Blog about Leadership

Barack Obama is the leader with the message of hope. He has given speech after speech with this message and even wrote the book, The Audacity of Hope, which was a New York Times bestseller.

“Hope” is an interesting word for a leader to focus on. From my background, I can tell you a lot of military leaders would put you down for using such a word; especially if you say something like “I did this and hopefully it will work.” The usual response is “Hope is not a strategy.” Hillary Clinton even used this exact phrase against General John Abizaid in a Senate briefing on Iraq; his response, “Senator, I agree with you – and I would also say that despair is not a method.”

Hope does not have to be blind and empty or absent strategy and plans. Hope is rooted in belief. Hope is a feeling. Hope is what can propel someone to action – and action is the requirement for any accomplishment. Without hope, you have despair. Without hope, you give up – quit. Sometime you may fail, but if you maintain hope, you can learn from the failure and work toward accomplishment.

One of the greatest military minds, Napoleon I of France (Napoleon Bonaparte) used the word hope and any leader would be hard-pressed to put him down for it.

Leadership quote from Napoleon Bonaparte:
“A leader is a dealer in hope.”

Barack Obama also focuses on the message of change (“Change you can believe in”), but that’s for another time.

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“In war, three quarters turns on personal character and relations; the balance of manpower and materials counts only for the remaining quarter.”