Bob Schieffer is one of the grand masters of television news journalism. He is easily irritated by flack politicians, and impatient to get to the truth. In his job as anchor of the venerable “Face The Nation” on CBS, he appears to regard many of his guests as leadership impostures.
So, his commentary on the December 18th broadcast was an arrow to the heart of the matter, a bullseye shot, well earned and well delivered. You can view it here — all one minute and 45 seconds of it.
It begins: “After watching Congress flounder around for an entire year and manage to accomplish nothing, I’ve come up with my own reform plan: Just create a Second Congress…”
Realizing how the self-justification of personal greed and status grandiosity corrupts, Schieffer gets rid of these motivations entirely. His highly focused and functional Second Congress would do the work that desperately needs to be done, while the current Congress — stripped of all authority — would continue to devote itself to ”finding ways to avoid doing anything that actually mattered to anyone but them.”
Do you presume your “constituents” appreciate your leadership? Do you know? How can you be sure?
Have a competent, incorruptible, third-party researcher conduct a “leadership 360 study.” The feedback you receive from this data obtained confidentially from your boss, peers and direct reports will give you the truth and the consequences, with recommendations for improving your leadership effectiveness.