tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/57 2009-11-23T19:23:32Z Steven Pearlstein and Raju Narisetti join executives, leadership experts and national leaders to explore how leadership is shaping the news. Join the conversation at On Leadership. Movable Type 4.2-en tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/panelists//58.15619 2009-11-23T20:23:47Z 2009-11-23T20:40:43Z

The president should fill sought-after state-dinner seats with folks who aren't on his payroll - above all, members of Congress, governors, pundits and journalists, and lots and lots of big-time campaign financiers.

Ken Adelman who is important - those invited are on the A-List of Washington's socialite "plum book" - and what is important - cellist Pablo Casals for the Kennedys and Country & Western music for the Bushes. Beyond that, however, relationships are heightened and debts are deepened by State Dinner invitations. That's more critical, since personal relationships are central to achieving results in politics, as in most endeavors of life. House Speaker Sam Rayburn once quipped that anyone who couldn't size up another person in five minutes "doesn't belong in my profession." That clueless fellow probably doesn't belong in many other professions, either. That's why Shakespeare's Henry Vth - who learned how to size people up from the master, Falstaff, while hanging around the Eastcheap Tavern - became a far more successful ruler than was his father, a cold calculating type who lacked such guidance and experience. I've long wondered why the Protocol Office fills so many precious seats with top State and Defense Department officials. They're all fine folks, dedicated and able. But a president doesn't need to woo them. After all, they work for him. Rather, he needs to fill those most sought-after seats with folks who can help him a lot, but aren't on his payroll - above all, members of Congress, governors, pundits and journalists, and lots and lots of big-time campaign financiers. They're the ones who provide the milk of American politics. Around this core group - those the president needs to get his next monument built for a successful administration - I'd sprinkle a (very) few Cabinet officers and several stars from sports and movies, television and literature, to give the evening the glitter it deserves. It's still the best ticket in town. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/panelists//58.15618 2009-11-23T20:15:55Z 2009-11-23T20:40:03Z

The state dinner is a real opportunity for the president to strengthen a vitally important relationship with India.

Slade Gorton The impact of the state dinner will be measured (with great difficulty) by the impression it leaves with the guest of honor. In almost every case, that impression will be a positive one, and it should leave the honoree with a more favorable view of both the president and of the country. That it will have a major substantive effect on policy is doubtful, but it should make future communication easier. The internal pressure on the honoree to say nice things is profound; look at the way in which President Obama is felt to have spoken about China in too accommodating a fashion in Asia last week, under circumstances less honorific than a state dinner in the White House. This is a real opportunity for the president to strengthen a vitally important relationship with India. tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/panelists//58.15617 2009-11-23T20:07:31Z 2009-11-23T20:39:28Z

Certainly the symbolic gestures of leadership are important, but if a leader's public signals and private actions conflict -- game over.

Beth A. Brooke Certainly the symbolic gestures of leadership are important. A big part of any leader's job is the diplomacy he or she exercises in engaging with various stakeholders, the goal being to understand the stakeholder's wants, needs and agenda. Diplomacy is an art, which is where symbolic gestures come in to play. On the global stage of diplomacy, symbolic gestures are even more important and less forgiving. They indicate not only an art of leadership but a respect for and understanding of cultures. Even more importantly they indicate a level of empathy and caring about the stakeholder's wants, needs, and expectations. Great leaders understand the art of diplomacy and use it more naturally and effectively than others. In the 21st century, with the command-and-control style of leadership gone, diplomatic leadership defines the better leaders, and symbolic gestures are a part of that. However, the 21st century brings with it a new twist. Our younger generations want to know who is invited to the leader's casual, private dinner. They are continually on a quest for authenticity. They want to know that the symbolic gestures at the comparable State Dinners of any leader align with the values demonstrated at the casual, private dinner. For any leaders, there's the rub. If public and private behavior don't align: game over, if not now, then sometime later. If they do align, and align naturally, the followers will trust, respect, and follow more easily, even when not inclined to agree. tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/panelists//58.15614 2009-11-23T19:03:28Z 2009-11-23T19:14:53Z

If anything, the Obama presidency has been so focused on symbolic conduct that sometimes symbols have become, or seemed to become, a substitute for policy.

Howard Gardner the case of the arrest of Henry Lewis Gates this past summer; or his condescending "you're likable enough" remark and gesture to Hillary Clinton during one presidential debate for the presidential debate. If anything, the Obama presidency has been so focused on symbolic conduct that sometimes symbols have become, or seemed to become, a substitute for policy. Does he bow to foreign leaders and, if so, how much? Does he travel to all the right spots, and if so, for what reason(s)? If I were advising the president, I would stress that symbolic conduct can only go so far, that he should not spend much time thinking or worrying about it, and that instead he has to emphasize his concern with substance above all else. When he announces his policy on Afghanistan, he needs to go to extra lengths to explain why he took so much time, the consequences of a wrong strategic choice and on what rationale he based his final decision. In so doing, he should emphasize the difference from Bush-era "shoot first" policies. Put differently, given the current emphasis in the blogosphere on the hermeneutics of symbolic conduct, the American and the world public need to be reminded that, at the end of the day, it is substance and not symbolism which makes the crucial difference.]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/leadership/panelists//58.15611 2009-11-23T19:00:50Z 2009-11-23T19:14:05Z

State dinners can help to bring people together but they tend to be more social occasions and are more about show than substance.

David Walker Leadership is about achieving real results with and through others. State dinners can help to bring people together but they tend to be more social occasions and are more about show than substance. The real work is done in private meetings that precede and coincide with official state visits.