Macon Magazine

3. STATE YOUR VISION CLEARLY, THEN HUSH UP AND LISTEN. "SHE WAS SO BLUNT that it shocked people at times." Godsey's statement is the result of his enduring friendship with Jordan. In her eulogy, Godsey shared, "I would caution her about being so incessantly blunt. Her directness, her plainness of word, could be stinging. So, I urged her toward a bit more diplomacy. I was an utter failure." Stinging, perhaps, but Rogers said Jordan's straightforward manner of speaking has impacted how he works with his team today. "She communicated her expectations so clearly that we understood and wanted to make those expectations come true," Rogers said, adding that he thinks about Jordan every day, especially when he communicates with his NewTown team members. "Say it truthfully and concisely and be done." Many of Jordan's friends and colleagues agree that it takes a special person with a special trait to have the guts to tell it like it is – and then stop. Winston Churchill's words may best describe it: "Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. It's also what it takes to sit down and listen." Robinson said there was more to Jordan when the talking was done. "When she spoke, she spoke very profoundly, but she was a great listener ... that may have intimidated some people. She was always looking directly at the people talking," Robinson said. Jordan's listening skills are legendary, and at times, could be as intimidating as her foresight. Rogers laughed warmly when he spoke about how he learned those skills the hard way. "She listened really carefully. It took me years," he said. "She'd let you talk and then she wouldn't respond. So, you're sitting there, nervous already and it was super easy to just start saying things to fill the silence." A fourth leadership lesson from Jordan may best be understood through the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus." 4. YOU LEAD BY RELATING. JUAWN JACKSON was only 26 years old when voters elected him to the Macon-Bibb County School Board this year. He'd won elections before in school, twice serving as the Student Government Association president at Georgia College and State University in CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JUANITA JORDAN AND MIKE FORD. MERCER MUSIC AT CAPRICORN; PHOTO BY MATTHEW SMITH. WHAT DOWNTOWN LOOKS LIKE TODAY, 'THANKS TO THE PERSEVERANCE AND TENACITY OF MRS. JORDAN'S EFFORTS,' SAYS EMILY HOPKINS OF NEWTOWN MACON; PHOTO BY JESSICA WHITLEY. JUANITA AND HER HUSBAND, THE LATE CLYDE M. JORDAN JR. JUANITA WITH JUAWN JACKSON. THE 1996 OLYMPIC TORCH BEARER IS PICTURED WITH HER GRANDCHILDREN. JUANITA WAS THE FIRST RECIPIENT OF THE SAM HART COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD IN 2017. OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2020 | maconmagazine.com 45

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