• IN THIS SECTION

May 28, 2008

Exclusive: Context and Timing as Leadership Measures

Gabriel Garnica, Esq.

With all of the examples of political foot-in-mouth-disease which we have witnessed of late, one might wonder about the importance, and relevance, of context and timing as leadership measures.

The Overlooked Virtues

We always hear about the usual suspects when it comes to what makes a great leader. It almost seems as if there is a veritable alphabet of qualities that supposedly render some great leadership timber and others hollow facades of leadership pretense. Assertiveness, bravery, charisma, courage, daring, diligence, discretion, intelligence, persuasiveness, toughness, wisdom and every adjective in between has been given the time of day in this evaluation of what makes someone a great leader.

I wish to add two critical newcomers to this growing list, namely, context and timing. I firmly believe that these two virtues demonstrate as much about a potential leader's ability to lead as any of the other more popular leadership measures.

Context is Key

Context is the ability to place one's words and actions in the proper frame of reference, evaluating their relevance, propriety and impact. It is a cost-benefit analysis of considerable importance. One must weigh what one has to say or do against the possible fallout of those words or actions. The shrewd leader is the one who often realizes that just because he or she wants to make some point, this does not mean that said point's value outweighs its potential harm.

If one is to be an effective leader, one must be able to effectively and efficiently realize that words and actions do not land from space in a vacuum but, rather, enter the scene surrounded by circumstances and people that shade, spin or reflect on those words and actions. Suppose that you are discussing your future goals at a job interview. Telling an interviewer that you hope to be his boss in five years may be an honest goal, but the context of this assertion within a job interview may be the kiss of death to your job prospects. You may later argue that your words were taken out of context, but anyone with a brain knows that careful thought and sound judgment renders being taken out of context a rarity rather than a rule. In brief, give me someone who is frequently taken "out of context" and I will show you someone whose brain often does not fully realize the impact of what he or she is saying or doing.

Intimately associated with context and, in a very real sense, implied in what context means, is the notion of timing.

Timing is Everything

Although not always, a key factor in context is timing, or the ability to effectively and intelligently say or do the right thing at the right time. What may have been witty or funny last week may be inappropriate or crude today. The lost opportunity to score wit points does not therefore permit one to jam that wit effort into any subsequent situation where the attempt may be ill-timed.

Criticizing military programs on Veterans' Day or Memorial Day is an example of poor timing skills.

Making those same points at another time demonstrates smart leadership flexibility.

Too many people, including politicians and leaders, arrogantly act as if time is meant to serve them. This is a foolish delusion because, most of the time, we are servants to the clock, the calendar and whatever other form of timing may be available to us.

A Powerful One-Two Punch

Politicians love to tell us the hundred reasons why they should be at the steering wheel of our nation, ready to take that infamous 3 a.m. call. Regardless of their words and claims, however, one must ask oneself if opening one's big mouth in the wrong place and at the wrong time is an attractive and helpful trait in a supposed leader. After all, if I cannot even handle my mouth correctly, how can I be expected to run the nation anywhere but down?

A wise man once said that the planned spontaneity is the sign of shrewd politics. I would add that public indiscretion is the sign of insincerity, manipulation and a lack of tact. Hence, we should be bothered by Obama's "bitter clutching" and Hillary's recent "RFK assassination" comments. In the first instance, Obama was caught commenting on one of the very groups he needs to woo for success. In the second instance, Hillary inexplicably created the impression that she was justifying staying in the race with the possibility that Obama could be killed, leaving Democrats with no nominee.

Even if, as we assume, that Hillary meant nothing of the kind, the mere fact that she would not have realized what the comment might sound like and effectively weighed the benefit of just keeping her mouth shut is, in and of itself, a damning indictment of her common sense, context and timing.

Conclusion

While it may be so that good luck is being at the right place at the right time, we must recall that we make our own luck through wise, effective and efficient planning and proactive control of our words and actions.

Suppose you were a member of a neighborhood organization and the leader of that group made a joke about deceased people the day after one of the members passed away or waxed poetic about her ability to diet when speaking to a group of heavy-set people. While that person's comments might be interesting at some level, one must wonder if anyone stupid enough to make them should be a leader at all. In view of the famous wartime comment that a slip of the lip could sink a ship, it is no wonder that we have a sunken fleet of common sense surrounding us this election cycle.