Posted on 03/30/2015 9:25:20 AM PDT by Kaslin
The lack of it is not a positive, but it can be overcome. Here's how.
The entry of Ted Cruz into the presidential race touched off an interesting discussion about the relevance of experience, especially governing experience and executive experience. Some said Cruz is nothing more than a conservative Barack Obama because he is a first-term senator with little executive experience. Others countered that all the executive experience in the world wouldn’t have made Obama a good president because he is so wrong ideologically.
As someone who once ran for president because I thought my experience as a business executive could make me an effective leader, let me suggest that in some ways both arguments are correct.
I think Ted Cruz could be a good president because he is bold, decisive and principled. That doesn’t mean executive experience wouldn’t be helpful to him, but he could overcome the lack of it if he got some good advice about leading the executive branch – and if he trusted the right people.
This is one of the reasons Obama got in trouble early on. It’s true that executive experience would not have made him a good president, not only because his ideology is wrong but also because he has neither the temperament nor the perspective to be an effective leader. With Obama, it’s always all about Obama, and executive experience would not have changed that because it’s fundamentally who he is.
But he might have spared himself some unnecessary headaches if he knew a little something about leadership. I commented when he first took office that he was making a huge mistake by having more than 60 people report to him directly. No one can supervise that many direct reports. Even the most talented executives only try to deal with maybe 10, and most prefer four to six.
Failing to understand this fairly basic management principle put Obama in a position to quickly lose control of what was happening in the executive branch. (I don’t think he’s very interested in the details, either, and management experience can’t make you care.) Because he clearly doesn’t understand how to establish goals and metrics for success, or about how to empower people to succeed, Obama ended up with a fairly chaotic executive branch that was often saying one thing and doing another, and often had many people moving in different directions.
Now conservatives might say, “Good! We didn’t want Obama to be successful with his agenda!” I understand that. But you do want a conservative president to be successful, if he is constantly dealing with internal squabbles and negative news stories that arise from operational problems in the executive branch, it will hamper his effectiveness.
Since Cruz has less experience in this area than, say, Scott Walker or Jeb Bush, it would be important for him as president to have a very strong vice president and chief of staff who could offer strengths in these areas and could help keep things running smoothly. But! It would be a mistake for Cruz or any other prospective president not to pay attention to the inner-workings of the executive branch, thinking, “I’m the big-picture guy. I’m not the detail guy.”
You have to be a detail guy, at least to the extent that you have a reasonable understanding of what’s going on and you can be confident things are operating according to your vision. That doesn’t mean you micromanage. You empower your people and you trust them, but you still have to pay close attention to everything from the numbers to the performance metrics and the issues that are cropping up among your people – because there will be some.
I would rather have a principled conservative with no management experience than a liberal with lots of it. And some people have good instincts for leadership even if they don’t have the specific experience you’d look for.
But experience is never a weakness, and those who support Cruz for president shouldn’t argue that it is. Cruz should acknowledge that his relative lack of executive management experience is a challenge for which he needs a strategy, and he should tell us what it is. (He’s welcome to borrow from this column if he thinks it would help!) I’m sure the candidates who have more experience will tout it as an advantage – as well you’d expect them to. And if it helps them to be more effective in leading the nation in the right direction – as opposed to the direction Obama is taking us – so much the better.
But the ability to manage well – whether you get it from your own experience or from good instincts and talented people around you – is crucial to the success of any presidency.
“Some said Cruz is nothing more than a conservative Barack Obama”
Only demented libs think/say that.
or just a President with common sense
Exactly
He sure does have that, unlike that arrogant pos
What? There are like 15 cabinet positions alone that report to the president.
...Obama ended up with a fairly chaotic executive branch that was often saying one thing and doing another, and often had many people moving in different directions. Now conservatives might say, “Good! We didn’t want Obama to be successful with his agenda!” I understand that.
The Obama administration has been one of the most successful administrations. Obama has purposely and drastically changed the country for the worse.
Since Cruz has less experience in this area than, say, Scott Walker or Jeb Bush...
Gee what a surprise. I like the way the author uses the word "say" as if the names Scott Walker and Jeb Bush just happened to come to his mind as he was writing this piece, instead of they actually being the reason why he wrote this piece...
it would be important for him as president to have a very strong vice president and chief of staff ...Cruz should acknowledge that his relative lack of executive management experience is a challenge for which he needs a strategy, and he should tell us what it is.
What condescending crap. Cruz has a long resume that proves he is able to manage. Perhaps the guy who wrote this condescending article should go read Cruz's resume.
Including all that, there is nobody more qualified to be President.
This article is nonsense.
BTW, where are the so-concerned hand wringing articles about Walker’s and Bush’s lack of national and foreign policy experience?
Obama has six plus years as president, and he still has no executive experience.
...and Herman Cain, who ran for president and was wiped out has which experience to advise Cruz? Just sayin...
He had none but he had character, wisdom, a sense of fairness, and patriotism going for him. Of course some Freepers will demur for they dislike Lincoln as much as the Obamanator.
You must be a racist.
I'm sure he can tell him what dirty tricks to expect from the RATs and RINOs.
But the only elected president to be impeached.
They dislike Lincoln because they believe the lies about him.
OMG is your memory short, noobie
He had plenty of executive experience as a business man.
He wasn't wiped out, he had to quit before the primaries even started because of the nasty rumors the media started about him. Perhaps you bought those rumors hook line and sinker, it would not surprise me, there were many in here who did.
He was my husband's and my choice for our primary but we couldn't vote for him because he had gotten out
And that arrogant pos still hasn’t learned a thing
Yes, another great qualification
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