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It’s kind of a big deal when the boss leaves an organization, and it seems like it’s been happening a lot lately in Anne Arundel County.
On Wednesday, I attended the Community Covenant Farewell to Colonel Yolanda Gore, the Garrison Commander of Fort George G. Meade. It was well over two hours of citations, gifts, and thank-yous from government and community leaders who had been touched by what defined her as a leader.
In case you weren’t aware, Colonel Gore was not only the first woman and second person of color in the position, but she was also one of the most effective. Listen to the podcast we did together here.
I’d missed a couple of the Fort’s big events recently, and she told me that she missed me. She kept asking on Wednesday at the event in HER honor if I was alright. That kind of caring and friendship is rare in official circles, but I discovered at the ceremony that it isn’t rare at all in the life of this Colonel. Everyone in the packed room had experienced the same care, and it was being returned.
Some say that military service makes people less caring and harder to connect with. Maybe it does for some, but I’ve discovered that the opposite is true for most. “We, not me,” is what an elderly Naval Academy graduate told me he learned in the Navy. “Leave no one behind,” is what Governor Moore says he learned in the army. My Dad was a Marine, and I suspect that’s where he learned a lot of what he knew about caring for others. Sometimes I wish more people had the benefit of that kind of training.
Tonight I’m going to a similar event for an equally impactful woman, Dr. Charlestine Fairley, the CEO of the Anne Arundel County Community Action Agency. And I’ll soon be joining the friends of retiring Anne Arundel County Public Libraries CEO Skip Auld.
On Monday, my staff, all of whom serve “at will,” met with the Office of Personnel and Workforce Development to discuss their status come December 7, the day that a new administration will take the reins. Some will likely be asked to stay on, but many will not. We discussed things like unemployment insurance, resumes, and health insurance, but my message to all of them was that their work speaks for itself, just as it always has, and that each of them has a story of success to build upon.
We still have 129 days to serve, but folks are already starting to talk about us in the past tense. That’s ok. Reflection and judgement are healthy. Every other person that I speak to says, “So what’s next for you?”
I have two answers. One is, “I don’t know.” The other is, “I’m gonna write a tell-all book, and you may be in it, so watch what you do and say!”
Until next week…