Obama and the failed Olympics bid:lessons on leadership

Clearly that was embarrassing. President Obama may have tried to put up a brave face (and he needed to) but the fact remains that that was one of the most stunning loses he has had to deal with since his majestic inauguration in January 2009.However,students of leadership like myself ought to learn valuable lessons from such events. The first thing l learnt without doubt is that charisma will take you to the top but knowledge is your only sustenance up there. Few doubt that Obama is probably the most popular President internationally. He is a celebrity. People like him and he is likable. Even the polls show that he is always more popular than his policies. The number of Americans who ‘like him’ to this date are astounding. However, leaders don’t live on charisma alone; rather, they should be masters of their turf. The Olympic loss showed an uncharacteristic miscalculation on the part of team Obama.Pre-election team Obama usually had an eye for opportunity and they normally chose their battles wisely. Surprisingly when you then study closely the internal politics of the Olympics movement, you realize that Obama was chasing waterfalls. The US Olympic team was at loggerheads with the all powerful International Olympic Committee and relations had not improved. Obama may be liked but it is the local Olympic team that calls the shots. Decorum in dealing with the President applies to members of congress of the United States but IOC can embarrass him.Infact an Olympic Joe Wilson could get away with ‘You lie’! IOC announced the decision whilst Obama was in air. He heard it from the news! Remember you are not everybody’s leader.
Leaders should choose their battles wisely. Some battles are not worth fighting. The energy you put in fighting some is not commensurate to the results you get when you win.
Leaders master detail. When you run for any office or engage partners on any project, don’t get carried away by the exterior or optics of a project or office, rather study the internal workings of the organization. It is like falling in love with a company logo to an extent where you assume that the management is as great as their logo. What glitters is not gold. If one notes the lopsided nature of the result, it was probably obvious that US wasn’t going to win had they done their homework
In addition, l noticed that all the other competing countries had the highest possible representation. Spain actually had its king and Brazil had Lula, its President. Obama is a President but a US President is deemed ‘more equal than others’ at least in the eyes of many pundits hence you do not normally have a US President going ‘for such trivia’.However,his five hour visit to Copenhagen though historical for American Presidents, did not augur well with at least one voter. One voter characterized it as too ‘businesslike’. I took a pause when l read that response. It’s amazing how people regard authentic relationships before they consider working with you. Don’t hurry it, people can feel that you are only talking to them because you want something. Make relationships long before you ask for a hand. Probably, the voter may have felt that the US takes them for granted for just making such a lightning visit and expect to host an event they have hosted several times over. People respect their leaders; sometimes they may even consider them ‘great’. What they don’t want is for those leaders to call themselves ‘great’! In other words people know the US is great, maybe the greatest, but history shows that people resent that each time the US implies that or says it itself. It’s a mystery.
In the same vein, seeing Rio win for the first time made me relive the January 2009 moment when Obama himself trounced the much more experienced Mc Cain. I also remember Senegal shocking France at the World Cup and the young Roger Federer humiliating tennis great Pete Sampras at Wimbledon. There is something about the David and Goliath fights that make me nervous each time l see the greats taking on the small. The fact is South America had never hosted the Olympics for no ostensible reason really and now Brazil an undisputed rising global power was bidding to host. The US was supposed to be nervous from the start. The point is not to be scared of every little guy who fights you, but to take them seriously and make you prepare even much harder. I humbly submit that Rio wasn’t taken seriously that’s why team Obama decided on the ‘last minute’ to dispatch the President. Brazil submitted a budget above 13 billion as compared to the US 4, 9 billion and they had worked for a long time for it. The US seemed to rely too much on star power of Oprah,Michelle the ultimate celebrity himself, Obama at the expense of the nitty-gritties that l have discussed earlier. When l heard the announcement, though l felt sorry for Obama and the Chicago crew, l honestly thought that was a fair decision. I read that some IOC members claimed that in allowing Rio, they had voted with their ‘conscience’. Indeed a lot of online polls show a lot of sympathy for the Brazilians to win. They deserved it. Leaders should fight where they ‘deserve’. Imagine this, if you win, does it look fair? Does it look well deserved? In a world where the little guy is being supported more often than not make sure in all you do, you don’t look like a bully or a spoilt brat. People often route for the little guy. They like the story of David slaying Goliath.

Anyone who followed the Olympics debate in the US might have realized that Obama was damned if he had not gone and he was dammed even though he went. Often times leaders are faced with such scenarios. What do you do? Don’t do what’s expedient, do what’s right. Do what doesn’t reflect badly on your character. When Obama advisors went on a media blitz to repudiate all the opposition Obama faced for going to Copenhagen, they emphasized how it was important for the President to ‘put the country first’, to ‘do everything for the sake of America’. It remains to be seen how it plays out but one thing is sure, it is easier to defend with a straight face if you have rolled up your sleeves and gone into the trenches with your colleagues. If he had not gone and the Olympic bid had been lost, l wonder what he would have said without sounding mean. Now the Republican jibes sound hollow and banal because the President ‘at least tried’.
Lastly, all leaders should learn to face their defeats with broad shoulders and a straight face. That’s the essence of emotional intelligence. Bounce back and dance again. People are losing jobs and the Taliban remain recalcitrant in Afghanistan, Obama has no time to wet his pillow.Similarly, leaders will have to learn to juggle several sensitive and high- importance assignments. When you lose one, don’t lose your resolve for the others because it can become a chain of loses. Soon after the Olympic loss, Obama had to address the nation on job loses with a sober face. Can you do that?