Senior Adviser to Bush Issues Leadership Challenge
6/18/2004
WASHINGTON—10 minutes from Normal. That’s not only the title of a book by Karen Hughes, adviser and former counselor to President George W. Bush, but it’s how she would describe the chaotic, exciting life she experienced inside the corridors of the White House.
In a Friday morning address at the NFIB Small Business Summit, Hughes recalled that she often had to pinch herself to believe that someone from such a “very ordinary American background” was working at the White House. “It was a bizarre experience … but I felt a sense of privilege and honor to be in those rooms,” she said.
In addition to her personal, often humorous, remembrances of the president, Hughes also admitted that her job as chief communications strategist was a very tough balancing act. “It’s difficult to have a career and family and make commitments to both,” she said. Ultimately, she made the agonizing decision to move back to Texas in July 2002 in order to have a more normal family life.
Like me, she told Summit delegates, “you have a lot of conflicting demands and choices. I learned how important it was to determine what is true and lasting and make decisions based on those values.”
Hughes also urged small-business employers to create a family-friendly work environment. “You will gain it all back in loyalty and dedication. People will work harder for you.”
Calling small-business owners “the people who make American work,” Hughes ended her address with a leadership challenge.
“The people in this room have so many gifts,” she said. “Use them not only to build successful businesses, but find a cause, issue or candidate that you feel passionate about and work as hard as you can to support it. Everyone can make a difference.”
Hughes is traveling with and advising President Bush in his fall 2004 re-election campaign.
Thursday evening activities included a gala dinner at the National Building Museum, with entertainment by Grammy Award-winning singer Lee Greenwood and violinist Rachel McGinnis.
