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Lessons to Learn from Senator Ted Kennedy
2 Comments | Posted by Joe Lavelle in Career Acceleration, Lifelong Learning, My $0.02
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The country is mourning the passing of a leader whose death marks the end of a political dynasty. Senator Ted Kennedy lost his battle with brain cancer overnight and closed the door on Camelot for good. Whether you agreed with his politics or not, you cannot deny the influence that Senator Kennedy had on our nation’s laws and agenda for nearly half a century. He was elected to the United States Senate from my state of Massachusetts in 1962 and continued in this capacity as a public servant for the rest of his life. His dedication to the causes that mattered most to him was unwavering.
Over at her excellent blog, KeppieCareers.com, Miriam Salpeter has already written a post detailing some of the lessons that job seekers and those wishing to advance in their careers can learn from Senator Kennedy’s life. She points out the fact that success at work depends at least as much on the relationships you cultivate as the actual work that you do. Ted Kennedy was known as a senator who regularly reached across the aisle and who established long-lasting friendships with both Democrats and Republicans. The outpouring of kind words that are being shared by his colleagues today points to the efforts that Kennedy made to cultivate working relationships built on mutual respect.
Miriam also mentions Ted Kennedy’s ability to overcome setbacks, most notably the infamous Chappaquiddick tragedy in 1969. Even though his image was tarnished and any chance of becoming president likely ended in those waters, Kennedy reinvented himself and decided to become the most effective legislator possible. While I hope that no one who is reading this blog will experience such a horrific moment, we all must be prepared to learn from our poor decisions and determine that we will move forward as better people and professionals.
What are your thoughts on the life and work of Senator Ted Kennedy? What about his legacy can we best use as learning tools for our own professions? I would love to read your thoughts on the positive lessons we can learn from this influential man.
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2 Comments for Lessons to Learn from Senator Ted Kennedy
Miriam Salpeter, Keppie Careers
Twitter Trackbacks for Lessons to Learn from Senator Ted Kennedy | Act As If It Were Impossible to Fail [actasifblog.com] on Topsy.com | August 28, 2009 at 6:24 pm
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Joe – Thanks for mentioning my post! I think that we can all learn from public figures, even if they are “bigger than life” and it seems as if we have nothing obvious in common. It is important to stop and think about what we might be able to do to advance our goals, and sometimes major historical events provide that type of opportunity.
Best,
Miriam Salpeter