"The Change Will Come From Me"

Individuals who have no experience in leadership or management-- reporters, tv and radio analysts, commentators, pundits of all stripes--should be more savvy than to openly express their naivete by stating: "Many of Obama's appointees have been in government before, and in the Clinton administration: where is the change coming from?"

Their view is, of course, supported by their experience of the last 8 years where the President was, more or less, simply following the dictates of his cabinet and party leaders and other cohorts. This leadership vacuum had exactly the same results for our government that it has in companies; failure. When I come into a company that has failed as a "turnaround CEO" I have no empathy for the CEO who led it there and remove him or her immediately; but I don't necessarily fault the direct reporting staff for all the prior mistakes. Some obviously have attitudes or capability deficits that demand their immediate release, but for the others I say "History is history--your actions today and tomorrow will be the basis of my evaluation."

So to all those pundits: ease up! A true leader has the vision, puts strong people around him, listens, makes clear decisions, communicates them effectively, sets the tone,  solicits constructive even if contradictory feedback, and then expects results. We'll have a good look at the scorecard in a year or two, but for now Obama is doing everything right.

Check out more on leadership in Category L. Leadership.