Bush Lessons

Politics is not a normal topic for this blog.  Regardless of how you feel about the end result, the recent presidential elections offer too many learnings on leadership that are applicable to companies and life that they are worth noting.  First a few caveats, I am not a Bush supporter, my knowledge base or interest in politics is minimal, and I posess no unique expertise or insight over topics in the political realm. 

Learning #1 - TEAMS matters and the best team wins

Duh! Yes this is under the "master of the obvious" column but worth still repeating.  Most non-partisan observers would agree that John Kerry won the three debates and on a one on one basis is probably the better person.  However Bush had the better team both in 2000 and 2004 and that showed in the final results.  I would also argue that the fact that Bush understood the importance of teams and made sure to recruit the best one makes him a better leader.  This is a challenge talented individuals face.  Either their individual brilliance makes them discount the value of team or their ego comes in the way of bringing other strong players on to their team.  Lesser talented individuals both understand the value of teams and also don't feel threatened by having strong individuals around them

Lesson #2 - Conviction and Persistence Matters

Again regardless of how you feel about the decision to go to war in Iraq, Bush has shown incredible conviction and persistence around this decision.  I honestly don't know if it was the right decision or not but by atleast sticking with it, Bush has given himself the best chance to see it through and thus maximize the chances of it being the right one.  Too often we see companies and leaders changing directions every quarter based on the way the wind blows which results in them never seeing anything through.  Sure if you are blind in your persistence you could be wrong and digging a deeper hole every minute.  However to the extent you believe you are going to make more right decisions than wrong, it is worth sticking with them and seeing them through.

Learning #3 - Power is taken not given

In 2000, Bush won by the smallest of margins possible.  Even that could be argued was only achieved through a friendly supreme court.  However Bush did not govern like a man with a muddled mandate.  He acted with the notion that regardless of how it happenned, he is President now and is going to act on that basis.  He pushed a tax cut in early 2000 and then leveraged 9/11 to make two more tax cuts.  He led the country into wars with Afghanistan and Iraq, abandoned international treaties like the Kyoto accord and was comfortable taking unilateral foreign policy decisions.  These gutsy actions reflect someone who might have won the popular vote by 75% rather than someone who actually *lost* the popular vote.  Too often we see folks in companies especially founders vacillate and dilly dally around decisions because they are not sure if they have the ability or authority for the position they are in.  Rather like Bush they should just assume the power and act without doubt.