Chuck Todd and Sheldon Gawiser have recently published a book How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election.  I have read a few excerpts and have listened to Todd interviewed on the subject, and I believe this is a must read for anyone who wants to learn how to lead AND market.

Reason 1: On Morning Joe this a.m., Todd pointed out how important speeches were, are and will be to President Obama.  His oratory skills are outstanding and compelling.  He uses every chance he can to sell the public on his position, and he clearly states his position with poise, charisma and strength.  His intelligence and polish are impressive.  Many pundits are arguing that the President is not winning in the “bubble” on Capitol Hill but that he is still winning with the public, and for our confidence as a nation, this matters, and it matters in a very big way!  Now his big challenge is to win with Congress.

Reason 2: Is Obama still in politicing mode?  You bet he is!  He has some major initiatives on his plate (the economy, pulling out of Iraq).  If a Presdient can’t go out and get the votes needed in Congress to get the job done, then you may as well hang it up.   Just as in politics, in business and leadership, you don’t stop campaigning…you do all in your will and power to get people on board.

Reason 3: President Obama is appealing to the intellect of the American people.  He is talking straight from the hip, lets us know that he is fully aware that we all know we are in the midst of a major recession and that we have to act swiftly to take action to turn things around.  Many leaders will try to paint a rosy picture, and I am just not hearing this from Obama.

Reason 4: President Obama is using is his audacity of hope approach.  He is staying hopeful, using optimism and reminding us all that we’ve been in this situation before and came out stronger on the other end.

If you are a business owner or a leader in any position, I would recommend that you begin studying why Obama won and how he is continuing to be popular with the public.  I am certain you will gain a few insights into how to apply his skills in the direction of your own leadership.

Here is his speech from last night to Congress.  Watch this and see what you can learn.

Management is about doing what can be seen and executing it well;

Leadership is about envisioning what can’t be seen that spontaneously enrolls people to make it happen.

- Ivan Rosenberg, CEO, Frontier Associates

The article discusses moving from transactional to transformational and shifting from “all about me” to “all about us” (still not global minded and us vs. them) to “all about we”.

Time will tell is Obama can lead us to “all about we.”  I still feel in listening to the begging for $$ from Congress by the banks and auto workers, we are still in the “all about us” mentality.  And…the fact that Merrill Lynch’s CEO, Thain has asked for a $10 million bonus smacks of “all about me.”

I am all for CEOs getting paid and I do believe they should be paid a little extra for a job well done.  While Thaine helped ML out of a big pickle, it seems a bit over the top to ask for this type of money when his company was just rescued.

Read the full post from Fast Company by Mark Goulston

As most leadership consultants do, I have been watching the campaign in earnest to learn what I can about formulas for success. The more I watch the ending of the McCain campaign, the more clear it becomes as to why this campaign failed.

Two nights ago on the O’Reilly Factor (which I do watch each evening…I also watch a few more Liberal shows like Hardball with Chris Matthews) Carl Cameron reported that sources at the top of the McCain campaign told him that Governor Palin was “difficult, a bit of a shop-aholic, did not know the countries that make up NAFTA and did not know that Africa was a continent.”

I have to say I was a bit in shock. I honestly could not believe what I was hearing. I know that Governor Palin has her shortcomings, but this information leaking out seems to be coming from some cowards…people who don’t have the guts to step up and attach a face and a name to their comments.

I watched the reaction last night on the news…more of the same, and of course, the media is having a field day with this.

If you are a leader, I encourage you to look at the leadership skills (or lack thereof) in this situation and know that at the end of the day, what we are hearing and seeing now is proof positive that this campaign was in grave trouble months ago (even before Palin came onto the scene.)

Here are a few of the leadership skills that I see were (and still are) blatantly missing:

1) Accountability: The McCain campaign has been pointing fingers at each other and Palin for weeks. At the end of the day, McCain should be held accountable. He was the Republican nominee, and accountability starts at the top.

2) Leadership Courage: Some people at the top of the campaign seem to be afraid to be wrong. I believe that they are trying to save themselves right now, so they are throwing Governor Palin under the bus. There’s nothing better for a coward than having a scapegoat.

3) Personal Responsibility: If you are a part of an organization, you need to take responsibility for everything you do and say and every mistake you made. It’s easy to throw the responsibility onto someone who lives thousands of miles away in the state of Alaska.

I want to make clear that I know how difficult running a presidential campaign must be, and my hat is off to both Obama and McCain for sticking out two long years of travel and physical strain. But…at the end of the day, always, always, the leadership skills practiced are what yield results. I have heard it reported that Obama said from the beginning that he was not going to tolerate drama…that he wanted a team that could be united and stand together no matter what, and guess what…it worked! Don’t ever underestimate what leadership development, managerial courage and accountability can do for your organization.

EDGE! A Leadership Story

I want to take the time to personally congratulate President-Elect Barack Obama for his determination and outstanding campaign. I look forward to watching the next four years and wish him the best.

Watch the acceptance speech here:

EDGE! A Leadership Story

For those history buffs out there, the History Channel has a great feature on The History of Elections .

The feature includes great articles, facts and video footage.