A Substandard Presidency
MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is one of my favorite political analysts on TV. Last week on The Chris Matthews Show he took issue with the notion that President Bush is dumb. Mr. Matthews noted several politically astute maneuvers by Mr. Bush over the past month. I also suspect that Mr. Matthews feels uncomfortable with people using this terminology to describe our commander in chief. Point taken.
George W. Bush is a good salesman, but his inability to learn from his mistakes and intellectual laziness makes him a poor leader. Everyone makes mistakes. Strong leaders learn from them and adapt. But the first step in learning from a mistake is to admit that you’ve made one. Mr. Bush refuses to even entertain the notion that he has ever erred in any way. This arrogance blinds him from his own shortcomings. If it were up to Bush, Alberto Gonzales would remain as Attorney General through 2008 and Donald Rumsfeld would still be the Secretary of Defense. The president has to be dragged kicking and screaming into a change of course. When faced with evidence that he has made bad choices, he digs in his heels and says history will prove him right. His petulance belies emotional immaturity.
Mr. Bush calls himself the “decider”. He brings his advisers into a room, hears all sides, and then makes a decision based on what his gut tells him is right. He doesn’t spend a lot of time on the details, especially when it comes to domestic issues. He’s not a policy wonk. This is a dangerous management style, especially when the decider surrounds himself with people who only tell him what he wants to hear. Effective leaders seek out contrary opinions, take fair criticism to heart and, if necessary, educate themselves on the details of complex problems. Even the best advisers don’t have all the answers.
The Bush-Cheney crew believes that acknowledging mistakes is a sign of weakness. They’ve got it all wrong. Learning from one’s mistakes is a sign of open-mindedness and strength. And in a rapidly changing world the ability to adapt is crucial.
George W. Bush, Bush Administration
September 7th, 2007 at 8:04 am
“Learning from one’s mistakes is a sign of open-mindedness and strength.” — I like this line the most Bob… I guess it’s something leaders around the globe should ponder.