Change

"He has the capacity to surprise. He has demonstrated the ability to change which means that he can listen and reflect on his weaknesses which is an admirable quality not obvious in all Prime Ministers."

- Chris Uhlmann, Journalist speaking about Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott

Emotion.

In the Conclusion of ‘The Kennedy Tapes: Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis’, the authors assess the decision-making of the Soviet and American leadership that is revealed almost word-for-word in the nearly seven hundred pages of taped crisis meetings in the book.

Khrushchev made his decisions alone and without seeking advice or analysis.  He ‘acted more from instinct than from calculation’, was an ‘impulsive risk taker’ and was described by aides as ‘reckless’.  Khrushchev had little experience or knowledge of foreign affairs and his understanding of the world was framed in simplistic Marxism-Leninism.  He made assumptions about Kennedy based purely on the President’s youth and family wealth, and saw his ‘flexibility’ as a weakness.  Khrushchev also suffered from an inflated sense of his influence on world affairs as a result of his mis-reading of the motivations for America’s responses to his previous decisions.  

In short, Khrushchev’s decision-making was driven by emotion more than reason.  If this made it difficult for the Americans to read and anticipate his actions, it must have been equally so for his generals and ministers.

In comparison, President Kennedy ‘did not make any impulsive decisions during the crisis’.  He ‘opened up much of his reasoning….and likely consequences of his choices before he made them.  He explained his thinking to a range of analyses and critiques from formal and informal advisers and even representatives of the British government.’  He also allows his advisers to ‘reason through the problems’.  

At the height of the crisis, the authors argue that Kennedy ‘seems more alive to the possibilities and consequences of each new development than anyone else’, remaining calm and lucid, and clear about his objectives. 

While Kennedy kept himself open to the advice of others, and had obviously nurtured a working relationship that meant his advisers felt confident enough to disagree with him, he was firm when he needed to be.  He overrode the generals’ planned air strike in retaliation for the shooting down of an American U2 aircraft, even though that was the response that he had initially agreed upon.

The ability to remain uninfluenced by bias is one of the most important qualities of a good decision maker.  It makes her thinking visible, her actions predictable and teachable and gives confidence to her team who may have to execute their own decisions that flow from hers. 

Kennedy used many tools to keep him focussed on the facts.  He verbalised his logic, exposing his thinking even to those outside his circle to avoid ‘groupthink’.  He had private venting conversations with his brother, the Attorney-General Robert Kennedy.  Most importantly, Kennedy did not surround himself with ‘Yes Men’.  

President Kennedy’s willingness to be transparent in his decision making and open in his uncertainties showed courage and were evidence of great leadership.

Reality.

The businessman and writer Max De Pree wrote:

'The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.  The last is to say thank you.'

On the first day of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, President Kennedy met with his advisers.  He listened to them outline the evidence that the Cubans, assisted by the Soviet Union, were installing nuclear missiles.  Once he had heard the intelligence summary and some analysis, he said:

‘What you’re really talking about are two or three different potential operations.’  

He summarises what he has heard from them.  There is some discussion. He then says:

‘Well, now, let’s decide what we ought to be doing.’

President Kennedy defined reality.

Thirteen days later, having looked into the abyss of nuclear annihilation and stared down the Cubans and Soviets who dismantled their missiles, President Kennedy closed the last meeting of his team of advisers.  Immediately after they left the Oval Office he telephoned an assistant and said:

‘Dick, I want to get a President’s commemorative for the Executive Committee of the National Security Council who’ve been involved in this matter’.

The President said Thank You.

Athwart.

During one of the meetings in the White House to discuss the US response to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, Robert Kennedy, Attorney-General and brother of President John Kennedy referred to a memo that had been prepared by Under Secretary of State George Ball.  

The memo argued against a surprise strike against Cuba.  It said that to do so would be to behave ‘in a manner totally contrary to our traditions, by pursuing a course of action that would cut directly athwart anything we have stood for during our national history, and condemn us as hypocrites in the opinion of the world.’

Robert Kennedy said ’I think George Ball has a hell of a good point….I think it’s the whole question of…what kind of country we are.’

Every decision that we make is a statement to the world - louder, more honest and memorable than words - about who we really are. 

Questions.

‘The Kennedy Tapes - Inside the White House During the Cuban Missile Crisis' is a verbatim account of all meetings that President Kennedy had with his advisers in mid-October 1962 in response to the Soviet Union installing nuclear missiles in Cuba - thus threatening the world with nuclear war.

Kennedy’s first meeting is a lesson in good decision-making.

He called together 12 advisers.

His advisers spoke 285 times.

The President spoke 66 times - mostly no longer than a sentence.

The first 11 times he spoke he asked questions and listened to the answers.  

The first non-question from him was ‘Thank you’.

He then asked 21 more questions - a total of 32 questions - before making a statement.

His first statement to the meeting was a summary of the information that had been given to him.

He then asked six more questions and listened to each answer.

His 40th statement was ‘Well now, let’s decide what we ought to be doing’.

His asked nine more questions.

He made four asides.

His 54th statement was to ask that the meeting reconvene later in the evening. 

He made three more statements.

He followed these with six questions.

Then two statements, a question, two statements, four more questions, one statement.

He ended with a question.

President Kennedy, the most powerful man in the world, facing a decision that could result in nuclear armageddon, asked four times as many questions as he made statements.

The only decision that he made was that they should have another meeting.

Leader

A good decision is one that advances you towards where you want to be.

If you turn around and someone is following you…

Hello Leader!

Learning

John Worsfold, the former coach of the West Coast Eagles AFL team said recently: 

"We want to learn about each other in every game we play." 

What a refreshing insight. It suggests that the people who we work with aren't just a means to an end. They aren't just 'team members' who contribute to some work goal. 

They are our our teachers. 

They teach us about ourselves. 

If we play to learn.

Confidence

"He is sufficiently confident of his own abilities that he can tolerate other people with a different point of view."

- Senator Arthur Sinodinos on Prime Minister Tony Abbott

Solitude

Emerson wrote ‘he who would inspire and lead his race must be defended from travelling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading, and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions.’

One of the burdens of leadership is the weight of others’ voices.  Opinions, statements, requests, demands, complaints, criticisms - demanding the leader’s attention.

A leader listens to others’ voices.  Reflects on them.  Measures them against reality.  Keeps her emotions in check.   

She focusses on the voices of others.

Until she decides what to do.

Only then does the leader find her voice in the solitude of her decision.  

A statement about who she is, or at least, who she wants to become.

Then perhaps the terror of looking behind to see if anyone is following.

Teacher

Flight Sergeant Tanya Fraser, CSM, represents the hundreds of cadets, sailors, soldiers, airmen and officers whose professionalism, kindness and patience have taught me and others about the privilege of leadership during my 30+ years of involvement in military organisations.

The great advantage of military service is that unless you're an airman recruit about to get off the bus on the first day of Rookies, you're almost always in charge of someone. A Corporal points an open palm at a bewildered and pimply recruit and barks 'You! Yes, YOU! Get these people into three orderly ranks. NOW!' Instant leadership practice with compliant followers and immediate 'feedback' yelled in response to every mistake.

(It's not really Leadership of course, any more than a police officer's charisma leads you to breathe into her breathalyser. But it's Leadership with its L Plates on.)

In the military, your teachers call you 'Sir'. The really good ones patiently and generously allow you to 'lead' them, when really they are shaping and educating you. Luckily for me I have been taught by some of the best.