Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Analysis suggest Clinton as Obama VP

Interesting article and link at the bottom for more information.

LONDON, June 11/PRNewswire/ -- Barack Obama may need Hillary Clinton as his running mate to address some of the weaknesses in his leadership behaviour - according to an analysis by UK-based leadership development consultancy, the Centre for High Performance Development (CPHD).

The leadership study undertaken by CHPD looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Obama, Clinton and McCain. Each candidate is assessed against the 11 High Performance Behaviours (HPBs) that are key to successful leadership in a business context.

While Obama scores well on building confidence and brilliant presentation, Clinton's strengths are empathy with people's concerns, which has helped build her broad front support, and her determined proactivity to overcome obstacles.

Russell Deathridge, an expert in the HPBs at CHPD, summarises what the analysis found: "Ignoring the politics of the situation, the most effective working team for a president and vice-president is for them to have complementary strengths in terms of leadership behaviours, and that's certainly the case for Obama and Clinton."

"In terms of the competition between Obama and McCain, there are some interesting dynamics in their leadership behaviours. While both have 'building confidence' as a strength, how they communicate this confidence to the electorate is very different; Obama does well in big, stadium-style rallies, McCain prefers the more intimate town meetings. It will be interesting to see what the electorate responds to going forward."

Deathridge also offers some leadership tips for a future president. These include advice for Clinton to promote talent in her team to balance Bill's influence; Obama should now discuss potential ideas for a first term and McCain must avoid limiting his options out of prejudice and look at the pros and cons of seemingly unacceptable ideas.

For the full analysis of strengths and weaknesses for each candidate, including tips on how to address respective weaknesses going forward, visit CHPD.

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