“If a politician doesn’t wanna get beat up, he shouldn’t run for office. If a football player doesn’t want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn’t put the pads on.”

Clinton then alluded to the resignations and calls for resignations that have been traded back and forth between the campaigns.

“I don’t think any of these people oughta be asked to resign,” he said. “All these guys that say bad things about any other campaign, they say, ‘Should they resign?’ My answer is no; they’re repeating party line. They oughta stay right where they are. Let’s just saddle up and have an argument. What’s the matter with that? That’s what America’s about, right?”


-Bill Clinton, quoted in a New York Times blog


A leader is never afraid of taking a hit, or entering a controversial issue. Instead a leader leads with her or his chin... leaders are never afraid to express what they feel or think just because of how someone might respond. to have this issue will spill over into how and what one preachers, and how one handles conflict, and invites dialogue from non believers. A true leader isnt held captive to his or her gift of mercy, no matter how big their heart might be. Every study I know of (and dont ask me to site one) has shown that the higher a persons mercy gift the less likely they are to be able to effectively lead and grow a church.

-Bill Easum, in a Leadership Forum email

Wise counsel from two divergent Bills. We are so afraid to tangle a bit. But it's in the tangling that the truth, reality can get sifted out. I think it's important to throw into the mix a little bit of Steven Covey's fifth habit of highly effective people, "seek first to understand, then be understood." He writes in 7 Habits:

Our perceptions may be vastly different. And yet we both have lived with our paradigms for years, thinking they are "facts," and questioning the character or the mental competence of anyone who can't "see the facts."

Now, with all our differences, we're trying to work together--in a marriage, in a job, in a community service project--to manage resources and accomplish results. So how do we do it? How do we transcend the limits of our individual perceptions so that we can deeply communicate, so that we can cooperatively deal with the issues and come up with Win/Win solutions? (254)

He answers that by saying to seek first to understand, then be understood, to use ethos (personal credibility), pathos (empathy, understanding the emotion of the other person), THEN logos (the actual logic, or reasoning you are trying to convey).

When you can present your own ideas clearly, specifically, visually, and most important, contextually--in the context of a deep understanding of their paradigms and concerns--you significantly increase the credibility of your ideas. (257)

Think of the possibilities if one were able to genuinely facilitate the exchange of ideas to such an extent that participants could transcend their own perception. Man, that's leadership.

And I still agree with the Bills. You have got to lead with the chin.