I recently had lunch with Bill Clinton. And despite the fact that there were 400 other people there, and I was at a table center-back instead of center-front, I think we had a pretty great time.

Clinton was in Boston to deliver the keynote address at a gathering called “The Looming Crisis: Can we Act in Time?” Put on as part of Kennedy

School Dean David T. Ellwood’s Initiative on Acting in Time, the 2-day conference examined “critical long-term challenges – from climate change to natural disasters to nuclear proliferation – where action might make an enormous difference, but where governments, nations, and communities seem unable or unwilling to act, even when action will almost certainly be less costly and more effective than delay”.

Clinton was amazing. Speaking extemporaneously for more than an hour, he talked about the essential components of leadership in an ever-changing world.

Speaking with candor, and without need to be politically correct, he outlined the two things that most leaders do, and a third thing that most leaders don’t do, but MUST do in order to Act in Time; Lead based on promises, Lead based on “what’s happening”, and Lead based on “what could happen”.

It got me thinking — and believe me, I’m no Clinton — but I do have some thoughts about what we need from leaders and how it relates to The Social Age.

Lead based on promises.
In the world of electoral politics, officials are put in office based on the vision that they have painted for the electorate. A crucial part of leadership (especially from the seat of the presidency) is to pursue the agenda that was promised as part of the campaign. Much of a president’s success is reflected in his ability to deliver on those promises. It is this vision and leadership that bolsters attitudes and gives the people confidence in their leader and hopes for their future.

Lead based on “what is happening”.
Most leaders have great intention when they enter office — particularly in regard to aforementioned “promises” made during the campaign. Unfortunately, day-to-day “happenings” constant divert the leader’s attention. Distracted by crises at home and abroad, personal and professional, the leader often doesn’t have the time or bandwidth to pursue their promised agenda. This moment-to-moment form of management creates a void of vision and dearth of true leadership.

Lead based on “what could happen”.
Most leaders are so occupied with leading through “what’s happening” that they never even consider “what could happen”. Faced with day-to-day decisions and the constant re-shuffling of priorities, if a leader can even pursue some of his agenda, he is lucky. Thinking about the future is a luxury. But this is, perhaps, the most important part of leadership. For if there is no focus on “what could happen”, there is no planning NOW for issues that could happen THEN. The issue of climate crises is a great example of this. Though only recently part of the American gestalt, the Clinton/Gore White House began promoting environmental sensitivity as part of their policy-making decisions in the 1990s, including Gore’s symbolic signature to the Kyoto Protocol (unfortunately, the Senate never ratified it).

Leadership in The Social Age
Perhaps the most instructive lesson in all of this is that leadership in The Social Age is going to depend heavily on this ability to look forward. Leading for today, with a quarter-to-quarter, election-to-election mentality is no longer going to cut it. People want long-term solutions and are showing with the votes and wallets that they are interested in investing today for a better tomorrow. I’d never thought about it in the terms put forth by our former president, but it makes a ton of sense to me now.

(photo by Birgit Rabl)