RSS

Questions The Media Must Ask Obama and McCain

Thu, Jun 19, 2008

Just For Fun

LeadershipNow.com has another stimulating post about a conference that developed questions we must ask of our presidential candidates (instead of the gotcha-driven stuff on which the media currently feeds). It is also useful for leaders and followers of companies and not for profits.

Questions from the conference are grouped into: who are you really (my favorite), who will be at the table with you and how do you make decisions (another favorite).  

Based on my own research, I would add at least these questions:

1. What situation you faced did you see as a moral choice? What did you decide and why? What was the lesson for you?

2. What was your biggest failure or setback? What got you back on your feet? How does that affect how you show up today?

3. Whose voice do you hear today when you face tradeoffs that connect with your values?

4. What is about being in charge that motivates you? Power? To do what? Outcome? For whom? 

The media has let us down on the acts of this administration. Let’s not let them do it with the next one or in the process of our choosing the next one.

Tags: , ,

Leave a Reply

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video

Latest Videos

What Made jack welch JACK WELCH

How Ordinary People Become
Extraordinary Leaders
by Stephen H. Baum (Random House)

Most leaders of American companies started out as ordinary people. What prepared them for the top job?

Countless more ordinary people of equal talent never developed the leadership core required to run the show. Why not?

"Lessons for life about the core leadership traits of character, risk taking decisiveness and the ability to engage and inspire followers."
--Jim Clifton, CEO, The Gallup Organization

Read More >>

Buy Now
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Booksense

Asides

  • Is our behavior in the face of challenge determined at birth or by our environment? Are leaders born rather than made?

    My obsession with what makes some ordinary people become extraordinary leaders led to my interviews with dozens of CEOs which Random House published in 2007 and to the Master Class series at Pace. The thesis is that there are particular “shaping experiences” which develop leadership traits and capabilities.

    Epi-genetics is the new field of study that is beginning to confirm that nurture determines a lot about us: our behavior, our illnesses and more. Work on animals and on human twins shows that no matter your genome, there is a system of markers that switch genes on and off in a way that controls your reaction to stimuli. These markers are largely from environmental factors from what happened while you were in the womb, to how you were treated in your childhood, to stressful situations to pollution. And the markers you have accumulated can go-awry as you age.

    The good news is that by treatment, including drugs, these markers can be added or removed.

    Together with breakthroughs in neuroscience (how our brain works during different mental and emotional conditions), we are about to glean powerful new understandings relevant to our lives as well as careers.

    For an intro to the field, view the PBS Nova Science Now program on the subject:

    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3411/02.html

    That’s my view. What’s yours?

  • For a few years now, Jim Blasingame and I have shared stories, insights and practical suggestions for survival of small business in tough times. He should be your fave for an unlimited supply of helpful ideas for your business. Go to:

    http://blog.smallbusinessadvocate.com/management-fundamentals/small-business-economic-challenges
    and also to the home page of smallbusinessadvocate.com

    Please let me know how helpful you find this great resource. Jim is, himself, a very successful small business owner who knows whereof he speaks.

  • As I said in a prior post, the fruit vendor on a nearby street corner in New York City told me he is working on becoming a bank holding company so he can get in line for a bailout. Is there no end?

    Today’s announcement it was announced that insurance companies will be allowed to reduce the reserve capital they have to make sure they can pay benefits to customers when the time comes. Isn’t this converting insurers to be like AIG? Isn’t insurance with low reserves the same as gambling?

    There was no accompanying clear and detailed plan for oversight. Just like the billions of dollars that have flowed into the investment bank.

    That’s my view. What’s yours?