Gordon
Bell and I decided to explore one of the invisible trait of leadership that is
as primordial as early points of evolutionary track- the essence. Most successful leaders (good or bad) of all
time had/have the essence. We felt it from
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Masayoshi Son, Hiroshi Mikitani, Tom Cech, Dalai Lama,
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Bill Clinton,
and John F. Kennedy.
Leadership
that president Obama exercised past four years as our president and before that
as a politician is fundamentally of a leadership quality of a
politepreneur(tm). He has taken risks
that others dare to charter in, utilized challenges as opportunities, and
compromised and collaborated where defeats are certain.
The
reasons we predict his reelection are not political ...they are about
humanity. We may not agree with any or
all of a politician’s viewpoints and actions, yet I’ll vote for them based on
what I perceive about them as beings.
Thus,
the overall reason he will be reelected is his consummate abilities as a communicator. I believe that Obama wants to do his level
best ...as long as the American public wants him on the job. If he were to lose the election, he would
keep on going as he would after serving a second term.
We
honestly cannot imagine a human with his degree of magnitude. We revel at the man and genuinely believe his
critics do not really comprehend him. He
truly is a one-of-a- kind man. No one on
the scene today can compete and win anything from him.
And,
who he is readily visible when he walks up to the podium and speaks. And, it’s also seen in his demeanor when in a
casual situation and playing sports, etc.
Let’s say they’re 10 things a speaker can do to be influencing and
persuasive and win by just doing 7 of the 10 ...Obama does 11.
He
has ethos, meaning he quickly and easily establishes rapport. He is as sincere, authentic and transparent
as one can be in a system that prohibits sincerity, authenticity, and
transparency.
While
he is ahead in ethos, a value or characteristic so vital, it alone can win any
contest, he does or has more of one other vital element never discussed
regarding presentation skills...
essence.
Essence
is very difficult to identify and describe, so we will do our best.
Essence
is a form of energy. It is not the same
energy used to perform. It is a deeper
energy that used with the energy to perform, creates a glow or a presence. And, presence is very difficult to
describe. You just sense or feel it.
In
the animal kingdom, it is sensed by the others in a group. One dog in a pack of dogs will fast be the
pack’s leader. They don’t negotiate the
leadership, it just happens. The dog
with the strongest essence leads and the rest follow. When there is a tie, they fight to see who
wins.
Since
we are all essentially the same as animals in this regard, we too elevate the
guy with the strongest essence, in this case the politician to leadership
...because, he or she has the essence we respect and even revere. It is usually an unconscious and seldom if
ever spoken about decision.
On
the flip side, if we do not like that politician’s policies or affiliations, we
tend to have an emotional response and might even demonstrate anger. We may be followers of other leaders who
themselves declare their opposition and so we take sides blowing the theory
apart. So, humans are more complex than
animals.
We
even witnessed actions that some might consider absolutely insane for the first
couple of years of the Obama presidency.
That was simply a knee jerk reaction that grew in magnitude only to
match the magnitude of Barack Obama.
In spite of his more than obvious qualities,
some just do not like a person with great essence. And, because they have exceptional essence,
we attempt to fight or respond to the heightened essence in a comparable and
often vengeful manner.
The
one leader who Obama most resembles in the regard of exceptional essence is JFK
(John F Kennedy). Both JFK and Obama
had/have the ability to stand up and remain silent yet communicate in spades.
Allow
us to better explain what essence is:
Essence
is the virtual inexplicable primal energy we inherit ancestrally through our
mother’s and father’s line. And, their
genes changed based on the life experiences they go through, what they adapt
to, what they eat, what they think, how long they live, and on and on.
It
goes into the fetal cells from the sperm and the ova into your body. The original essence is stored in the lower
lumbar and feeds the whole body.
It
determines genetically:
·
how
long we are going to live
·
how
strong we are going to be
·
when
we are going to go into menopause
·
when
we are going to get gray hair
·
when
we are going to lose bone density
·
how
long our offspring will live
·
how
much will, drive and courage we will have
·
how
strong, young and vital our body is.
It
will determine everything about our makeup, our brain, our psychological
outlook on life, whether we have more courage, more fear and how we can adapt
to stress.
It’s
very fundamental ...one of the most important things about our physical
existence that we have to respect and understand.
Doesn’t this explain the factor that differentiated
JFK from Richard Nixon and Barack Obama from John McCain, and now from Mitt
Romney?
Essence
determines how a communicator will appear, stand or sit. It influences the expressions through their
eyes, their body language, and their entire demeanor.
During
the 2008 Presidential Campaign, CNN occasionally put both McCain and Obama on
the same screen split down the middle. John
McCain was and is a good speaker; however, he was no match to Obama.
Obama
made many fewer body movements, which unconsciously is perceived as solid,
strong, steady, reliable, etc. especially movement of the head.
No
one, not even his opponents can say he has not exuded leadership
characteristics regarding his role of Commander in Chief. He took risks few would and pulled them off
with precision. Of course, he was
blessed with a Navy Seals team who’s caliber of expertise was perhaps
unavailable to previous presidents.
But
that tends to be a part of or accompany the magic such essence. People with such essence appear to be
lucky. They are more intuitive then most
others.
Strong
essence is the foundation of their being.
The Indian and other Asian use the candle to explain essence. They call essence Jing.
In
terms of the candle: The jing is the
wax. The flame and wick are the Atma/Chi
or the type of energy needed to move etc., and the flame is what they call Shen
or the glow. Obama simply glows with
treasured radiance and has a unique aura.
We
predict that enough voters who are responsive to the man and not as much his policies
and politics will vote for him as they did in 2008 because no one on the scene
as yet can compete with his essence.
- Ryan Baidya and Gordon Bell
