A PRESIDENT IN TRAINING

What we are witnessing in the approach and behaviors of our President is the process of on the job training. This issue was broached during the campaign but like all other criticisms of Obama at the time, the main stream press gave him a pass on the issue of experience. Why is no one paying attention to the issue now? We have a President that has absolutely no experience running or managing any type of company, let alone people. The most astounding thing to me about his behavior and approach is I didn't recognize what was really going on sooner. I have been, and continue to be, concerned with the Czars Obama has surrounded himself with operating with impunity and his "need" to call a meeting to address every issue he confronts. I was absolutely outraged last Friday when, after the eighth meeting with his advisers on how to proceed in Afghanistan, he sent them all away with the message to go back to the drawing board because he did not like any of the options he was given. My first question now is; were any of his advisers given any clear and concise direction about what exactly he was looking for in the recommendations to be made. Given the outcome, I can only assume no one really had a clear idea of what Obama wanted. Just like I don't have a clear idea of who he really is, where he really wants to take our country or what his true beliefs and ideologies might be. So not unlike his advisers on Afghanistan, I am forced to make assumptions and make the best educated guess I can. Sound dangerous? It is. Extremely dangerous! This type of management style can ruin any good organization let alone a country. Then on Wednesday, just as I was beginning to recover ever so slightly from my outrage about the Afghanistan advisory debacle, Mr. Obama announces he will be convening a "Jobs Summit" in December. Seriously. I thought I was having the "big one". I thought my head was going to literally explode on the spot. A job summit? Another meeting? Another seminar? Stop all the intellectual masturbation and make a decision Mr. President! You are the leader. Tell your team what you want in no uncertain terms and have them come back to you with actionable recommendations. Another meeting to follow-up on all the other meetings that have produced absolutely nothing tangible? Excuse me. I need to take a moment for a primordial scream! Better now. Then driving home from a meeting yesterday afternoon it came to me. Everything Obama is doing is indicative of a neophyte manager. He has his area of expertise, law and community organization, and he has been thrown into the most important CEO role in the world. Not only is he having to learn how to manage people, he has to learn how to manage an entire government and the people it is suppose to represent. I'm glad I cut my management teeth in a much smaller and insignificant arena. The mistakes I made developing as a manager didn't have nearly the level of serious consequences Obama's learning curve is having and will have for him and our country.

This is not the forum and I do not have the the time or space to go into business management 101 here. Perhaps Obama could sign up for some evening internet classes on basic business management strategies or even participate in a webinar. Or better yet, he can hire a management tutor to be on hand on Air Force One to train him during his over zealous country hopping schedule. So let's take a look at some of what he is doing from the perspective of a first time manager. Now his appointment of all the Czars almost begins to make sense. Obama came into office with virtually no experience. Come on. This really is not debatable, it's a fact. If a first time manager has no real experience and limited expertise on a broad range of topics, the neophyte, given the financial resources, will hire like-minded individuals he hopes he can trust in the most sensitive and important areas of management concern. These individuals not only supposedly will insulate the new manager but give him the expertise he personally lacks. The new manager has a deep belief he must have individuals around him that think like he does in all aspects and phases of management and strategic planning. The new manager does not want to be seen as weak, inexperienced or unsure of himself. He relies heavily on his chosen ones to give him the right answers that he himself does not have the experience to develop. A very basic and very common beginner mistake. Having support for your vision is absolutely necessary. However as a manager you have to have enough confidence to also bring on board those who do not necessarily agree with everything you say and will be willing to stand up to you and say no. This is basic management team protocol folks. If your entire management team is in lock-step, you loose true insight and just run around in circles with no where meaningful to go. Constructive opposition makes the manager think more thoroughly through decisions and his vision of where he wants to go. Opposition makes a manger more able to formulate his direction and develop the necessary supporting rationale. Opposition also helps a manager develop a much clearer picture of obstacles to his vision and avenues for overcoming the obstacles. In terms of personnel management, including opposing ideologies on your management team makes the team a bit more difficult to manage but the overall positive outcome far out weighs the personnel issues needing to be managed. A truly skilled manager knows this and seeks out opposing sides of view. The experienced manager learns to embrace opposition, knowing full well, if managed appropriately the outcome will be significantly improved.

So what about Obama sending his Afghanistan advisers back to the drawing board after eight meetings and scheduling a job summit for December? This scares the hell out of me but again, from the perspective of an inexperienced manager, this almost makes sense. The new manger is often full of enthusiasm and grand ideas and visions for where they want to go. Often times they "broad brush" their ideas and visions with their management team and think this will suffice to bring cohesion to the team. There is also an innate apprehension to go into great detail. The new manager may have a visceral commitment to their vision but have not yet gained the experience, knowledge or expertise to fully explain or support the vision; to avoid being put in a position to have to defend any part of their vision, they avoid in depth detail to keep from having to try and explain and justify their vision and the road map to get there. Here I would simply be remiss if I did not say I also believe Obama is vague because he is also concerned if he lays out, in any significant detail, his real vision and political agenda, it will leak to the public and there will be such an out pouring of opposition it will be impossible for him to overcome it. Back to the point. I believe Obama has made a beginning managers mistake with his Afghanistan advisory group and not given them clear and concise guidelines of what he expects, where he truly wants to go or what his long-term objectives for Afghanistan might be. As a result of poor communication and sharing the vision, the advisers are handicapped in coming up with any solutions that the President will accept. I'm not sure Obama even has, at this point in time, a deep personal understanding or even commitment of what his long-term objectives for Afghanistan are. I told you this was scary. So why the job summit in December? The answer is the same. Simply, Obama does not have a clue what to do to fix the job issue haunting our country. He may have started out thinking he did but when he looks at the factual results of his actions every day, he sees failure and no improvement. When a new manager faces failure in his vision and his road map, his first instinct is to get as many like-minded people together to discuss, process and plan a new strategy. But as I indicated earlier, only surrounding yourself, as a manger, with advisers who are like-minded and in lock-step with your vision results in nothing more than intellectual masturbation and no real solutions. Nothing new at least. The new manager also has a false belief this insulates them from criticism or being seen as weak and inexperienced. The new manager will say; but I have brought together this marvelous team of experts and we are working on a viable solution. Thus, attempting to avoid personal responsibility and accountability. Sorry Mr. President. As the CEO of our country, like it or not, you own full responsibility and must be completely accountable for not only your actions and decisions but for those with whom you have chosen to surround yourself. It's time to get over your management learning curve and be a leader. It's time to stop blaming past administrations and boldly accept the failures of your policies and bring about true partisanship in solving the issues facing our country. It's time to stand on your own two feet and tell the American public who you really are and what your agenda for our country really is! We don't have any more time for you to learn how to be an effective and efficient manager. Stand up or stand aside Mr. President!