Governor Snyder at Adrian College

Conner Wise

         Starting in 2016, President Docking implemented a new course at Adrian College

examining some of the key essentials to what makes a good leader. This class labeled,

leadership, engages the students with activities and presentations which encourages the students

to step out of their comfort zone and get acclimated to what life is like after college.

         This course not only teaches students what life is like in the workforce environment, but

also welcomes well known leaders across America to come and speak to the students to share

their life stories and how they achieved their goals to lead them to their success. Some of the

speakers that this course has offered so far for this academic school year have been all the way

from Adrian College employees such as Andrea Saylor and Tony Coumoundouros, to FBI secret

agent and NBA referee, Bob Delaney.  

         Without a doubt, the public figures that President Docking and Professor Beth Heiss

bring into this course is something Adrian College students need to take advantage of. They offer

real life scenarios that encourage students to take a leadership role.

         On Oct. 6, President Docking had a very familiar face present to his students about some

of the biggest life challenges he has ever faced. This public official was Governor Rick Snyder

who served as the governor of Michigan from 2011 until 2019. Throughout the presentation,

Snyder had many fascinating stories about how he managed to become the governor and what

his struggles were during this process.

         Snyder started off sitting in a cubicle doing tax write-offs, then achieved the role of being

the governor and the class wanted to know the process of how he managed to accomplish this.

To start off with one of the many great quotes Snyder mentioned during this class period, Snyder
mentioned, “The greatest limitation you have is what you put in your mind.” Majority of the

class looked around and took a glance pondering what they had put in their mind to limit what

they could achieve in their lives.

         While this quote really got the class thinking, the aspect the class enjoyed was when

Snyder was mentioning his failures and challenges he faced while in this position. Snyder was

the leader to go to when the Flint water crisis emerged, the students wanted to know what kept

him going and how he handled the situation.

         Snyder said, “Without measurements, you can’t track progress to see if you’re

succeeding.” Furthermore, this got almost every student to grab their pen and jot this down in

their notebook. Snyder made his success by setting goals and these were his measurements

dictating on whether he was pleased with where he was in his life at that given time.

         This was, however, not the only key point he focused on. Another main idea he

mentioned was to acknowledge what you are doing right, and what you are doing wrong.

Snyder said, “Learn how to deal with failure to grow every day.”

Everyone is going to make mistakes in life, it is human nature. How someone reacts to

their mistakes is what dictates how they’re going to be for the rest of their life. Getting into a

pattern of doing the same routine every day is going to make someone feel comfortable. There is

nothing wrong with this, however they should ask themselves here and there if this is beneficial

to their essential growth depending on their goals in life.

         The nuts and bolts of this presentation was practically experience is what makes one learn

in life. The hardships one undergoes throughout a lifetime may be uncomfortable at that time but

are crucial for human development. Some of Snyder’s strengths were integrity, problem solver,

and positiveness which led him down the road he wanted to pursue in life. Find out what your
own personal strengths are and be dominant and confident in those areas to lead you down a

successful path.