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“Cool Coming Off As Cold” – Coaching Obama

I have been discussing the idea of the Perception Gap for a while now. Introverts often are misunderstood and considered aloof or disengaged when they don’t exude warmth.  Newsweek’s writer Jacob Weisberg,  had an interesting take on President Obama’s temperament in the piece, Cool Coming Off As Cold and how this perception is becoming an issue for our President.

Weisberg writes, “….so while many people deeply admire him, few come away from any encounter feeling closer to him. He’s not warm, loyal, or deeply involved with others. His most fervent enthusiasts tend to express affection more for the ideas he represents—America transcending its racial history, a fairer society, rational decision making—than for the man himself.

and, he adds….”For a politician, emotional self-sufficiency is both asset and liability. On the positive side, it supports Obama’s rationalism, his level-headedness in crisis, and his dispassionate decision making. On the negative, it can read as cold, aloof, or arrogant. It’s healthy that Obama doesn’t need the roar of the crowd for validation. It’s a problem that the crowd seems to need more from him than he is able to provide.”
Do you think our President needs to make some changes in his style  to connect more with the masses? If so, what would you coach him to do differently?
I’ll start: How about getting rid of the teleprompter?



-- For quick access to a few recent posts:
When I point to well known introverted leaders, Warren Buffett is at the top of my list. One of the richest men in the world seems the most grounded to me. I love his practical approach to life. I laugh at his jokes. The successful introverted leaders I know make a point of nurturing this human side and WB is the best.
In this interview, Buffet shares a lesson he learned

I would guess that millions of dollars have been spent this past year on time management books and training programs. We all seem to want to know the answer to managing the chaos around us. Continue reading the rest of this article...

“Much of my work as a virtual assistant involves social media these

days. Initially, this was much easier for me to handle as an

(extreme) introvert. Strangely enough, I find that as friend counts

climb and the volume of online communication grows, I react with the

same sense of overwhelm, stress and exhaustion as I do to live or

phone communications. Have you heard this from others?”, she asks. Continue reading the rest of this article...

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