How was your job different than you thought it would be?
Doing yardwork was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be, mostly because a lot of people don’t find it enjoyable. I’ve been lucky—I’ve never had a job I didn’t like.

I mowed lawns until I went to college, then during summers I recruited students for the college, traveling all around South Dakota.

What important lessons or skills that you learned in your first job have been instrumental in your success?
Persistence and performance are the keys to success. When you work hard, stick to task, and work to your full potential, you give yourself the greatest satisfaction at the end of the day.

How have you carried these lessons into subsequent jobs? How do you use those skills in your position today?
Anticipate how you can improve your performance and serve better in whatever job you’re doing. If you use your imagination, you’ll realize your capacity to improve and how what you’re doing can lead to other opportunities. If you work like a drone and only do the minimum that’s required, you won’t advance.

Have you seen how lacking those first job skills had negative effects on others?
Some people didn’t find any joy in their work, they saw it as drudgery. They didn’t move ahead very fast, if at all. More importantly, they missed out on that feeling of satisfaction that they did their best. That’s the feeling you that lets you sleep better at night. You have to find satisfaction in what you do to succeed.

Is there a specific event in your first job that you learned something you still use today?
I was doing yard work for a woman and her windows were open. I overheard her conversation with four other women; she was telling them how I always did such a good job and how I loved the plants and trees so much. She said she could tell it was a joy for me to be there, that I worked on her property like it was my own. It really gave me a sense of the importance of doing quality work and doing what you love.

What obstacles that you faced had the greatest impact on your career path?
I did recruiting for my college one summer, and to do that job well you have to be a salesman. I had to overcome a natural shyness of making a pitch to do what I wanted them to. I had to overcome the idea that I was imposing, and realize that I was providing a service to others. After all, I was taking inexperienced youngsters and persuading them to pursue higher education! I learned that I was doing a favor rather than imposing.

What people or outside factors affected your work ethic or motivated you the most to succeed?
My dad was a Methodist clergyman, and my mom was a soloist in his church’s choir, and their great influence of morals and spirituality stood me well. I had an history teacher, who also coached the debate squad, who taught me to think and speak on my feet with self-confidence. I also had an English Literature teacher who would single individuals out to encourage them. She made me stay after class one day to tell me that I had a remarkable ability to speak and write persuasively, and encouraged me to develop it. She told me to nurture an interest in good literature because it would enrich my writing and speaking skills in anything I did. Their guidance helped me get over that natural shyness I had.

What advice would you give to someone starting his or her first job?
Keep up your education—it is a lifetime experience. In every job, learn everything you can and then reach out beyond that to understand your community and the world we live in. Have knowledge of great issues of our time, and take an active role with your public and private concerns. Don’t hesitate to change your mind when you come to see things in different light; changing your mind is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign that you are wiser today than you were yesterday.

What do you find most rewarding about your public service?
Working in the public life, you have an opportunity to enrich yourself and others, and there is no substitute for that satisfaction. If you can look back and know you did your best to make some people’s life better, that’s the greatest award. You won’t become rich in public service, but you will feel rich and rewarded.