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A year-end message
Posted Jan. 8, 2013
Former Forum presenter Janet Cowell sent in a year-end message on Dec. 28. Because we could not find a copy of it online, the text is below.
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My Best Gift
My best gift of the season came in the form of observations from several people
that I respect noticing that I have changed, evolved, and grown in my office.
The feedback means the world to me because it recognizes a lot of effort and
growing pains during my first four-year term as North Carolina�s State
Treasurer.
More broadly, this provides hope that all of us have the capacity to do things
differently, move outside of our comfort zones. Given challenges in
unemployment, education, healthcare, and budgets here at home in North Carolina,
along with fiscal cliff and debt ceiling negotiations in Washington, our
capacity and willingness to learn and change is a welcome message and will keep
us moving in the right direction.
The phrase �Dance With the One Who Brung You� is popular, but not always good
advice. Certain skill sets bring you so far in life, but must be complimented to
remain competitive and at a top level. In my case, singularity of focus,
�heads-down� intensity, and independent-mindedness helped me improve operations
in the Department of State Treasurer. However, I realized in my first two years
that I needed some new dance partners to be more effective for the people of
North Carolina. I adapted to spend more time outwardly focused and utilize
partnerships with the best and brightest of our state, ensuring we are always
aligned to make the best decisions for North Carolina.
A number of you receiving this email were catalysts for my personal change on
issues ranging broadly from increased public speaking on issues affecting North
Carolinians to pushing the limits of physical fitness outside of the office. I
am incredibly grateful for those of you who have believed in me, advised me,
worked alongside of me, and made me laugh along the way. One friend even told me
he was going to tell people he was a senior advisor to the State Treasurer. �On
fiscal matters?� I asked. �No,� he replied, �on wardrobe.� While that may be
further down my priority list, the care to make things better down to that level
of detail is refreshing and appreciated.
This is not to say that I do not have room for growth and a need for
improvement. However, I do believe that we should all recognize and celebrate
life�s small (and medium-sized) victories. Being State Treasurer has given me a
front row seat to fiscal matters and, right now, there is more to worry about
than celebrate.
While we have many things to be grateful for here in North Carolina, there are a
number of pressing issues facing us. We need to create more jobs. One of the
biggest missed opportunities is better maximizing the good ideas coming out of
our universities. We have increased our high school graduation rate to 80%, but
need to continue to increase the number of students graduating from our
community colleges and universities with job-ready skill sets. We need to
collectively improve our health to better our quality of life and reduce health
care costs. Given our past successes at reinvention when needed, I am optimistic
about North Carolina�s capacity to change to make us even stronger and better
prepared for the future.
At the National level, our federal leaders must find the will to change how they
have been conducting business, because their current approach is not working. A
down payment is desperately needed on our national debt and we must create a
long-term framework for reducing that debt. Otherwise, our debt payments will
crowd out investments in things like education and research and development that
will provide a brighter future for our children.
As we ring in the New Year and bring in new leaders at the federal, state, and
local level, my hope is that we individually and collectively do things
differently and strive for better results. And as we work together to find
solutions, I hope that we celebrate our victories, large and small, and
recognize the efforts and growth around us. I look forward to working with you,
as we continue to build and maintain a fiscally strong and prosperous North
Carolina. I am glad we are on this journey together.
God Bless.
Janet Cowell