Obama and Leadership

Leadership is a difficult "brew" to capture. It certainly benefits from "experience," but it is much more that experience. Many people in politics have lots of experience, but they are not leaders; and some of our most famous leaders in our history, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Teddy Roosevelt, Martin Luther King, and many more, were quite young and not very experienced when they asserted their leadership and changed the world we have come to know.

I want of offer several attributes that I think are generally true for all of most most revered political leaders. First, as Theodore Roosevelt was fond of saying, the White House is a "bully pulpit." A great skill with words, words that capture the imagination and passion of people, is surely one aspect of leadership. Lincoln had it. Franklin Roosevelt had it. And most certainly, Ronald Reagen had it. Does Obama possess this skill? I think that nearly everyone agrees that he does in a large way, although many of his opponents belittle him as being nothing more than words.

A second aspect of great leadership is the ability to attract the best and the brightest of those available for government service. This was an attribute that Americans admired in John Kennedy, but we were denied the opportunity to find out how far it would take us. We cannot be totally sure about this attribute for Obama until after the election, but he certainly is bringing out the enthusiasm of some of the smartest people in America. His ability to appeal to people at all levels completely transcends race, age or any gender issues.

A final element in leadership is the ability to cement together an organization that consists of more talent than the leader possesses. The core of the While House is an organization of great importance in the United States and the World. No one, not the smartest or most gifted among us, possess every talent to an equal extent. Leaders have a genius for putting together combinations of collaborators who have complimentary skills and perspectives, and leaders have an equal genius for knowing how to get those people to work together. Leaders cannot be involved in the details; they do not have the time. They are not "policy wonks." Leaders are able to attract very competent individuals, who share their vision and who will work in concert to convert the vision to a reality. One of the more unnoticed aspects of this campaign is the extraordinary organization that Obama has melded together. I think his campaign will be remembered as the first true 21st Century political campaign. It takes leadership to do that.

Personally, and this is just an outsiders opinion, I think that Obama has already exhibited more of the elements of leadership than either Clinton or McCain, and I think the voters recognize that leadership when they see it. Just my opinion!