Leadership with opposition – Palin and Bauchman screen attendees

If you lead, you will have opposition. How you handle this opposition is, in many ways, the key to effective leadership. 

Recently, at a Republican rally for Michelle Bachmann in Minneapolis, a Democrat was turned away. Perhaps someone should let Bachmann know that, as long as she is in office, she represents all of her constituents. The fact that Sarah Palin, a former Vice Presidental candidate, participated in this divisive rally raises a similar concern.

As a leader, it is never fun facing a crowd that may oppose your policies or beliefs, yet it would hardly be called leading if you did not have to figure out how to engage others towards a unifying outcome. Perhaps that is the shortcoming of those political leaders who are blinded by the catagory called party.

If you take this post as partison, think again. I am as independent as they come. I believe by the age you can run for office, you should be able to think, reason, and feel for yourself.

As a leader, are you allowing the voice of opposition through? And are you speaking to everyone, not just your loyal followers?