The Loss of an Honorable Man

My Uncle, Merl Wilhelm, passed away in the wee hours of the morning, and as with any loss, this has prompted me to re-evaluate my perspective.  I write often about the leaders of our nation, but today I realized that men like my uncle are the true leaders and that people like him, not a politician, are the ones who shape our lives and lead the way.

A man of strong and unwavering faith, Merl showed many the way to walk in the Christian faith.  He was a man of infinite generosity and had a capacity to love which was truly awe inspiring.  He and his wife, Ethel, opened their home to children in need by becoming foster parents and embraced each child as their own.  But you didn't have to move into the house to be pulled in as part of the family.  Merl embraced one and all and adopted them into his extended family.  His own family growing up was large as he was one of the youngest of 13 boys with a girl finally coming as the last child, but that family with all of it's expansion of nieces and nephews, even when added to the family he married into which was not inconsiderable, could never rival the size of his honorary family.

With a round belly and a long white beard, Merl was perfect to play Santa Clause and it was a role he gladly filled for as long as he was physically able.  He made such a great Santa that even out of costume children would walk up and ask if he was Santa and, with his generosity and love, it was the perfect part for him to play, but Merl went far deeper than that.  He was a true leader as he worked to show those of us in the next generation how to behave, what was expected of us, and most importantly that we were responsible for ourselves as well as those around us.  Though we were all greatly loved, we weren't molly coddled.  He knew that we needed direction and guidance if we were to grow into the adults that we needed to be, and he gave it.  He led by example but took a real hands on approach as well.

I was very lucky to have great people as my role models growing up and Merl was only one of them, but he was an important one.  I learned much from my parents and my grandparents and I would not dimish their influence on me for anything, but the loss of Merl has caused me to examine his influence on me and these are the things that I learned from this great leader of our nation. 

There is never a question of whether or not to help somebody in need, the question is only how.
It is amazing the wounds that a smile and a bear hug can heal.
Family is so much more than a blood tie.
Knowing there is someplace you are always welcome is sometimes all it takes to get you through a crisis.
A real Christian is neither pious nor self-righteous and seeks no recognition for the help he gives.
There is no such thing as too many people to love.
In order to help others you must first be able to take care of yourself.
Though you may disagree with the choices of the people you love, it is no reason to stop loving them.
Kindness is a commodity that will always be required and which we rarely have enough of.

Merl Wilhelm was a great man and a great leader who will be sorely missed by the hundreds of people whose lives he touched and influenced and my words are wholely inadequate to truly capture how great that was.  As a nation we need more people like Merl to serve as our leaders to shape the next generations. 

Obama and 7 Obstacles to Effective Leadership

I'm in a leadership role in my day job and because of this have read several articles on how to be an effective leader; but the most helpful one I found was on what makes you a bad leader.  I've taken the steps from an article by Duncan Brodie on "7 Obstacles to Effective Leadership" and looked at how Obama is fairing.

For my Obama supporters I will admit that Bush wouldn't have faired all that well in this comparison either.

Obstacle 1: Old mindsets
This might not be the thing that you would automatically expect to see at the top of the list. Truth is that when we become a leader it is easy to forget that there are different expectations and challenges. If as a new leader you are still in the manager mindset you are going to struggle. Even if you are not a new leader old mindsets and complacency can be an obstacle.

For Obama this can go either way.  People can claim that he's brought new ideas, but I disagree.  What Obama brought with him is the Saul Alinski playbook and his Community Organization processes.  He has brought his old mindset into this leadership job and he's unwilling to let it go.  He will run his play book the way he has it written and he's not going to change even if the plays are causing him to lose the game.

Obstacle 2: Personal rather than corporate agenda
Ever noticed how someone's leadership career evolves. At the start they are a breath of fresh air, full of new ideas and enthusiasm, after a while, especially if the going gets tough, they start to focus on their own survival rather than on delivering success. Be alert to becoming too focussed on your personal agenda.

Hello!  Forcing his plans for climate change legislation and universal health in an economy that is already struggling.  In this case the coroporate agenda should be job creation, but his personal agenda - which will stymie job growth -- is taking center stage.  He needs to put his personal agenda aside and work on what's best for the nation as a whole.  Which means expanding job creation beyond infrastructure and green jobs.

Obstacle 3: Vagueness about direction
As the leader people will look to you to provide clear direction. After all unless you have a clear direction in which you want to take the organisation or team forward in, how are you going to communicate it and get the support you need.

Gee, I really don't know about this one.  He's communicated his specific plan on all of the issues so clearly hasn't he?

Obstacle 4: Micromanaging everything
One of the areas that differentiates the best from the poorer leaders is their ability to let go of things. When a leader spends all of their time micromanaging everything they get lost in the detail of the day to day stuff and lose sight of the bigger picture.

Hmm, a weekend visit to the Senate to push his agenda springs to mind.

Obstacle 5: Failure to act
We have all probably encountered this situation at some point in our career. The organisation is facing some struggles, needs to make some decisions and most importantly act on them. Yes it takes courage but failure to act is a recipe for disaster in the long term.

Dithering about Afghanistan for 3 months, finally addressing jobs after 10 months.  Of course you could say he acted quickly with the stimulus, but you could also say he didn't considering that the vast majority of the money hasn't been spent yet. 

Obstacle 6: Having to be right
Of course it is great to be the person who comes up with the ideas, turnaround or transformation plan or initiative. On the other hand when this becomes essential to you as the leader you stop listening, taking ideas on board and potentially miss out on real opportunities.

I'm going to let an evil witch cackle serve as my response to this one.

Obstacle 7: Failing to adapt
Every situation requires a different response. Failing to adapt leads to a situation where you become stuck. In the worst case scenarios this failure to adapt can result in a whole organisation collapsing. Always be ready to adapt to new and changing circumstances.

The public support for health care is dropping in the face of the unemployment rate and the way the bill is shaping up, but instead of adapting to this change he is willing to lose Congressional seats in order to acheive his personal goal (see obstacle 2).

Bottom Line - Obstacles are an inevitable part of leading. The question is are you going to successfully deal with them and deliver great results?

So how do you think Barack Obama is doing in dealing with these obstacles.  I'd love your opinion.