is the best advice you’ve ever heard?
You are put here for two reasons: to either take up space or make a change. It took me a long time to figure out what this actually meant because it seemed so rude at first. But change means different things to different people. Everyone is capable of making change. As long as we are doing our part to show good, we are making a change to someone.
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