Lessons for Business Leaders from Obama

Yesterday, most of us felt like we were witnessing history unfold. Obama’s speech was riveting, hopeful, inspiring and even spine-tingling. It occurred to me that his many profound messages, though not necessarily new, have often been forgotten, especially in the face of today’s severe economic crisis. While his comments were developed to address a nation facing crisis, they definitely apply to businesses and organizations around the world.

 

I have paraphrased some of his key messages below:

Leading through difficult times

• Humbled by the task before us
• Grateful for the trust bestowed
• Mindful of the sacrifices of those who have come before

 

The Choice belongs to the people

• Hope over fear; unity of purpose over conflict and discord; proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and warn out dogmas that have strangled our politics

 

The time has come

• To set aside childish things; to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that noble ideal that all are equal, free and deserve the chance to pursue their full measure of happiness

 

Greatness is never a given

• It must be earned. Our Journey is not based on short cuts or settling for less, nor has it been a path for the fainthearted, or for those who prefer leisure over work or seek only pleasures of riches and fame. It has been the risk takers, the doers, the makers-of-things. Some celebrated, but more often those obscure in their labour that have carried us up the long rugged path toward prosperity.

 

Change is required

• Our capacity remains undiminished, but our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions has surely past. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking…to meet the demands of a new age
• The ground has shifted beneath us; the old political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply.

 

Responsibility of leaders

• Those of us who manage the budgets will be held to account to spend wisely, to reform bad habits and do our business in the light of day. Only then can we restore that vital trust.

 

Lessons from the crisis

• This economic crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. The nation (organization) can not prosper when it favours only the prosperous. The success of our economy depends not only on size but on the reach of our prosperity and the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart, not out of charity but because it is the surest route to our common good.

 

To those who wish to destroy

• People will judge you on what you can build not on what you destroy. We will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

 

To those who wish to ignore the call

• To those nations like ours who enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer ignore the suffering outside our borders, nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to the effect, for the world has changed and we must change with it.
• We can not help but believe that as the world grows smaller that our common humanity shall reveal itself.

 

To those who wish to join

• Embody the spirit of service – a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves at this moment…it is this spirit that must inhabit us all, for as much as leaders can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the people upon which we rely and which decides our fate.

 

• What is required today is a return to the basic truths and a new era of responsibility, recognition by all that we have duties to ourselves, to our friends, family, colleagues, our community and the world. Duties that we do not grudgingly accept, but rather seek gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing more satisfying to the spirit or more defining to our character than giving our all to the task. This is the source of our confidence…the knowledge that we are called to shape an uncertain destiny.

 

Values upon which success depends

• Honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism. These values are old, but they have been the quiet force of progress through history.

 

Our Legacy

• With hope and virtue let us brave once more the icy currents and endure what storms may come. Let it be said that when we were tested that we refused to let this journey end. That we did not turn back nor did we falter. And with eyes fixed on the horizon we succeeded.

Posted by: Lianne Bridges

Lianne is a founding partner of Bridges Horizon, providing Marketing Transformation Consulting Services. Lianne has spent the past 20+ years managing and consulting across an array of sectors from B2B to Not-for-Profit, including such world-class organizations as: Aeroplan, Bombardier, Pfizer,  Nabisco, Southam News, United Technologies, the YMCA, Plan Canada and Alcan, to name a few.