Leader of the Free World

With the conclusion of the lengthy primary season, and the nominations of Senators McCain and Obama, the country’s eye turns to each candidate’s search for a vice president. And rightly so. Regardless of media outlets using the vice presidential vetting (a process intended to “check out” potential running mates for public opinion, experience, skeletons, etc.) as replacement material to fill the Hillary v. Barack void, it is crucially important to follow this process because it will tell us some things about our future president.

The measure of great leaders is not just their own abilities, accomplishments, and aspirations, but also the quality of people with which they surround themselves. In Jim Collins’ best-selling book, “Good to Great,” he outlines the differences between successful companies/organizations and unsuccessful ones, starting with a description of a “Level 5 Leader.” Level 5 Leaders are extremely rare individuals who have a knack for, among many things, putting excellent people around them. Through his rigorous research, he found that CEOs (read: Presidents) that were most successful started their tenure with excellent teams, not just grandiose dreams. That is, it was their first priority to surround themselves with brilliant, independent thinkers who could both challenge and support them. Now, the analogy breaks down slightly considering presidential politics require candidates to cast a broad vision long before assembling a Cabinet to begin realizing said vision. The point stands, though—the people our future president chooses to surround himself with will tell us a great deal about his ability to lead.

Will our future president choose a VP with safe voting record? Perhaps a VP who will bring a number of Electoral Votes to the table? Maybe a VP with focus group “appeal?” Or, will our future president choose a VP with a record of independent thinking? Or a VP with more to show than just a thick Rolodex of connections? Or a VP who is just. plain. good for the country? If our future president would like to retain the title, “Leader of the Free World,” we need to ask our president to begin by being that leader, beginning with the naming of his vice president.

Ryan Findley
IGNITE Program Manager