Evaluating the Leadership of Obama and Romney Using Howard Putnam's Principles of Leadership

Unlike a Senator or a Congressman or a Judge, one of the most important characteristics needed in a President is leadership. Leadership is the ability to successfully integrate and maximize available resources for the attainment of goals- in other words, Presidential leadership is the ability to maximize taxpayer money and government employee's time in order to to accomplish goals like national security, providing a safety net for members of our nation, protecting the borders, issuing permits, enforcing standards, regulating commerce, and others.

I've written about leadership before, as it is a topic that I am interested in since I am a leader in my classroom, in my school, in my union, in my community, and on the internet. For example, in my post 'Red Wings Provide Lesson in Leadership' I looked at the leadership qualities of the two last captains of the successful Red Wings hockey teams, and evaluated some of our political leaders to see if they had some of the leadership traits that I saw in Steve Yzerman and Nicklas Lidstrom, such as being calm, cool, collected, controlling the highs and lows, working hard, having poise, humility, grace, humility, modesty, and leading through example.

Yesterday I heard some more about leadership from Howard Putnam at the Get Motivated Business Seminar that was held in Auburn Hills (see my post Get Motivated Business Seminar Review: Powell, Giuliani, Cosby, Putnam, Walsh, and More! for my full review). Mr. Putnam rose through the ranks at Southwest Airlines to become CEO of the company, where he led it to great profitability and success.

According to Putnam, there are several principles of leadership. Let's look at each one, and then evaluate whether Obama, Romney, or I follow these rules on how to be an effective leader:

• Honesty- a leader has to be honest with others and say what he means and mean what he says. Those who know me know that I am honest to a fault- I believe that it is important to always tell the truth and not to lie, fib, tell half-truths, dissemble, or obfuscate. Obama on the other hand does not hold closely to this principle- now that we know him after he emerged from obscurity to win the Presidency, we frequently see him lie about things both large and small- he attributes traits and arguments to his opponents that they do not have, he says his health care law isn't a tax but then goes to court to claim it is, he says to be civil in political discourse and then demonizes his opponents, etc. Romney appears to be a more honest person- he says what he means, and this has often gotten him in trouble, especially with the more conservative members of the Republican establishment. He picks and chooses his words carefully, which makes him come off as cautious, but I believe he does this so that he doesn't say things which he does not believe.
• Passion- a leader has to be passionate about their job. Those who know me know that I am passionate about being a teacher- I spend 80 hours a week during the school year working on my lessons and grading papers and improving my own knowledge of the subject matters that I teach and this passion shows through. President Obama also is passionate- but not about all phases of the Presidency- by his own admission, he enjoys and is passionate about the symbolic aspects of the President and is passionate about the legislative aspects of the President's job, but would rather go on vacation and go golfing rather than spend extra time in the office working on being a good executive or commander in chief. Romney also appears to lack full passion for the job- in 2008 he was cautious and did not go fully in when he ran for President and only recently really seems like he wants the job- I'd like to see more passion from him or else he'll be like the cold and boring and unmotivated McCain and lose the next election.
• Vision- a leader must have a vision of how to be successful and stick to that vision. Obama has a vision- his problem is that his vision of the United States is not a vision that most others share because it is extreme, so he must temper his own vision and try to hide his true intentions about where he wants to take our nation. Perhaps if he was more true to his vision, he would be a better leader. Romney's weakest in this area- sometimes I wonder what his true vision is for the United States and what he really pictures when he pictures the America that he wants after he is done being President. Myself, I have a vision- readers of my blog know that I imagine an America based on our Founding Principles and I've getting a reputation in my school for being very picky about making sure everything in my classroom fits my vision of a successful classroom.
• Authentic- a leader must be true to themselves and who they are. In my classroom, this is a problem, because being a conservative teacher means opening oneself up to criticism and attacks from administration and other teachers, and this is a problem on my blog, because I can't reveal my true name. President Obama shares this same problem- as I touched on above, he is an extreme radical, and would rather be a king of America rather than its President, but yet he can't be these things and he knows it. Romney also has a problem being himself- he is stiff and tense sometimes when giving speeches or talking about policy, and I feel that he is deeply concerned that his religion will hurt him with bigoted citizens of our good nation.
• No ego, no arrogance, and no exclusion- a leader must be willing to admit they are wrong, must be willing to be humble, and must try to make everyone feel welcome to express their ideas. Putman once had everyone in the company write him letters offering suggestions on how to improve efficiency, cut waste, use resources more effectively, and run a successful company- he said he read them all, and let people know that he welcomed all their ideas, even if he later said that some were bad and some he didn't take. A good leader has to be open  to listening to others- I take suggestions in my classroom and even though I don't have to, I have my students write an evaluation of my class at the end of the year and I take these suggestions to heart, even if I don't implement all of them. Romney appears to be a humble person too- sometimes almost to a fault as he doesn't speak often enough about his skills, successes, and his track record of doing good and positive things. Obama, on the other hand, is all about ego and arrogance and is running one of the most closed know-it-all White Houses in history, and we can see the results in the lack of leadership and success in our nation.
• People first- a good leader must put people first, and truly care about others. Myself, I care about every student- other teachers laugh at me when I speak honestly about not wanting to leave a single child behind in education and about the difficulties of getting every single person in my classroom to feel cared for and to learn. Romney also seems to put people first- both times that I have met him in person he shook my hand and looked into my eyes and said hello and thanked me for coming to support him, and seemed to genuinely mean it, and his staff and supporters seem to like him for his support and loyalty. Obama though lacks this important leadership skill too- he is aloof and cold towards others, and his staff has deserted him in droves, and in his pettiness he attacks others and demonizes them rather than really trying to move our nation forward.
• Other traits that Putnam talked about for leaders that he really didn't get into were being a continuous learner, having good communication skills, attempting to move forward, being persistent, understanding technology, and having a global mentality. You can on your own evaluate whether Obama or Romney has these skills.