Trompenaars Hampden-Turner The Leader who ... - THT Consulting

Trompenaars Hampden-Turner The Leader who reconcilesCulture for Businessspent vast sums, so he reminds us that these were small donations from hundreds of thousands of peopledonating over the Internet. Of his campaign he said…“It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat toknock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized andproved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people hasnot perished from the Earth.”This is your victory.”Once again he turns around the praise converging upon him, but does so in a way that evokesAbraham Lincoln, the Republican from Illinois where he is speaking, the man who freed the slaves. Thevalues of republicanism, democracy, slavery-become-freedom, the battle of Gettysburg and the victory of theUnion are all invoked. Great orators speak in codes. They never know quite how much their audienceknows, how alert and intelligent are the people out there.If they spell things out specifically, there is a danger of insulting your audiences’ intelligence. Thereis also the risk of stirring up new divisions if everyone knows you are referring to a battle. “A governmentby the people, for the people….shall not perish” is, of course, the Gettysburg address by Lincoln but there isa palpable thrill in knowing this, as if Obama was speaking to you personally in a language you bothunderstand.Coded language is often abused. “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” makes bigots believe theyare not alone. The speaker hates those people too, but an audience can only participate in a speech if itsdiscernment is appreciated. It was James McGregor Burns, who spoke of FDR as a transformational leader,who transformed and was transformed by those who responded to him. Can Obama restore America as FDRonce did?“And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me.You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebratetonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, aplanet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraqand the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awakeafter the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or saveenough for their child’s college education.There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet,alliances to repair.All materials © Trompenaars Hampden-Turner 2009 page 4www.thtconsulting.com