Have We Missed the Key to Obama's Leadership Style?

Have We Missed the Key to Obama's Leadership Style?
R. J. Eskow
Posted July 11, 2008 | 11:01 PM (EST)


I'm starting to suspect we've all missed the real story behind Barack Obama's leadership style. His recent actions may not have been driven by calculation or centrism, as most people thought, but by something else. He may have a core value that's new to our political process - one that exists on a different plane, grounded in a web of personality, spirituality, and culture.

I had to think back many years - and many thousands of miles - before I remembered where I'd seen his kind of style before:

Japan.

When I did some work there nearly twenty years ago I encountered some of the same traits we're seeing in Obama now: The urge for consensus. The courtesy toward all parties, no matter how strong the disagreements. The nearly-holographic quality of appearing different to different observers. The centeredness and self-control.

It may be coincidental. Or it may be the result of growing up with Hawaii's Pacific Rim influence. But Obama's management style resembles the classic Japanese model. And, at least historically, these haven't just been behaviors. They're living embodiments of a spiritual perception which says that all humanity - all existence - is interconnected and equal.

The operative word, the core value behind this behavior, is unity. Unity means preserving the integrity of a social group. Where elections and debates emphasize process, and policies focus on outcome, unity creates an emphasis structure. That's unfamiliar to us.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/have-we-missed-the-key-to_b_112289.html

thanks for the read.

lines. Obama clearly does not fit the usual categorizations, and perhaps many of us are limited by those.

On reflection, I can think of various community leaders--from any kind of background--who are known and valued as "consensus builders." Sometimes, their formal political affiliation plays only a minor role.

I have never been happy with the results. Most consensus builders I have ever met have A) had hidden agendas; or B) were well rewarded to sell-out one side in favor of the other.

I would LOVE to be proven wrong on this, but, until we really know specifics behind Obama's concept of unity, it's going to be hard to determine.

That said, we are still a relatively polarized nation with 300 Million+ citizens. We can build a consensus and move forward, or we can continue to bicker in partisan gridlock until the infrastructure totally collapses, and then we can move on to the logical conclusion of a lack of national consensus: a Civil War. I for one, would prefer consensus building, at the very least it's worth a shot.

We're not going to the consensus building table with all the leverage we deserve. First you have to show where the Republicans erred in the last seven years and convince them they were wrong. Then, and only then, would I be willing to start discussions. Otherwise, we eat our victimization and just lose some more. I don't see the fairness in that at all.

who feels they are routinely oppressed, willing to cooperate with anyone's Kumbaya dream. Because, the same shit is going to happen again if you don't fix the infra-structure that created the inequities in the first place.

then the other side will consider it an imposition and work all the time to undermine it. Think of reconstruction if you don't believe me. Unless they own the change (at least to some degree,) it's oppressive.

investigation that would help us all understand what needs to be fixed. Once we see the mistakes clearly, out in the open for the public to see, then you'll get consensus on where to proceed. That is the way a transparent government works. That's how you build public confidence. But from you Obama supporters, it's like you want everyone to drink Kool-Aid and forget that anything bad happened to us in the last seven years. That's not even responsible.

I always assumed it refers to someone who is willing to do something that is lethal to them, just because they're told to do it by someone who has a charismatic hold on them.

I'm not even sure if this is Obama's way, or his supporter's interpretation.

Maybe it's just the projection of someone who has missed the point entirely.

Maybe it's just the projection of someone who has missed the point entirely.

Welcome to ignore.

I've been part of a community that makes decisions by consensus. It's hard work to reach a consensus that meets everyone's needs. It usually means that not everyone gets what they want. But they do get what they need.


A bit more on consensus process here: http://web.mit.edu/publicdisputes/practice/cbh_ch1.html

Yes.

But it is hard to get across to some people.

A genuine cultural differece.

may well be needed. That's part of what is so intriguing about this article.

Rather than thinking that Japanese people all try to act like each other or that they don't want to be individuals, it is better to think of it from the POV of placing more importance on one's role in the group. In order to not let the group down, it is necessary to do the right thing, act the right way considering the circumstances.
Instead of being driven by ego, one is driven by consideration of the group need, and thus it is easier to put aside the individual ego.

One becomes part of a process, a wave rather than a particle. Issues that create conflict are not discussed as long as there are other things to do. Just like one does not curse in front of one's in-laws or grandparents.

Generally more emotionally mature of a culture IMO.

I hope some of that made sense.

is representative of this?

Honor was one of their highest values, and if this was truly a Japanese culture, half of the Bush Administration would be falling on their swords. In that instance, I would be charitable and say nothing mean about them at their funerals.

Spoken by the Sean Connery character: The Japanese have a saying, "Fix the problem, not the blame." Find out what's fucked up and fix it. Nobody gets blamed. We're always after who fucked up. Their way is better.

I like that "fix the problem, not the blame" mindset. We get so stuck in blaming that nothing gets fixed.

sw

what you can get and move on. Don't regard other Americans as enemies. After all, WE don't want to be regarded as enemies, either. It is time to stop the divisive politics and find common ground.

K&R!

Thanks for the heads-up, BabSis!

the thing is, it won't work unless the change begins at the very top. Walk the talk, as they say.

This is what I did at a major medical university. Quality management & as a trained facilitator.

You have to refocus and drop any preconceived notions of why things are the way they are and seriously study it in a defined way. The majority of the time - problems, situations, concerns are NOT why or the way you think they are. Sounds like double-talk, I know, but it is true. I've seen that proven time and again. AND, when things are fucked up, it's because it's fucked up at the very top level.

But if the top management works in this style consistently, it works wonders. Consistently is the key. Old habits die hard, and I've seen successes fail when they think they can resort back to bad management practices - one of which is treating your employees poorly.

And have heard some managers say that the style can start out well but be "Americanized" and thus diluted. ???

American, meaning it was designed & taught by Americans. After WW2, in 1946 Japan with the US Occupation Force charged with rebuilding the country the quality movement began with an American man, W. Edwards Deming who taught statistical quality control (SQC). Then another American, Dr. Joseph M. Juran taught Total Quality Management (TQM).

Quality is foremost - not profits - short term profits, that is. Then the customer is foremost - not the producer. Then all decisions are based on actual data that can be measured and surveyed. Management is always involved. Employees are empowered - meaning there are no organizational barriers. Management from the very top are respectful to their employees. Management treats employees similar to a customer. In fact, every facet of a business has customers. For instance, if you were a dish washer in a restaurant, your customer may be the wait staff who depend on you to provide clean utensils and dishes.

Just about everything is driven by committees, For instance, on one hospital committee I facilitated, we had representation from all functions, from physicians & nursing, to environmental services to respiratory therapy to security to purchasing to inventory control to pharmacy to volunteer services --- representation you wouldn't normally think to include, yet you find they are truly an integral part of the every day process. The committees are usually short-term that tackle in issue then move on, except the outcomes are always measured. That is called Continuous Quality Management (CQM).

I know I've rattled on here, and being sick with an awful chest and head cold, I may have confused more than I explained. But to answer your question American leadership does not like to relinquish control. We tend to be sometimes to our own demise, territorial.

I've been away from this for a good ten years now, but I bet my bottom dollar Japan doesn't outsource like we do. They are smart and disciplined.

:)

Will the public buy it? Only Magg knows for sure.

Sorry, no offense, but I've seen this before. We are not purple. We will not A-S-S-I-M-I-L-A-T-E.

Believe it or not, so are the Freepers. Somehow we have to come to an understanding, if we don't, we eventually won't have an America left to belong to.

You want a consensus? Let's get a consensus on what the hell happened in the last seven years. Once we agree on that point, we can move on to something else.

This will not come through the end of a 2X4. This will not come through the throaty crowing of moral superiority, for having chosen the right side. To quote a Republican, this will come through "malice toward none and charity toward all." Let us be bigger and greater than the right. I do not suggest that we be Polyannas or mindlessly idealistic, but this isn't just our country, this is theirs as well. We must prove through good governance that we can give them a future worth having.

That's like the communist, atheist who once told one of our presidents something to the effect - And may god Bless you, sir.

Why don't we just get the facts on the table first, just so the Republicans can know just how generous we're going to be?

Does anybody notice how everyone in a leadership position seems to want us to start compromising without going into the discovery process first?

God, this must be how Democrats rally the sheeple among them. Republicans rally their Christian voters by appealing to their bigotries and hatred. Democrats rally their secular voters by appealing for Christian mercies.

What a world.

That Republican who I quoted was Abraham Lincoln, a President to whom both you and I owe the continuance of our nation to. He too was no saint, but he illustrates the point that Republicans are Americans too, with a claim on our culture and history as strong as our own. They are not going to go away, so we either learn to live with them, or we end up in internecine war.

The Republican party of today is not anything like it was during the Lincoln era. I don't think Lincoln was the kind of president who would have agreed to bury the dirt under the rug.

Thank you very much for posting this, babylonsister.

So much of what I read on DU is so reactionary and trapped in dualistic thinking. It makes no allowance for moving into a space that transcends polarity -- in fact, it denies that any reality can exist outside of polarity. So, everyone remains trapped in dualism, hurling invective at mirrors.

Bravo to the writer of this piece, and bravo to Obama whom I believe is genuinely inhabiting a different plane of thinking.

sw

Seen nowhere more obviously at play than here at DU.

Yes, DU is jam-packed with dualistic thinking. Of course, dualism being a dominant paradigm in Western culture and philosophy altogether makes it difficult to escape. I just wish more people would at least consider how limited a mindset it is.

sw

I generally agree with him and enjoy his perspective.

PS---R.J makes some EXCELLENT points after the Fox News clip.

He mentions empathy and feeling empathy a lot. He doesn't just talk about it when he's trying to make a political point. It is a word that is part of his everyday language.
If people actually were to listen to him they might discover that it is almost an internal driving force.
That his background is one that has provided him with the experience that has given him an opportunity to develop a blanket of empathy that extends beyond us. Beyond Americans and beyond Democrats.
This is the rarest of opportunities. There are some life saving issues that we all have in common that need to be addressed.
We have a war, returning veterans, a terrible economy, a climate in peril, a health care system that needs reform, and kids are being left behind.
If Barack Obama can successfully address those international issues we will be able to rehabilitate our reputation. And if he can do more, we will be able to drive the agenda for a long time.

All the talk of him running to the center has been making me wonder if people have been listening to him at all.

issue and disagree amicably with others. Something sorely missing from our culture these days.
We NEED people who don't automatically swallow EVERY position of whatever the party is they belong to.
It's the only way we can ever get anything done. You can't beat people into loving you.

Indo was a Dutch colony from way back. :shrug:

Japan.

Yeah, right.

whatever works

you GO, Dawg

edited to add - oops, dinna notice the "sister," Sister.

he seems to have an inner peace to draw on. He doesn't seem to get ruffled. I believe that I have read that Tiger has an oriental mother, who taught him this strength.

reminded me of research I did during a graduate level Psychology of Leadership class I took last summer. The two types of leadership styles that appealed to my sensitivities were Transformational leadership and Servant leadership, which are similar in attitude to what is written about in this article. We desperately need to move from the Autocratic style that has been prevalent in our country for way too long.

"He *may* have a core value that's new to our political process - one that (presumably therefore) exists on a different plane (while in the end hopfully somewhere), grounded in a web of personality, spirituality, and culture."

And the beat and the god words go on. Look, they don't know, nobody really knows. People are still trying to shape that image that Barack leaves for them to do so. That blank screen. And in lieu of that image is grafted repeatedly the image of the light-worker. One that evokes: well-ness, hospice, holistic resolve, etc, and rather not the one where Americans are seen dropping blank slips of paper down and into wishing wells.

All of that was less than lovely trying to sort out in the primary. Does Obama have a style, or does he not? Is Barack aloof, or merely distant...like a monk in prayer? In a far away monastary? In a somewhere-valley? In the Pyrenees?

Imo, Barack, if for no other reason than to attenuate this activity whereby others run round like taggers spray painting and scribbling on everything; needs to begin to pencil in large portions of his own image. It is his image to convey.

As is the case with too much humor, giggles, or jokes in the work-place (unless i suppose you work at www.clownpenis.com) being a crutch for shortcomings elsewhere; too much imporvisation is recognized by recruiters as harboring laissez faire relationships to code, law; perhaps even to propriety itself. Who can say for sure?

Who indeed, this from the tagger next door http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/13/schwarzenegger-id-be-obam_n_112377.html

It is also why I could never support Hillary (sorry)




The ability to listen closely to a politician and feel that I am not being lied to or talked down to is so rare that I must support Sen. Obama... I have no choice in the matter no matter how he votes on things like FISA

The world is poised, waiting with sharp teeth to profit from our certain collapse. The elite imperialists are at their pinnacle, having pulled off the looting of the U.S. Treasury, the destruction of institutions, the impoverishment of the citizenry that creates profit opportunities for the vultures, the nullification of law and order for the haves, the groundwork for civil oppression of the have-nots. The Constitutional protections lie in shreds, the representatives of the people are cowed, and the once unfettered press is a chorus of toadies.

The need for investigation, prosecution, and punishment of crimes against the people has never been greater. Hyenas can only be stopped through intimidation. They must be made to FEAR THE PEOPLE.

And our Democratic savior is going to work on concensus building, through holographic imagery grounded in personality, spirituality and culture?

Doomed.