“What you are is God’s gift to you; what you become is your gift to God.”

I heard those words spoken tonight from one of the most remarkable women I have been privileged to hear speak:  Carly Fiorina, the first woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Hewlett-Packard), a breast cancer survivor, and the woman who challenged Barbara “Call Me Senator” Boxer for her California Senate seat in 2010. She now runs the Unlocking Potential  Project to encourage Americans — especially women — to discover the full promise for their lives.

Relating to her own experience, she started by saying that it is “only possible in the United States” for a young woman to start as a receptionist and end up as the head of a giant tech corporation. She further declared that “everyone has potential, despite their circumstances.”

Going back to the founding of the United States, Fiorina said that our nation was founded upon this premise of potential; that freedom would unlock this potential by allowing people to take their own chances, to make their own mistakes, and to find their own dreams.

Moreover, effective leaders will unlock the potential in others. Referring to Barack Obama, she asserted, “A big office does not a leader make.” She continued by expounding that right now, in America, we are missing the leadership that releases peoples’ capacity.

She also claimed that “people of faith make better leaders.” How? Religious faith provides leaders with humility, compassion, and optimism — something lacking in liberals who see government (and, by extension, themselves) as the great decider as to the needs and capacities of others.

As Carly Fiorina affirms in the mission statement of her Unlocking Potential Project: 

Today, America suffers from self-inflicted wounds. Our nation has everything we need to lead, grow and prosper.
We must unlock the full potential of every American and unleash the power of this great nation. This requires:
worthy goals, common purpose and leadership;
connecting conservative principles to people’s lives and struggles, in a twenty-first century context; and
engaging differently in the political process.
It is Time.

Update, 8/8/15: This writer continues to be impressed with Mrs. Fiorina, and I would love to see her at the ‘grownups table’ at the next Republican debate.