Meet The Ambassador

LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM PRESIDENT REAGAN
By Frank Lavin

I HAD the opportunity to work for Mr Ronald Reagan for most of the eight years he was president. I recall those times with fondness. Mr Reagan was masterful; he combined a clear sense of purpose with natural stagecraft and the charming occasional idiosyncrasy.

To many of his detractors, Mr Reagan's politics was reactionary and he was just a simpleton. I saw a different man, one with his share of human failings, but one who had a vision of where he wanted to take America and who had a set of leadership skills that allowed him, in large part, to achieve his goals.

Here are a few of the lessons I took with me:

Don't be afraid of friction

IF ELECTED leaders view their job as simply finding the centre of gravity on every issue, they might retain their popularity - but all they will have done is encapsulate public opinion, not lead it. If political leaders want to shape a new consensus, they have to risk alienating those who support the current status quo. Mr Reagan knew that his job was not to make everybody like him, but to help move America in the right direction.

Focus on a few key goals

FOR Mr Reagan, his goals were to confront Soviet expansionism, reduce the tax burden and place limits on the size of government. He proved to be highly successful on the first two goals, and abstractly successful on the latter. Containment had been the centre-piece of United States-Soviet policy since former American diplomat George Kennan articulated it in 1947 - Mr Reagan said we were going to transcend communism and consign it to the 'ash-heap of history'.

Although taxes had been cut before, Mr Reagan carried out the largest tax reduction in the history of the world - and spurred the greatest economic expansion in the history of the world.

I give a mixed grade for Mr Reagan's third goal, limiting the size of government. The federal government expanded substantially during his presidency, even if we allow for the military growth. But let's not confuse an inability to implement goals with the desirability of the goals. Mr Reagan did change the debate about the nature of government and the open-ended expansion of the welfare state. Hence 'abstractly successful'.

Don't confuse expertise with leadership. You can hire experts

I REMEMBER a discussion before one of the summits with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Mr Reagan candidly confessed that he could never remember whether Mr Gorbachev's title was General Secretary or Secretary-General. Secretary of State George Shultz reminded him that it was General Secretary. I thought to myself that this was a revealing minor episode. Here the president was freely confessing his ignorance on a point that would have appalled any number of Soviet experts in Washington. Indeed, if the press had known of this ignorance it might have freely ridiculed him.

Yet Mr Reagan knew, in a deep and populist sense of the word, that this point was irrelevant. It did not matter, except for the courtesy of protocol, what Mr Gorbachev's title was. What mattered were the policies: He wanted to give Mr Gorbachev no alternative except to transform the Soviet Union and end the Cold War.

By the way, when Mr Reagan mentioned that he could never keep the titles straight, Mr Shultz told him: 'It's easy, Mr President, for General Secretary just think G.S. Like George Shultz.'

Be upbeat

PEOPLE want to believe in their leadership, believe in their country, and believe in themselves. A president has to paint a picture of a better country and come up with the programme to help get us there.

Presidents with more stormy personalities, such as Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson, severely undercut their ability to lead. People have to be able to connect with their leaders on a personal level, perhaps even more so than a policy level. There is an old saying in politics: 'People don't care what you know until they know what you care.'

Mr Reagan was in Alabama once and visited a special school for handicapped kids. He offered a few minutes of remarks and took questions from the kids. These kids did not get a lot of human contact, and they might have spent their brief childhood without many people listening to what they had to say or trying to make them feel important. And here was president Reagan taking questions, nodding along, answering the points, telling jokes, and conveying to the world that there was no place he would rather be that moment than right there, with them.

Then came a moment of terror. The last kid to ask the president a question had a severe speech impediment. He asked his question, and no one in the room could understand it. He repeated it and again no one could understand what was said. The staff froze. The teachers froze. The administrators - up to now all smiles - also froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster. Instead of allowing these wonderful kids to forget about their handicap, this kid was going to be reminded of it.

Mr Reagan to the rescue. 'I'm sorry,' he said with a smile, 'but you know I've got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in a while the darn thing just conks out on me. And it's just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I'm going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell him directly what your question is. Then he can pass the question back to me.'

The staff member threaded his way through the audience and had the kid slowly repeat the question. Once he was certain he understood it, he made his way back to Mr Reagan and restated it. So rather than make the kid feel small, Mr Reagan brought his own handicap to the forefront.

Cut your deal

POLITICS is not a political theory course; you have to have something to show for your efforts. This requires a dose of realism to leaven your idealism and Mr Reagan was routinely able to strike a balance between the visionary and the attainable.

You have to be able to work with shifting political coalitions, various interest groups, strong personalities - in short, the give and take of politics. Mr Reagan would typically hold out a bold banner for his cause, but would be willing to settle for less in the final moments.

The trick, of course, is to always be willing to compromise in order to advance your principles, but never compromise your principles for the illusion of an advance.

Like many political leaders, Mr Reagan had many gifts other than leadership. He had a graciousness about him and a guileless belief in human nature. Even in memory, his work will continue to enrage his political adversaries and please his supporters.

(This article first appeared in The Straits Times, June 8, 2004).