Thursday, July 03, 2008

Obama as Manager

This from Rolling Stone via hilzoy.

As an executive, Obama does not have an impulsive leadership style. When he's running a meeting, Jarrett says, he does more listening than talking, asking questions and taking the temperature of everyone in the room. "Regardless of where you fall in the hierarchy, he listens to you as though you are the campaign manager. He focuses, he prods, he pushes, to make sure that he fully understands your position. That sets an important tone as well: When you go into a meeting expecting to learn and not dictate, it fosters camaraderie."

But when Obama makes a decision, there's no second-guessing. And though the campaign tries to learn from its mistakes, it doesn't dwell on them.

Examples follow, etc...
No, I didn't read it all. I'm already on the wagon. My little blogpost won't reach those whose minds are already made up anyway, but if the reader remains undecided, add the links to your study.

Some people stopped reading when they saw "Rolling Stone." I could hear doors slamming through cyberspace.

Actually I did scan the article, knowing what to expect. Sure enough, this was just before the above clip...

Last December, a smirking Mitt Romney blasted Obama as "a guy who has virtually no experience of an executive nature, leadership nature — never run anything." At the time, the line had bite. But in light of the way Obama has turned a high-tech political startup into a $250 million operation with 1,000 employees, such criticism has been rendered quaint. "Barack has created a new paradigm for campaigns," says Daschle. "He's taken it to a level that nobody's ever seen before. The campaign itself proves to me that far more important than experience is judgment and the capacity for good leadership."

Read that last line again.
Keep reading until you get it.
Judgement is more important than experience.

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