25 May 2009: inspirational people
Monday, May 25th, 2009What a week last week was in political terms! The UK witnessed the announcement on 19 May that the Speaker of Westminster, Michael Martins, would step down on 21 June 2009 — the first time a Speaker has been ousted since 1695 — and the continuing firestorm over MP’s expenses and how MPs across the political spectrum have angered and badly disappointed the British electorate with their expenses claims, and damaged democracy in the process:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/
Meanwhile, I continued watching out for inspirational people. Here are my three for the week ending 24 May 2009.
(1.) Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley is a British actress and comedienne most recently known for her role as Patsy in ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, one of my favorite satires about popular culture and car crash family relationships.
Over the last year, she’s been an absolute “tour de force” during the Gurkha campaign which led to Gordon Brown’s first defeat in the Commons as Prime Minister over the issue of whether those who had served in the Gurkha regiment and retired prior to 1997 should have the legal right of residency in the UK. After spearheading a highly effective media campaign, Ms. Lumley was both gracious and expansive in her victory speech on 21 May 2009.
During the campaign itself what came across was her absolute and genuine commitment to the Gurkhas to see justice prevail on their behalf. What also struck me was that she epitomized the very traits of honor, bravery and loyalty which she attributed to a battalion of soldiers who had “followed the flag”, sworn undying allegiance to the Queen and put their lives on the line for Britain.
Clearly there was also a personal dimension; her father had been an officer in a Gurkha regiment and had been saved during a battle by a Gurkha. To her the Gurkhas were her family and she fought for them as much as they’d fought for the Queen and for Britain.
This was a remarkable victory for sense and she’s a remarkable lady.
(2.) Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Tundu
Sir Ranulph “Ran” Fiennes is a well-known British explorer who became the first person to reach the North and South Poles by surface means and was the first one to cross Antarctica by foot. A few months after his heart attack and double heart bypass operation in 2003, he completed seven marathon across seven continents.
On 20 May 2009, he achieved his life-long dream to reach the summit of Mount Everest (on his third attempt). In the process he’s raised GBP millions on behalf of the Marie Curie Cancer Care:
What was particularly brilliant was the tribute he paid to his Sherpa guide, Tundu, without whom he said there was “no way” he could have reached the top of the mountain.
(3.) Dame Clara Furse
Dame Clara Furse is a Dutch-Canadian banker who became the first female CEO of the London Stock Exchange in 2001. On 20 May she announced she would be leaving the post to pursue other challenges.
She’s been a personal heroine of mine for well over a decade — not because she’s a woman operating and consistently succeeding in a male-dominated environment, but simply because she’s multi-capable (as well as having a highly mathematical mind which she applied to the derivatives field, she speaks five languages and combines being a high-flier with motherhood).
We won’t find her on YouTube or celebrity gossip pages, but we will find her in ‘Time’ magazine’s 2007 list of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential People in the World’:
· http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326_1615737_1615532,00.html
Those in the know about the banking sector will also remember her tenure as CEO of the LSE for the LSE’s successful defense against proposed takeovers from Deutsche Boerse and Euronext:
· http://www.economist.com/search/search.cfm?rv=2&qr=clara+furse&area=1&x=0&y=0
As a young woman, it’s genuinely smart, career-committed and capable women like Dame Clara Furse who inspire our generation.