Today's New York Times Op-Ed by Timothy Egan was exciting to read in that he was saying some of the very things we've been saying around the office -- President Obama needs to stand behind his authentic and powerful brand. In the article Mr. Egan calls for Obama to take on a "big idea" like the big ideas that Kennedy and FDR and even Bill Clinton stood behind in their presidencies.
He says "hope" and "change we can believe in" are not governing principles and that his significant accomplishments are fuzzy out there because they are not communicated within the context of this big idea.
We agree.
Kennedy stood behind the bigness of his authentic Hero archetype - the military officer, injured at sea with the dream and the ambition to take us to the moon. FDR, the great leader out of the depression and into the war, governed with fairness and firmness.
So, what is President Obama's big idea? What is it about him that compelled so many people to stand up and take a stance, hopeful for a new America? In what way is he so powerful that he struck that archetypal chord in so many?
Obama is not the Hero personality of John Kennedy, nor the bridge-builder that Clinton was. The thoughfulness that Egan refers to is the strong and authentic Sage of Obama. However, Obama didn't run his presidency relying strictly on his authentic Sage-like side of his personality. He coupled that with a Magician's ability to envision a better future and inspire people to take action. President Obama's big idea is his intelligent, reflective creativity applied to bring about a new, higher order vision.
Since taking office, he has been focused on the Sage part of his personality -- addressing critcal issues and legislative solutions. And, he has done so void of the complimentary visionary qualities that got him elected.
The cries of "flex some muscle" and "man up" ask the President to operate in an inauthenic way - the same way that outsiders encouraged Al Gore (another great Sage) to be more personal. That attempt at being someone other than who he authentically was was largely responsible for his losing the election (or not winning it, anyway...).
Obama's big idea is to be the very best Barak Obama that he is capable of being. Not to bore down to uni-dimensionalism or to be someone he is not. He is a very powerful Sage/Magician archetype - powerful enough to be elected the first black president in the country. That same power can be leveraged to not only develop legislation, but to bring the country with him as he does.
The entire Op-Ed piece can be read at the New York Times online.
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