President Biden & Elon Musk

The past two weeks we have witnessed competing styles of leadership in the actions of President Biden and CEO Elon Musk, and every observer got a clear view of why career politicians are needed in government and career entrepreneurs aren’t needed anywhere near government.

President Biden led the democratic party through the most successful midterm outcomes for the party in close to a hundred years, winning five governorships and extending democratic control of the Senate, and leaving the House close enough to be able to continue implementing his and VP Harris’ agenda over the next two years.

Meanwhile Elon Musk has overseen one of the worst corporate takeovers in modern history. It is so bad that his $46b purchase of Twitter is looking more disastrous by the hour and many financial and technology company experts are publically speculating on when the popular App will shut down.

Leadership for politicians include listening to constituents, giving an audience to all levels of supporters from passionate to transactional, and being available to regular people, small donors and yes, large donors and special interests. Political leadership also include giving an audience to non-supporters because even non-supporters are constituents, voters, and citizens.

Another facet of political leadership is the understanding and awareness of when to lead and when to step back, when to be loud, and when to allow the Vice President to step in.

And when to acknowledge that someone else is the best person to speak and lead on a particular issue, including subject matter expert cabinet members who were hired for their expertise, and not for their relationships with large donors or family members.

President Biden knew when and what to delegate when he asked VP Harris to criss-cross the nation talking about women’s rights, addressing students and younger voters, and to be the face and voice of abortion rights.

Leading by fair is more powerful and lasting than leading by fear. President Biden understands that as did President Obama before him. It was quite the opposite with Trump, of course, who as a failed president and executive, continues to threaten former staff and supporters.