SHRM Orlando Day 4: A Few Final Words From a Former First Lady


As the Society for Human Resource Management’s 66th annual Conference & Exhibition winds down in Orlando, here are some thoughts, reflections and insights from the better part of a week spent in hot and humid weather than is part and parcel of June in central Florida.
They did a flip-flop this year, with former First Lady Laura Bush speaking at the last general session of the SHRM conference instead at the kick-off keynote as former First Lady Hillary Clinton did last year in Chicago.
The big difference, of course, was that Laura Bush let the media in to hear her speak, while Hillary Clinton did not. Make of that what you will.
In both cases, what the former First Ladies had to say was no big deal and hardly worth the effort of banning anyone from being able to hear it.
Laura Bush gave a warm and gentle speech where she updated the SHRM audience on what was going on with her family, gave some insight into life in the White House (including poking fun at the silly things about her family in the various tabloid publications you find in the supermarket check-out aisle), and the causes she continues to champion today, including literacy.
As the bio of her on the SHRM conference website put it:
Former First Lady of the United States Laura Bush, is an advocate for literacy, education and women’s rights. Mrs. Bush pursues her work on global health care innovations and empowering women in emerging democracies, and is a leading voice for spreading freedom and promoting human rights across the globe. As First Lady, Mrs. Bush advocated the importance of literacy and education to advance opportunity for America’s young people and to foster healthy families and communities. Mrs. Bush currently serves as the Chair of the Women’s Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute.”
She made a particular point of opening her talk by personally thanking the human resource professionals gathered here in Orlando for all they do, noting that “it is no easy task … owning the talent management process.” She right, of course, and it was nice to see a general session presenter speak directly, and more than in just passing reference, to the many thousands of HR pros who could use more than just a token acknowledgment.
Mrs. Bush also sat down with SHRM CEO Hank Jackson for a short Q&A session, and when asked by Jackson about her management philosophy, she said it was simply “to treat people with dignity and respect.” Overall, it was a little look inside life at the White House mixed with some reflections on what drives Laura Bush today. Not a bad keynote to end the conference on.