Yesterday, we met Mr. Weinbrecht, the current Mayor of Cary. We met in a conference room in the Cary Town Hall. My first impression of Mr. Weinbrecht was his cheery aura, which was later confirmed by his affable nature. He is a lithely built man with a peppy way of holding himself.
We started off the meeting with a shake of hands, and then we commenced with the interview. Overall, I noticed that he was partial to using real life examples when answering questions. His view of leadership is that to be a leader, one must be honest. Instead of hiding in the backrooms and then popping out and declaring your intentions, you should be a transparent person and let the populace know about your intentions.
Mr. Weinbrecht mentioned that he never even thought about being involved in politics when he was a child. He was almost pulled into it by his colleagues, he said. “When people told me to run for mayor, I laughed, because I thought it was ridiculous at first.” However, later he developed a deep passion for his job. His favorite part of his job is showing foreign ambassadors around Cary, and his least favorite is black tie events. (Apparently, tuxedos are not exactly on his list of favorite things.)
After the interview, we were invited to view a town council meeting. It started out with officials speaking about what they were doing to improve Cary, and the council commenting or questioning the officials. Afterwards, the council opened the podium to citizens of Cary. There was an improtant issue brought up during the citizens’ hour: buffers for the Cameron Pond community. Many citizens spoke up about their concerns. We departed after the third speaker.
At the end, the CKSAP ambassadors gathered for a quick ending meeting. I am glad to say the CKSAP Local 2009 Program ended on a fine note.
Today, we met Dr. David Yazdani of Cisco Systems. Trim and energetic, he was a very cheerful presence in our group. First, we started off with lunch in the Cisco cafeteria, Building 7. Apparently, there are 12 buildings, in which three include cafeterias, on the Cisco campus. During lunch, Mr. Yazdani gave a short history of Cisco and himself. Born in Iran, Mr. Yazdani grew up in a very well off family. Unfortunately, due to a civil war, he moved to America with only $2000. Afterwards, he joined Cisco and progressed to the position in which he is in today.
Mr. Jim Davis – Mr. Davis was a very kind and cheerful man. He treated us like equals, and he wasn’t afraid to talk a lot to share what he felt about his job and his leadership. His key point was motivation. He believes that to be a leader, you have to be able to motivate yourself and the people around you. (Which is the primary difference between just a manager and a good leader.) He also explained about his past about how he grew up interested in computer programming and proceeded to find his calling in that field after a few jobs.
Mr. Hasan Jameel – Mr. Jameel seemed like a very casual, cheerful man as well. What was a bit unusual about this meeting was that he also asked us questions about our opinions on leadership, so it was almost like a Socratic seminar. He also placed great emphasis on how a leader must be a good motivator, and that a leader must also have core values to rely on. We also talked about his job, and he mentioned that he is currently working on a research project finding the most efficient way to convert wood into ethanol.
