Although Michael J. Fox is known for acting more than he is known for leading, he embodies many qualities of leadership. After reading his memoirs and watching various interviews and television specials, I have observed Fox being optimistic, passionate, persuasive, thorough, ambitious, creative, insightful, enthusiastic, persistent, and friendly. Consequently, he embodies qualities of a variety of leaders, but his dominant characteristics seem to indicate that he is primarily a "promoter" because he has proven that he likes to get involved and he has much enthusiasm for his career, his family, and his cause. Since "promoter" does not sum up all of his attributes, Fox's secondary categorization would be "controller" because he is also very competitive and likes logical solutions.
Clearly, the main turning point in Fox's life was his Parkinson's diagnosis, but he also encountered other more subtle battles with his career, his beliefs, and Rush Limbaugh. The Parkinson's Disease diagnosis changed the course of Fox's life, but in many ways it made his life better. Fox laments the end of his successful career by saying, "Ironic that in order to do my life's work, I had to quit my day job" (Fox, 2009, p. 29). However, his initial acceptance of his diagnosis and his subsequent conquest for a cure was not always easy for him to wrap his head around. Fox writes, "I found myself struggling with a strange new dynamic: the shifting of public and private personas. I had been Mike the actor, then Mike the actor with PD. Now was I just Mike with PD? Parkinson's had consumed my career and, in a sense, had become my career. But where did all of this leave me?...The answer had very little to do with 'protection' and everything to do with perspective" (Fox, 2009, p. 5). Clearly, Michael J. Fox's unique "perspective" is the key to his success as a leader in every facet of his life.
For Michael J. Fox, failure has actually fueled his optimism and made him a better leader. I'm not sure if his health can be considered a failure, but it was definitely a setback physically and mentally. He also faced many setbacks in regard to his acting career and on the campaign trail as he advocated for stem cell research. Parkinson's was the main factor that ended his acting career as well as the main catalyst for his career as advocate and inspirational leader. Parkinson's could have caused more problems for him personally, but in true optimist fashion, he describes how the setbacks became moments of growth. About his successful marriage, Fox writes, "Much of what has gone so right in the last twenty years has had to do with how what has gone wrong has been mitigated by our partnership, our friendship, and in the broader sense, the possibility of a marriage done right" (Fox, 2009, p. 213). He also shared a similar optimistic sentiment after campaigning for stem cell legislation that was ultimately vetoed by George W. Bush, "I was disappointed, but I still thought, Better than nothing, lets wait and see" (Fox, 2009, p. 98). For Fox, it seems that failure does not exist as long as one has the attitude to deal with adversity and grow as result.
optimist. New York: Hyperion.
I love Fox's comments on how to gather help. Find people that are smarter than you! That is definitely knowledge building and coherence making. He is always laughing at himself and putting himself out there even as his disease has progressed. Most recently I have have been seeing him on all of the Canada commercials during the Olympics. Very inspiring.
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