[September 27, 2014] More leadership failures and successes this week and it was hard to choose which ones to put in the failure category because there were so many.
The following are the failures. Recall that my intent is to write enough about the issue at hand to have the reader see that this person failed to meet basic leader traits. All information occurred within the last week.
- Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney General, said “If you asked me what my biggest regret was, I would say that it was the failure to pass any responsible and reasonable gun safety legislation after the shootings in Newtown.”1 The problem here is that is not his job and specifically conflicts with his duties as the most senior law enforcement officer in America. He was also accused of “cherry picking” laws to enforce while letting the U.S. government not contest others.
- Rosie O’Donnell, talk-show host on The View, said in reference to the president’s decision to attack Islamic terrorists in Syria that “We are bombing Syria because Syria has so much oil, so there is a financial incentive.”2 I’m unsure what she means by “financial incentive” since Syria has very little oil. Furthermore, the connection between attacking dangerous terrorists and Syria’s small oil reserves is dubious.
And now for the list of successes. Being on this today doesn’t mean you won’t be on the failure list tomorrow. In my opinion, here are some successful senior leaders.
- Derek Jeter, New York Yankees baseball shortstop, said in response to his walk-off single in his Yankee Stadium finale that, “Everyone dreams of hitting a home run in the World Series or getting a game-winning hit, but I was happy with a broken bat and a run scored in the seventh inning; I was happy with that being the end. But I’ll take this one.”3 One of baseball’s great players retires with a tremendous career and no scandals.
- Leon Panetta, former Secretary of Defense, said in reference to the problems in Iraq with the terrorist group ISIS that, a less complete troop pullout in Iraq “would’ve given us greater leverage over Iraq’s government” and we are now paying the price.4 Panetta, as one of the most senior leaders in the U.S., puts his well-informed views on terrorism and Iraq up for all to see. He is part of the debate about how Western governments, to include the U.S., have no effective strategy against Islamic terrorism and that failure drives poor decisions.
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[1] http://news.msn.com/us/holder-resigning-attorney-general-backed-rights
[2] http://www.mrc.org/biasalerts/911-truther-rosie-odonnell-sees-financial-agenda-hitting-syria