What Leadership qualities are you looking for in our next President?
I just read a fantastic article over on the Harvard Business Publishing site. They pose the question I repeat as the title of this post. What leadership qualities are you looking for in our next President.
It has long been my contention that political elections are largely marketing events. At the local and maybe regional level one stands a chance of potentially knowing something of value about a candidate that could be useful in forming an actionable opinion. At the Federal level, I truly believe this is next to impossible. Therefore, political campaigns are less about qualifications and character, and more about message and image. Again – just my opinion, feel free to rebut.
So with that bias as a backdrop, I was intriqued to see an article entitled such, especially by Harvard Business. I wasn’t disappointed with the content either, and I recommend you head over and read the entire article also.
The point is made that there are two different types of “problems” – routine ones and complex ones. Routine problems require simple expertise. Complex problems; problems like crime, poverty, educational reform, and yes, conflict in the Middle East and global warming, require a different type of toolkit to tackle. The author suggests that innovation and consideration of values are required.
I heartily agree and find the spirit of these comments to be much closer to common sense than the current discussion of particular points of view and static experiences. I also agree with the author’s assessment that these complex issues will not be solved by one all-knowing President, but rather by an innovative individual who can ignore their own biases, reject absolutes, acknowledges the complexity of the issue and the lack of an answer, and wades into crafting the solution jointly with their team and the American public.
With that assessment under her belt, the author then goes on to form a short list that she would recommend we use to evaluate and select our next President. I won’t give you the spoilers here – head over and read the article yourself. It’s well written and a quick read.
My guess is any candidate that would align with her qualifications wouldn’t make it out of the primaries. What do you think?
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I agree with your view. While there may be some universal truths, the remaining majority of truths move based on prevailing situations – all too varied to label at the surface and prescribe a solution.
As the truth moves, so must we.
This requires not only the redefinition of what it is to be a leader but also what it is to be the the lead. We too need to be responsible to not accept the media hype and the “disaster of the day” reporting that keeps our world in a frenzy and off the important information.