A lesson in presidential leadership
It may surprise you to learn that most leaders are similar. Their attitude, care and standards are often alike. Yet, when look for leadership role models, they all seem so different. Why?
Leaders are defined by their accomplishments. Most of us are trying to be defined by our personalities.
Take Bill Clinton as an example. He was the President of the United States for two terms and leader of the free world.
If I wrote a story telling you about the time I met him and how outraged I was at how crass he was you’d probably believe it. On the other hand, if I wrote that he’s the nicest guy ever, you’d believe that too.
Clinton’s personality didn’t matter when it came to him doing the job of President. Even when his ethics were questioned leading to public embarrassment and impeachment, Clinton was still our leader… even if some of us didn’t like him at the time.
Clinton will always be remembered as the president between the Bushes that got caught with his pants down. And he will always be “Mr. President”. He earned that title not just by winning an election but by bringing his leadership to the nation.
What will “W” be remembered for? Terrorism, war and corporate scandals. He’s the man that led us during those ordeals. The key here is that he lead.
Bush takes a lot of criticism for the shape the country is in and the war in Iraq. He could have decided to not run for a second term. He must have known how difficult it would be - much harder than the first. And yet he stuck with it.
Whatever you think of Bush, greed alone is not a strong enough motivation for him to take the punishment he has. Neither is ego. If his ego was at stake he would not have run for reelection.
The men who become president, no matter their party affiliation, are strong leaders. And I believe they are more alike than not.
This is great news for those of us working to improve our leadership skills. If leaders have a great number of similar traits that means leadership is a learned skill.