It was the kind of smell wafting up from the backside of my 11-month old that signaled a distinct color and deplorable consistency. People were packed tight in a convention hall. My wife had just given a powerful nomination speech for Michigan Attorney General, and our gubernatorial nominee was about to give a huge speech. I wanted to be anywhere but where I was, changing the diaper of my son. But nobody could do what I could do that day.

I believe deeply that I have been called to serve and that my marriage is at the heart of that call to service. My wife Jennifer (Granholm, now Governor of Michigan) and I are a close team—united by faith, by a commitment to justice for all, by vows, and by the three wonderful children we raise together.

I do what I do, because it is my path and destiny. No one can be my wife’s husband, my kids’ dad, or the special person I believe I am. I hold my wdydwyd? sign in this picture boastfully, not because I think I am so special. I hold it proudly, because it is my life vision that all people should have a sense of their uniqueness, and I feel it is my mission to continually evoke the greatness, the singular essence in every individual I meet. That’s why I’m a big brother, that’s why I write about leadership every week in my “Reading for Leading” blog, that’s why I am passionate about helping attract and create “great companies to work for” in Michigan. That’s why I am proud to be just me.