Stedman Graham is chairman and CEO of S. Graham & Associates, a marketing and management consulting company specializing in the corporate and educational markets.
Graham is a savvy businessman, leader and sought-out speaker and lecturer. He has authored a number of books including two New York Times bestsellers. His most recent publication includes Identity Passport to Freedom.
Stedman Graham Speaks on Presidential Leadership
This interview was conducted before the recent news on Osama Bin Laden’s demise. Yet, Graham’s answer on Obama’s leadership and the country’s response is poignant and one has to wonder if Graham’s words may ring more true now to even skeptical voices.
Q. President Obama’s leadership has been in question on both sides of the aisle. What advice would you give him based on your nine step process?
SG. First of all, I think it’s important to understand that our President is reacting to what he has inherited. Secondly, he still has to keep things going while dealing with a worldwide market place. We have probably more complex issues today than any other day in the history of this country. He has done a great job being the leader of the world. He is not perfect and nobody is.
Considering the hand that had been dealt to him he has done an excellent job. Not only that, he has done so, also, with the lack of cooperation of a lot of the country. It’s almost like it doesn’t make a difference what he does. For some people he can’t do anything right. He is the President of the United States and we are in a tough situation in this country and it is unfortunate that we can not get the cooperation of this country to support the President.
We have all these issues and I think the best way to solve them is to come together as a team, a big team, which is the American team and support the goals and aspirations that he wants to support.
In terms of my nine steps, you have to know who you are. You have to have a solid foundation. You have to have a vision beyond yourself. Otherwise you get stuck in the day to day. And you have to have a plan. Maybe we can work as a team towards a better plan so all of us can participate in this plan and that vision.
Stedman Graham Speaks on International Leadership
Q. There has been a series of uprisings of government in the Northern African region and social media played a critical role. What are your thoughts on this new form of virtual international leadership?
SG. I think it’s important to understand that people have to participate globally now because of the Internet. Having said that, it’s important to be grounded in a strong foundation so that you have somewhere to go with that information. To be able to take education and make it relevant to who you are and make it relevant to your purpose and then transfer it back to your mind and the world. That, to me is what true freedom is all about. The key is education, development and be able to self-actualize your potential based on knowing who you are and what’s possible for you.
Graham spends much of his focus helping audience members to develop their identity in a way that will open up their individual vision for success. He himself stepped outside the box and now shares what he has learned in his Nine Step Success Process. When Suite101 asked him if he feels that people still put him in a box, he responded with passion: “I don’t know for sure but they probably do. Everyone gets put in a box. It’s not how other people define you but about how you define yourself.”
Britta Stromeyer Esmail - Britta is a bilingual business management professional and executive coach with extensive domestic and international experience in the ...
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