I had an opportunity to hear governor Jeb Bush speaking at a luncheon hosted by the National Center for Policy Analysis.

He believes that a leader must take risk but manage it to make a difference. Examples of it while he was governor of Florida were the elimination of the civil service commission so that those who are ineffective can be fired just like everyone else. He outsourced and streamlined state government so that the state has 13,000 less employees, cut $20 billions in taxes, ended affirmative action in college admission but reached out to disadvantage kids, ie. created a color blind scholarship for students who are the very first one in their family to go to college, managed 8 hurricanes in 14 months, state bonds went to AAA rating, and a total of 2,558 budget items were vetoed.

Five things for those in leadership to consider:

1. Leaders ask why not. A couple weeks after he was sworn in as governor, he walked to the state capitol and noticed that there were no Florida state flag flying on top of the dome. He inquired and was told there were enough space on the pole for only two, the US flag and the POW flag as required by state law. A committee was formed, and he was presented with a half a million dollars budget item to build another pole for the Florida state flag. Why not go with smaller flags so three can fit on the existing pole? That was accomplished with no cost to Florida tax payers.

2. Fill the space. People will have to response to your agenda. Have Big High Audacious Goals. As governor, he saw to it that high school students can declare a major, graduation rate increased and drop out rate decreased, with mentors in schools, ended social promotion, ....

3. Stick with it. He has two people he admires in this aspect, Winston Churchill and his brother, president George W. Bush. Big ideas are going to take time to implement and it requires determination in an instant gratification world. Focus on the long term with passion.

4. Communicate. Use every means possible to communicate and listen to people. Show humility by truly listen. People are busy with their lives. They are not going to watch your everything you do, unless you really screwed up. So tell them what you do and achieve. And don't let your people pump you up to let you think you are way smarter than you really are.

5. Cast a vision. Tell people what's on the other side of this jagged hill that you are asking them to climb. People will be receptive to bold ideas back up with substance.

A question was asked what advice would the governor give to a young person thinking of going into politics. The answer was to be a successful person first, be it a mom, dad, business leader, .... Don't make politics a career. Don't pursue the petty ambition and miss out on life. When you succeeded, you can then run and share your experience. On the hot topic of immigration, he believes we've got to take control of our border but isn't worry as much as some about losing our culture. That argument has been made every generation. We need to continue to encourage the cream of the crops from all over the world to come here and pursue the American dream. That's how we stay strong and being the best in the world. He then told the story of Marco Rubio, a second generation Cuban-American who at 35 became the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives while he was governor.

Asked about the White House and said he had no further aspiration. All he wanted was to be governor of Florida and he was.

I really like the governor. He was a great speaker, speaking with such simplistic but powerful style. You can feel that he's very relax, comfortable, just like talking to a group of friends. He's also very personable, listens very well. He's definitely someone who could end up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.