This is a short selection of inspiring biographies with a few take away from AchievUp perspective.
Michelle Obama’s story is very inspiring. Despite ithe 700 pages, the book is very easy to read. Without fuss style, feeling expression with her ups and downs, intimate drama sharing like miscarriage make Michelle Obama very endearing and deeply human. Herself says she is a very ordinary person having an extraordinary story. Here are a few highlights:
- « Becoming self, becoming us, becoming more »: her story and her partnership with Barack is a demonstration of necessary sequence described in the « 7 habits of efficient people » to reach an extraordinary level of synergy & interdependence resulting from huge responsibilities.
- Independence: despite she adapted her professional life to her husband’s contraints, she found her own way to move. A very concrete demonstration of this shift is when she decides to stop waiting for him for dinner, and take more care of herself starting again gym at 5h30 ! The result of this is a real complementarity and balance for their life and family.
- Diversity & Inclusion: in the context of the US, she makes us aware of huge potential by supporting more people to believe in themselves and especially ones who tend to be unrepresented « failure is a feeling before being a fact ». Education & Instruction are both key enablers, but task is still huge to change prejudges and really enable diversity everywhere.
- Barack Obama leadership style appearing in the book
- Exceptional quality of presence & optimism : Barack Obama as a president has a crazy time schedule and such huge responsibilities but she describes really his quality of presence and attention when with his family, encouragements, laugh, his smile.
- Deep vision and rare ability to stay cool : since his early adult life, he had an optimistic and hopeful vision and ideal that he can contribute to change the world. The depth of this conviction led him. He reads a lot, thinks a lot and has a rare quality to keep his cool in all circumstances.
- Daily sport practice: daily sport has always been part of his time schedule. Even as a president he run 1 hour a day. To decompress he liked playing basketball.
Simone Veil is a French politician, one of the first one under President Giscard in 1974. She is very famous for making vote the law to allow abortion.
However, she is much more than that. She survived Nazi camp and despite this experience affected her all life, she is an example of resilience and how much we can achieve in a life. Her biography describes a lot French political life.
The main “AchievUp take away is how she was able to use politics to make real society moves without compromising ever her convictions. Indeed politics despite often scene of selfish power games, is a real way to make a difference.