Entrepreneurial Challenges Overcome Through LearningFailure and lessons. We all face them. Learning surround us all every day.

This is one of the reasons I bid to have the AssistU Homecoming here in Dearborn, Michigan… so we could experience some of those lessons and how people faced them. As you may already know, I am a believer in life-long learning. A tour of The Henry Ford immerses you in a learning experience. Abraham Lincoln was a lifelong learner, and his story is told beautifully at the museum and adjoining village.

In fact, this year in April, The Henry Ford observed the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. On April 15th, visitors to the museum had a rare opportunity to see the chair in which he was sitting when he was shot removed from its glass enclosure. The Henry Ford has housed the chair since 1929 when Henry Ford acquired it as he collected artifacts associated with great Americans who came from humble backgrounds.

Lincoln had unique leadership qualities and forged forward despite failures in his life. Was he born a great leader or did he learn and acquire the skills during his life’s journey? This compelling topic resonates at The Henry Ford because our heroes of innovation – Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, George Washington Carver, and so many others – were also leaders.

When he failed (which he did numerous times… he even had a documented nervous breakdown in 1936), he did not give up. Instead he asked, “What should I do differently?”

Lincoln was largely self-taught, and he never stopped learning. Many say he learned the most during his presidency, where he ultimately learned to take his emotions and set them aside, rather than act on them publicly.

Here are the key qualities that Lincoln embodied that also make a great VA:

  • Adaptability
  • Empathy
  • Humility
  • Resiliency
  • Flexibility
  • Willingness to learn
  • Mediation

In addition to seeing the chair from The Ford Theatre, where Lincoln was assassinated, visitors can see the Logan County Courthouse where Lincoln tried cases as an attorney, in Greenfield Village. The courthouse, obtained in 1929 by Henry Ford, is one of the few remaining structures relating to Lincoln’s early law career. The courthouse fits in with the theme of the community… telling the story of legal history in the United States. It holds a walnut corner cabinet, built by Lincoln and his father. More recently, The Henry Ford obtained the courthouse’s original bar.

Lincoln was a lifelong learner’s whose legacy will be a part of our learning at Homecoming 2015. Lessons and learning followed another visionary we will learn from, Henry Ford.

Ford faced bankruptcy multiple times since its inception in the early 1900s. Henry Ford’s airplane division did fail and completely close in the early 20s. Each time he faced failure, Ford’s ability to innovate pulled him through. The Ford Motor company continues this legacy today.

Most recently, after the crash in 2008, Ford was only car manufacturer to not take a bailout from the US government. Stock prices dipped under $1.20 per share by November 2008, and many forecasted it was the end. While the company is not back to its former glory, stock prices are back up around $15 a share now, and continued innovation has helped them climb back toward a future.

The newest innovation, the re-imagined F150 truck, has revamped Ford’s Rouge Factory and The Henry Ford Museum’s Rouge Factory Tour is an optional tour available at The Henry Ford. In 2013-2014, the factory underwent an overhaul to enable it to build the new model with an all-aluminum body, rather than steel. It is a historical first to have an aluminum body built on this scale. The factory tour features two film experiences and allows you to see the finished process at the plant. It connects you to the incredible level of research and technology that went into this new model and gives context to the company’s long history of innovation. It also houses one of the world’s largest green roofs.

The Rouge Factory and it’s green roof is one of the attractions the AssistU community will be able to experience during our 2015 Homecoming coming up in September.

Entrepreneurial challenges overcome through learning…. Can you see why I wanted our community to experience the learning and lessons here?