What We Could Learn From a Day with Hilary?

Seriously, what does a day in the life of Hilary Clinton look like? What skills does she have to employ to accomplish her goals? How did she learn to become a master of negotiation? How does she know when to keep a hard line and when to keep doors open?

This week in Newsweek there is an article on Hilary, which talks about how she has created a strong working relationship with Obama, once her rival for the presidency and now her President and boss. I would love to get an itemized list of her behaviors and verbal skills for one day to see how she demonstrates mastery of political skills. I can only imagine she's outstanding most of the time, but is this a skill she knows she is working day after day, or does it come naturally now. Does she smile inside when she's hit a home run, talking someone into a position where she can move towards a goal she's come to accomplish. Does she walk into meetings having deliberately prepared moves, statements, positions, and carefully plays her hand? Does she leave the room sometimes having got what she wanted but is emotionally drained at the effort it required?

I can only imagine that she is focused, and driven, and action oriented. In fact there's a quote from an NSC official in the article that belittles her in a way I doubt a man in the role would be referred to, "She has no real strategic vision, but she'll get done what she has to do. She's the good little Methodist girl. In the end she'll have her list of the nine or 10 things she has to do and check them off one by one", I like Clinton's come back to that comment, "At the end of the day, have you solved the problem or haven't you? Have you crossed it off the list or haven't you?". Isn't results driven one of the skills one wants to see in Secretary of State?

Maybe the role of Secretary of State requires a diverse perspective these days - the last 4 who have held these positions have been from a minority: 3 women, and 2 African-American (of course Condeleezza Rice gets to clock up a count on both fronts). Progress, moving an agenda forward and managing diplomacy requires skills to check the ego at the door and to keep focused. I really must read more about these individuals.