Colin Powell Inspirational In Seattle Appearence

Today, Deb and I were able to endure the lousy traffic to attend Get Motivated Seminar at Key Arena. We were lucky enough to get a premier on street parking spot. We only had enough time to attend the morning session, so after a late start we got to see only two speakers. Fortunately, one of them was General Colin Powell. Powell, of course, was the very first African American Secretary Of State. He served under the Bush administration, and while our politics may differ, General Powell may be the one politician to transcend party lines.
Powell talked about adjustments he needed to make, going from have his own jet and being called upon by worldwide leaders to just being retired. He spoke of the new media and how he wondered why his grandson didn't return his e-mails. He discovered that today's youth do not e-mail but communicate through text and twitter. Powell refused to go on facebook and was enraged to find that an imposter set up a phony page for him. He decided that it may not be as bad when his grandson told him that he had 35,000 followers.
Powell paid homage to the late Seattle School Superintendent John Stanford, also a general and spoke of the need to improve our nation's public education.
He also went through the steps of building a successful team, mostly by respecting your followers. He also emphasized the need of setting goals.
Some of the other speakers to appear at the Key were Laura Bush, Dan Rather, and Joe Montana.