May 13th, 2008
Business Lessons from The Obama Campaign
The Obama campaign has proven to be a thing of beauty in terms of; vision, execution, communication, revenue building, leadership and results. Despite heavy critics it has been an almost flawless campaign. From a business perspective, there are lessons included that we should take note. Here is my list.
1 This campaign has a clear vision that is measurable, and has a timeframe to commit to. Many in the business may refer to this as a strategic intent statement. An example often used as a good one is John Kennedy’s, “We will send a man to the moon and return him home safely, by the end of the decade. Everyone knows the mission and the timeframe.
Senator Obama has been very clear that Change and Yes we can are the hallmarks of his campaign. The timeframe is every primary and on to the fall election. Ask any body what does Obama stand for? The majority will say change or yes we can. What is the vision of your company?
2 In election politics, there is no second place. It is either win or lose. At one point Senator Obama won 11 in a row. I knew then it was over. It is critical to have a way to know how well you execute. This usually involves results and a time frame.
3 As we use to say back in the day,” Master of The Rap!” Barack has used outstanding communication skills to set his vision, inspire the public and to overcome critical feedback. As Frank Sinatra would say, “I did it my way!” Barack has done it his way. Classy, by speaking of change, he separate himself through a positive agenda. Many felt he should go negative but he stood firm in his belief, which reinforced his vision of change.
4 Barack has changed the game of fund raising and influence by raising unheard sums of money. He used the internet and small donors. He has people interested in politics for the very first time All of the previous 3 reasons contributed to point 4.
5. Barack’s leadership has made the people around him better. Everyone is on board and having fun. Other campaigns have bickering and some are broke. Barack has excelled in this area and it is obvious.
Barack has the results and will win the nomination. He has branded himself well and his inner circle carries and sells the brand well. He is a renaissance Black leader and a remarkable politician. Let me know your thought and if I missed much. Keep Hope Alive.
May 15th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Awesome post and great observations! I tend to agree with your assessment, Barack has proven himself to be the man with a vision and mission.
I only have one issue with Barack and that is while watching him during debates the one (and ONLY) thing that Hillary has (She’s learned and perfected this through years of practice) that Barack doesn’t have ( YET) is an eloquent, smooth and seamless way of talking , especially when under pressure. I have noticed that Barack tends to rush and say something inappropriate or he will stutter and stammer until he collects his thoughts and then he answers.
Hillary has mastered a very smooth dialect even when she is talking crap (which she usually is).
I have no doubt that as Barack steps further into his destiny, even this small speech problem will be worked out!
May 16th, 2008 at 2:28 am
Tom Joyner pointed out that another we must learn is how little money has been spent with Black vendors by both campaigns, especially media buys.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Regina, thanks for your insightful point. Hillary has won some debates and her articulation has grown to the point where she is smooth now.Barack has learned a lot and will grow as well.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Mark, your point gives us something to ponder, the top political advisors for both campaigns are white and theri contacts are more than likely the same. Tom Jointer should have gotten a lot of political add money given the size of his audience. Thanks for the comment
May 16th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
As a friend and associate of Obama for over 20 years, I TOO am guilty of not holding him accountable to economics of his campaign. They took full advatnage of not having to invest in Black media since they would be providing ongoing coverage anyway.
May 16th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Mark, I agree, he is in a position to help black business. Let’s get him elected and then point out opportunties for accountable deeds.Thanks again for bringing this up.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
The primaries are indeed a life changing journey, I’ve seen both candidates mature over the past four months, Obama will be the winner because he does not pander to the masses the way Hillary did.
She attacked MoveOn.org, that’s the moment I understood that she will be spineless against the republicans if she became president.
May 19th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I really hope we are collectively learning something from this, for in some areas we have come no further since I was on Rev. Jackson’s staff in 1988.
We win victories for evrybody else to take advantage of but us. We now have a majority Democratic Congress, yet other groups are taking more advantage of government resources while our communities are still going to hell.
More Black men are STILL going to jail than college 20 years later?? What the hell are we doing while others communities are building up legitimate econmies for their people while far too many of our people are still looking to an illegal economy as their means of income, and thus continuing to fill the criminal justice system and teen deaths and gang crimes.