If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you read the 8 Lessons of Leadership from Nelson Mandela in the July 21st issue of Time Magazine (page 43). Mandela communicates in reasonable simplicity some great lessons for leaders to remember as you attempt to fully engage and motivate your people moment by moment each day.

His first lesson is, Courage is not the absence of fear - it’s inspiring others to move beyond it.

What a great lesson for how to achieve Success With People in business… and for our American presidential candidates. I was on KMAJ-AM with Deb Goodrich in Topeka, Kansas this morning and then Stew Peter’s We The People show on KCUE-AM 1250 in Bluff County Minnesota to discuss the rising concern in America of whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be good leaders.

Let’s keep it simple. Here are two key indicators of how they will perform if elected:

1. Look at their past performance record to predict their future performance. McCain has worked for smaller government, against earmarks, balanced budgets and worked with Democrats / anyone else to resolve problems. Obama has the highest liberal voting record in the Senate - he supports bigger government, higher taxes and expanding the government to solve all our problems.
2. Watch for who they pick as their vice presidential candidates AND THEN, this is very important, decide whether the vice president will be a poser - looks good, does nothing of significance - or a real team member who will accept part of the responsibility for our nation’s success during the next 4 years.

Get involved in our political process. Study the issues and the candidates. Write letters/emails. Attend events. Be heard.