LEADERSHIP IN GOVERNMENT

     America was Founded on Leadership

Recently, President Obama made the statement at a press conference that America was founded on compromise and in the process summed up everything that was wrong in his administration in his first two years of office. Mr. President, America was founded on leadership, not compromise. Back room deals have always been a last resort for either party after they fought the good fight for what they believe. And, even then, when they went into rooms, it was for the purpose of problem solving and working through the issues and not for the purpose of compromise. If they had to settle at times for compromise, it usually was only a temporary solution until they could get back to the business of problem solving for the American people.

 When our country was founded during the First Continental Congress, our founding fathers had many disagreements and argued for months about the best course of action. However, they worked through their problems and proceeded to adopt the Declaration of Independence. And, this was far from any compromise as all the signers of this document knew that they were putting their lives on the line by breaking away from King George and starting a new free nation. Compromise is far different from working through problems and it is not what our great country was founded on. So, even though our founding fathers may have disagreed, true leadership and problem solving won the day to develop what many consider the greatest declaration ever written.

 Mr. President, you are the leader of the United States of America with leadership, problem solving and collaborative strategies for the American people as your tools and not compromise. You are no longer the back room deal maker of Illinois local politics. And, the Machiavellian Political Theory that you learned in school will not help you now if you were not taught how to be a collaborative leader and problem solver. You are the leader of the entire free world. We need your vision and your power as President to lead us and not your compromises before you even work to garner collaborative support from members of your own party or develop a collaborative strategy for the American people. Your haste to work out a deal with the republicans on the Bush Tax Cuts that are expiring was all about compromise and very little about leadership. Your claim that you were acting on behalf of the American people to get the best “deal” you could does not ring true to many members of you own party who were not consulted about the deal you made without even a good fight or reasonable collaborative strategy to obtain new Tax Cuts for the middle class and not the two percent of the rich who do not need it.

 Now, the can has been kicked down the road to be dealt with during another highly charged political campaign two years from now. And, the deficit is growing while your republican opposition believes that they can get whatever they want even when the dems still control Congress. Hopefully, our lame duck “democratic” Congress will not accept your deal because it is not good for the economy, the American people or the out of control national deficit. And, if something is not done soon to get Wall Street and the rich to help repair this deficit, everyone including American Businesses will suffer. And, this problem should not be left to our children to deal with after the middle class rises up in opposition to a lack of leadership and the selfish interests of rich politicians.

 For the record, many of us still believe in you, but you are letting us down. Even if you are not the transformative President that you appeared to be during your campaign, you can still become a good president if you are willing to lead. Yet, you still do not seem to understand the difference between leadership and compromise. However, at times when you are not caught up in the pomp and circumstance of your office, you seem to be willing to learn and adapt. If so, please work harder at becoming a Collaborative Leader with greater vision and group problem solving ability. Even if you are not sure about your beliefs, and many of us are wondering what you do believe in, you can follow in the footsteps of Lincoln and stand strong for unity and a real belief in the vision of a democracy that works for the people. It can happen with practical collaborative leadership and working with members of your own party who really want change we all can believe in for the majority of Americans who are still struggling to keep their homes, their jobs, their businesses and their health care.

Copyright 2010, Global Leadership Resources