Growing up in Kansas City, I was always neat, the teacher's pet, know-it-all type.

I'm constantly on the hunt for insights about happiness or ideas about how to be happier - which probably makes me a somewhat tiresome companion at times.

Often, if there's something that I want to do, but somehow can't get myself to do, it's because I don't have clarity. This lack of clarity often arises from a feeling of ambivalence - I want to do something, but I don't want to do it; or I want one thing, but I also want something else that conflicts with it.

Whenever I'm trying to decide how to spend my precious time, energy, or money, I ask myself a series of questions. 'Will this broaden or deepen my relationships?' 'Will this contribute to an atmosphere of growth in my life?' 'Is this a way to 'Be Gretchen?' and 'Will this help connect me to my past?'

Very early in my career, I thought I had to conform to one style of leadership - lead by being the loudest one in the room, with the sharpest elbows.

Gov. Romney is a proven and effective leader with vast experience in the business world, in the non-profit world and in government. And in every capacity in which he has ever served, he has been effective as a leader.

Only when God was said to have died did various leaders, professions and sectors risk pushing themselves forward as successors.

What I've really learned over time is that optimism is a very, very important part of leadership.