Leadership vs. Management: Why Experience Doesn’t Matter.

Ask yourself, what makes a great leader? Think back to people in your life who’ve been influential to your development. Chances are there was a charimatic, charming, well spoken individual who helped shape your future. When he spoke, you listened. When he moved, you watched. Maybe it was a former boss, a co-worker, teammate, classmate… who knows, but chances are, he was a great orator, a charmer, and he probably made some people a little nervous.

Can you remember his pedigree? Do you remember what college he attended? Hey, maybe you can. But chances are, you’ll agree that in the grand scheme of things, words on his resume didn’t make him the person that he was. Notches on his belt didn’t change the affect he had on others. He was a big picture guy. He saw things differently.

It’s the same qualities that the board of directors look for in the CEOs of our Fortune 500 companies. Someone who thinks outside the box, someone who people will rally behind. Someone to get excited about! He speaks to the shareholders, gets the analysts excited, and makes people believe in the administration.

A manager is someone who knows the business. He’s been around the block. He has a lot of experience. He is relied on as a trusted source of information. Someone the CEO, a leader, can rely on to make sure that his big ideas are practical and workable. He’s not the face guy. He’s not the person you see on TV. That’s not what he’s good at. He doesn’t need to be. His value is in his experience. He makes a great member on the board of directors, knowing a lot about the facts and figures.

Leadership is a natural ability. Truly, it’s not learned. Most leaders will sheepishly admit that, and most ‘non-leaders’ will sheepishly…

What’s a Party Without Politics?

I’ve been keeping tabs on John McCain’s daughter.

I’ve been following her politics for a few months now.  I guess I’ve been cyber-stalking her website, http://www.mccainblogette.com, in hopes of better understanding how rational, intelligent young people can support conservative Republican morality and still maintain any sort of progressiveness. It does seem paradoxial, almost inherently oxymoronic, to think that any intelligent person can honestly state that issues of traditional values are relevant to ‘running a country’.

I asked myself what then could the difference be between John McCain’s Columbia educated, indie rockin’ daughter and me, bleeding heart, hippie hating liberal. It dawned on me: Nothing but some metaphorical balls.

I think that most intelligent young people consider themselves independent. To do otherwise, that is identify with a specific party politic, is foolish in the sense that it implys a lack of ‘independent’ thinking. While circular in reasoning, the point makes sense.

John McCain’s daughter once considered herself independent. She recently registered as a Republican to show solidarity with her father. (Can’t say I blame her for that, course personally, I wouldn’t vote for my dad if he were running for president, inspite of the fact I love him to death.) If you read her interviews or follow her blog, she’s a walking talking republican humanitarian piece. Before I equate her to the NBC news coverage of the Bejing Olympics, let me first state that she reads like a great person. I enjoy her take on life, politics, and family. I find it compelling and touching, and that’s the whole problem.

Republicans are not compassionate. They are selfish social darwinists. They support narrowmindedness, racism, sexism, and hate. They war and exploit, feed the rich, and brainwash and manipulate.

Why is the blogette so important to the Republican machine? Easy. She is the fat-free cheese to the republican southbeach diet. After isolating most independent voters who…