Leadership Lessons

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It is sometimes easy to forget how lucky we are to have a real leader. I can remember, back in the nineties, beating my head against a wall several times because of the amazing vaccuum of leadership I felt from the White House. Then, if I think back to being a teenager, I knew then that Carter was a total wimp, albeit a good Christian wimp (well, that's what I thought back then!). We have seen piss-poor leadership in this country in recent years... there is no doubt about that. All the more important it becomes, then, to recognize the opposite when it occurs.

Watching George W. Bush handle 9/11, the war, and now the hurricane; I am more impressed than ever at his basic leadership qualities, which are on display right now. I may not agree with all of the things he is saying and doing right now, but I can appreciate his mastery at how he is saying and doing them.

His subtle approach to responding to his critics is something that frustrates many of us who want those idiots punished NOW... but it has proven effective for him over the years, and will probably be a primary reason that history will ultimately be very good to him. He continues to hold himself above the brawl... he maintains an attitude that dirty political trash-talking is beneath the office of the President. He does that very well.

Rush Limbaugh talked about what it must be like to be President Bush... how hard it must be to wake up every day and know the kind of scurrilous garbage the media is going to throw at him. That has to be horrible. Awful. No one wants to spend every day of their life knowing that people are saying such awful things about them.

Watching the President operate, though, you wouldn't know that such things were being said about him. He acts as if he is completely unaware of the morons and their mud attacks. He continues to carry himself as a leader, while the bottom dwellers scurry around in the muck beneath him. Looking at George W. Bush, you believe that he believes that he is in charge. That, my friends, is half the battle.

Another part of the battle is to be competent and to surround yourself with the best people you can find. I think that any honest assessment of President Bush's legacy will show that he accomplished that. Rummy, Cheney, Rice, Powell, Ashcroft, et al... this is a dream team extraordinaire.

Finally, when you measure the President against his "peers," you find that they come up seriously lacking. Investor's Business Daily has a very good piece about all of the noise coming from world "leaders" and what they actually accomplish (nothing)... and how that contrasts with President Bush:

[[ Say what you will, but this president has not shied from big tasks during his five years in office. Democratizing the Middle East. Reforming Social Security. Cutting taxes to pull us out of recession. Spearheading post-tsunami relief for Asia. And now rebuilding America's South after the worst hurricane damage in a century.

No question, Bush is a doer. And given the daunting challenges facing humanity, we're glad for it. The last thing we need is more hot air. ]]

He is not just a "doer"... he inspires others to be doers, too. That is the mark of greatness.

To be sure, I am a fan of the President- but hardly an idol worshiper. I absolutely do not agree with all of his policies, and I am, in fact, quite upset with him on some of them (read: illegal immigration). One thing is sure, though, the man is a leader.

I know true leadership when I see it, and in the case of George W. Bush, I see it... in spades.

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