On Presidential Leadership

In watching the media coverage of the Gulf oil spill and the president’s reaction to it, I find it interesting how many times the commentator/reporter has discussed the president’s leadership, or lack thereof, depending on your perspective. Most of the overtone has been negative, criticizing the president for lack of dynamic, forceful leadership. One pundit even criticized him for lacking passion and approaching the problem as a lawyer instead of as a leader.

I simply ask “Why is everyone looking for Mr. Obama to display leadership”? You may find my question to be strange as all right thinking people would expect the president to display leadership in any crisis. Please understand the context in which I pose this question.

An expectation of anything, in this case presidential leadership, assumes the person in question has had prior experience with situations that called for the skill needed to deal with the situation in question. Is this true of Mr. Obama? Does he have the necessary skills to deal with this crisis? I do not know. You be the judge.

But let me provide the following “food for thought”.

General Colin Powell defines leadership as the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible. There is a powerful message hidden in this statement. In my opinion, the operative words are “accomplishing more”.

Very few of us accomplish much on our own. We accomplish tasks by motivating and leading people to the desired outcome. It has been my experience that the American culture places too much emphasis on management. My life experience taught me early on that people do not want to be managed; they want to be led….. by someone whose vision they can embrace.

Managers manage things, leaders lead people. This is a huge distinction.

Is the president “managing” or “leading”?

Does Mr. Obama have anything in his life experience that would lead us to believe he can provide the leadership so necessary as president? Has he ever:

Run a business?
Met a payroll?
Hired anyone?
Created a vision that others wanted to follow and then executed that vision?
Had responsibility for the welfare of a group?
Surrounded himself with people that will tell him what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear?
Confronted the people who need to be confronted?
Been the chief executive of anything?

Are we expecting more of him as a leader than he is equipped to deliver?

Again, you be the judge.

Remember one thing: The skills required to become president are not necessarily the skills required to be president!