Women Leaders: Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm recognized the value of education long ago, and became the first in her family to attend college. Her early undergrad years at UC-Berkley followed by Harvard Law School, shaped her future as well as the future of many Michigan citizens.

As governor, Granholm is dedicated to empowerment through education and mentoring. During her tenure, Michigan schools received record funding at levels promised by her predecessor. She also proposed a ground-breaking initiative that would award $4,000 to every Michigan student successfully completing 2 years of post- secondary education. Her supportive stance regarding education funding was particularly courageous and visionary given the current state of the economy in Michigan.

From the beginning of her administration in 2002, she recognized pending economic challenges in Michigan, and created the Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow program, while simultaneously resolving $4 billion in budget deficits. Gov. Granholm wisely elected to invest in Michigan s economic future by securing state sponsored training and re-education programs for today. Unemployed or underemployed workers can pursue job skills more in demand in the diverse, high-technology emerging markets.

Gov. Granholm, along with a few other elected officials, understands that economic stability, both for states and their citizens, is best served by increased education. A popular stance for promoting economic quality of life among all people is to increase minimum wage. Those leaders with vision and courage understand that an educated populace stands a much greater chance of improving their earning power well beyond the confines of a minimum wage. Educated and skilled workers become candidates for jobs whose wages provide for improved quality of life.

It is important that team leaders be excellent listeners. Team leaders should meet with teams together and individually to figure out who will be best suited for different areas of the project. It is important to make these decisions based on what a team member has produced in the past, other projects they have worked on, and the kind of worker they are. Giving a piece of a project that needs to be done quickly to a team member who is meticulous and who works slowly is not the best choice. Match assignments up with employees who can meet deadlines and achieve accuracy in their work.

After beginning a project, the team leader should monitor the progress of each team member and how they interact with other team members. It is important to make sure that all team members are happy and are being productive. If a team member is constantly dominating the conversation, the team leader should ask for other opinions. If a team member does not say much, the team leader should ask for their opinion. This way, everyone in the team can feel included.

But along with vision, Gov. Granholm also has an extraordinary heart. While correcting budget deficits, Granholm has also increased healthcare options for more than 300,000 of the state s uninsured, created a bulk-buying pool for prescription drugs and passing on those savings to those uninsured end users, as well as enrolling 50,000 children in Healthy Kids and MiCHILD health insurance programs.

Honoring her convictions, Michigan s Governor has laid a foundation that provides equal opportunities for success across all economic strata. This rare combination of vision and compassion might confuse some, but Granholm reminds us Don t mistake niceness for weakness . Clearly, her leadership style includes an economic focus, an education focus, and a very personal-level focus. She is inspired to create a big picture economic plan providing for continued growth and diversification, while never losing site of the fact that Michigan is made up of thousands upon thousands of individual families whose priorities may range from how to fund a child s education to how to put food on tonight s dinner table. These are the leadership qualities that will create a profound and lasting legacy for Gov. Jennifer Granholm.