A question of presidential leadership

On Sept. 18, 2008, David Gergen will present “Eyewitness to Power: The Essence of Leadership” as The Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities and the first scheduled lecture in this year’s E. N. Thompson Forum on World Issues. The lecture is presented collaboratively by the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Thompson Forum and the University of Nebraska. The opinions in this essay are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Nebraska Humanities Council, the Thompson Forum or other sponsoring organizations. This article originally appeared in the Boston Globe on June 12, 2008.

Our prospective 44th presidents have spent upwards of half a billion dollars making the case that they are uniquely worthy of Americans’ votes. And yet after more than a year of frenetic campaigning, several dozen debates and relentless media attention, the public has come to know remarkably little about the candidates as leaders.

True, Americans have gotten a sense of where the candidates stand on health care, the Iraq war and other critically important issues. And we know a fair amount about their biographies—the flattering chapters as well as some each candidate might prefer to gloss over.

But given that President McCain or President Obama will face a truly daunting array of challenges on multiple fronts, we need for him to bring to the White House more than simply a set of sound policies and an impressive biography.

Indeed, perhaps more urgently than at any time since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office, the United States needs an extraordinary leader in the White House.

While we may have trouble defining it, leadership is an intangible that most of us intuitively believe matters—in any organization, large or small, and certainly in the White House. Recognizing this, candidates invariably tout their own exemplary leadership. But voters are typically left with little more than candidates’ self-serving, bumper-sticker-caliber assertions: “strong leadership,” “proven leadership,” “new leadership,” etc.

The media, too, typically focus their attention elsewhere—at their best on the many pressing substantive issues, but all too often on the day-to-day gyrations of the horse race. Yes, candidates are asked the occasional question about leadership. But there has been little sustained inquiry on the topic that would afford voters an opportunity to take the full measure of the candidate as a leader: how he or she engages followers, listens, treats allies and adversaries, perseveres, and responds to the unexpected and the urgent.

Considering the stakes of this election, shouldn’t part of the process of choosing the next president be a “job interview” of sorts, designed to shed light on the candidates’ leadership capacity? Voters deserve a better understanding of who the candidates really are; their aptitude for building teams and coalitions; their judgment and decision-making style; and the special competencies they bring to getting difficult things done.

To that end, the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Ken Blanchard Companies recently convened a diverse group of leaders from all sectors—government, corporate and nonprofit—as well as academics and others who study leadership. Two hundred participants developed questions for the candidates that would help introduce them more fully as leaders to the American voter.

We don’t presume that the 15 questions our group generated are the only ones, or even the best ones, for getting a handle on the candidates as leaders—just a good start, on which others are invited to build. But whatever the specific questions, in this time of enormous challenge for our nation, Americans are entitled to learn more about the candidates through a dignified job interview centered on leadership—and to weigh in on the questions that those aspiring to lead the nation should answer.

15 Questions

1. Values: What are your five core values and how do they shape how you lead?

2. Attributes and Competencies: What are the attributes and competencies you value most in yourself that will serve you well in the White House?

3. Weaknesses and Mistakes: Recent American history has many examples of leaders whose weaknesses brought them down. What are your tendencies that could cause your presidency to fail?

4. People I Have Learned From: What historical figure has exercised leadership in a way that you aspire to? What were their strengths? Tell us about a situation that tested their leadership.

5. Multicultural Experience/World View: What experiences have helped you deeply understand the mind-set and values of other cultures?

1. Building a Team: Tell us about a high-performing team that you’ve built. What made it high performing?

2. Coalition Building: Can you share some examples of when you were a catalyst who brought groups with polarized opinions together so that all voices were at the table?

3. Increasing Participation: The Inter­net and technology have flattened the political playing field, allowing for more participation and collective decision making. How will you create a more participatory democracy and give people the opportunity to influence decision making?

4. Increasing Engagement: Young people have engaged in this election in greater numbers than ever before. Please give us some examples of how you have listened and responded to the next generation in your campaign. How will you keep the next generation engaged?

1. Decision-Making Style: The president’s role requires decisiveness. Please share some examples of your ability and willingness to be decisive. Can you tell us about a time when a lack of decisiveness got you into trouble? In retrospect, what would you have done differently?

2. Judgment: Tell us about a time when your judgment was tested in crisis. What do you want us to appreciate about your judgment?

1. Leading Change: Can you give us an example of how you have overcome resistance to bring about a needed change?

2. Innovative Thinking: How will you create an environment for innovation within your leadership team?

3. Building the Confidence of Others: What are the first few things you’ll do to raise confidence at home and abroad?

4. Priorities Indicative of Values: The USA ranks first in incarceration and 18th in high school graduation. What leadership skills and values do you bring to the challenge of reversing these numbers? Can you point to three things in your past that will help us understand that you care about this challenge?

Gergen’s lecture will take place Thursday, Sept. 18, 2008, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 12th and R Streets, Lincoln, Neb. All lectures in the E. N. Thompson Forum on World Issues are ticketed events. Tickets are free and guarantee you a reserved seat. You may reserve your Thompson Forum tickets for the fall 2008 lectures beginning Monday, Aug. 18 by contacting the Lied Center at 402-472-4747 or 800-432-3231. You may also pick up tickets in person or download a ticket order form from the Thompson Forum Web site and order by mail or fax. The lecture is also streamed live on the UNL Web site, www.unl.edu. For more information on this year’s Thompson Forum, go to enthompson.unl.edu. For an opportunity to attend a reception and dinner with David Gergen benefitting the Nebraska Humanities Council, contact Aimee Poor at 402-474-2131.

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