I never thought of myself, before I came to NC State, as a leader in any way. I was socially congenial, I played sports; I wasn’t in student council or any of that.
But I think when I came to State and I got involved in student government I found out that I was a pretty good leader,
that I was comfortable in front of groups and speaking. The two years I was a senator I was Best Speaker in the legislature.
So that was something I just didn’t know about myself, and then that was beneficial to me starting in the military.
I mean when you show up on an island on the staff of an admiral and you’re an ensign most everybody else has got at least four–.
I mean they’re captains, they’re commanders, they’re lieutenant commanders; you’re nothing.
So having the composure to be able to relate to these kinds of power figures, really, including a two-star admiral,
really started before I came to State because I interacted with faculty members at Clemson, but even more so at State, and that helped me in my military career.
I received the Joint Service Commendation Medal for some planning activities I did while I was in the service.
Then as I became an architect, whether it was in Europe or in Washington, DC or in North Carolina, you have to constantly present to clients and prospective clients
and relate to people, whether it’s the governor if you’re doing a master plan for state government, or a corporate CEO if you’re doing a corporate headquarters,
and I’ve done those too, or a hospital CEO. So having that grounding and having that comfort with doing that has helped me through my entire career.