As a first post to kick start the leadership experiment and in acknowledgement of the Special Sarah Palin Edition of Dan's Leadership Development Carnival, I thought I'd start with the VP candidate herself.
With good reason, Sarah needs no introduction, so I'll cut straight to the thoughts on leadership.
Table 1 - A breakdown of the 10 articles from Google blog search and their respective quadrants.
| Self Awareness | Relationships |
| 4 | 1 |
| Culture | Business and Social Systems |
| 2 | 3 |
As above, there is a reasonable balance across the 10 articles. Its not much of a surprise that self awareness is the highest scoring with 4, given the current fashion for concentrating on the personalities of politicans over and above their policies i.e. the systems quadrant and the fact that Sarah Palin has had something of a baptism of fire.
The systems quadrant shows 3 articles which is an acknowledgement of some political and policy analysis. Culture has 2 articles but with there being little known about her position and values, this is of no surprise. Finally, the relationships quadrant talks about her relationship with the local librarian as a proxy for a wider political stance.
In light of recent events and that Sarah Palin is something of an unknown quantity, the commentary on her leadership is of little surprise. As the election date moves closer and its outcome becomes a reality, it will be interesting to see if coverage of her changes. Regardless of the outcome, I'd guess that any analysis incorporating hindsight will, in simple terms, look like this.
| Self Awareness | Relationships |
| Her personality | How she works with people, journalists and other 'players' |
| Culture | Business and Social Systems |
| Her values, moral compass and cultural references | Political stance, campaign execution, efficiency of operations |
It will be interesting to revisit these thoughts in the coming months!
The remainder of this note details each of the 10 articles and relevant extracts.
Self Awareness
Blogs About Sarah Palin: Who’s For Her, Who’s Against?
Sarah Palin is the first woman ever to run on the U.S. Republican party presidential ticket... But what are the underlying causes for all the Palin talk? Why the fuss? Is it because blogs may actually be responsible for John McCain’s selection of Palin as his running mate? Is it because Palin came seemingly out of nowhere to get picked ahead of several other contenders?
I haven’t been sitting over here at Chez Coma busting out on Sarah Palin, who I still think has little experience to take on what could be the most important office in recent history. (And, of course, hanging out with carnies and cool people, living my life the way I want to.) No, but I also want to say that that Gov. Palin’s actions aren’t lining up with her words. I realize that every government official gets a per diem. I’ve no problem with that when It’s company business and running a state is a company.
Vandalizing Sarah Palin’s Wikipedia page
William Beutler investigates.
I’m not trying to hate. I don’t know Sarah Palin, so I can’t really dislike her. I mean, they said she was a pitbull, but 2 husbands and my father said tell same of me. (2 were boasting, 1 complaining). I have no beef with women being barracudas and sharks. Its a tough world. But you know, I’m irritated. I dislike being irritated because deep down in my core, I am a peaceloving placid sort of person. Just that my sense of justice and fairness sometimes keep me from being able to sit quietly and enjoy life.
Relationships
The Answer to Sarah Palin’s Rhetorical Question: Book Burning
Sarah Palin’s defense for twice asking the Wasilla City Librarian, Mary Ellen Emmons, about removing ‘certain’ books’ from the library was simply this: “It was just a rhetorical question,” the implication being, ”Sweet Lord, no! I would never ask the librarian to burn books!”
Systems
The Sarah Palin Distraction: UPDATED
The point is that Palin, and the circus she’s brought to town, are simply a bountiful collection of small lies deliberately designed to distract the country from one big truth: the havoc that George Bush and the Republican Party have wrought, and that John McCain is committed to continuing.
Watch Out, Russia: Sarah Palin is Coming!
Now that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is running for vice president, and the more accommodating members of the conservative commentariat have moved the goal posts on what constitutes foreign policy experience, it appears that both the Marine and I were unwittingly on the front lines of an epochal geopolitical struggle. I guess the Alaskan-Russian front was more exciting than I remember it being--I mostly recall seeing a lot of whales.
The Truth & Nothing But The Truth About Sarah Palin
I've taken the time to compile some relevant facts that will set the record straight on the governor's positions as well as the motivations for her selection by John McCain. In the interest of efficiency, I've condensed the issues into a list of ten factoids.
Culture
Sarah Palin brings ‘Palin mania’ as McCain woos small town USA
“We went right from the convention to small town USA,” she said. “It’s true that they grow good people, people who are working hard for America. You love your country in good times and bad and you’re always proud to be Americans.” The self-described “hockey mom” wooed her peers, holding up a Detroit Red Wings hockey shirt and describing how her son Track, now a soldier soon to deploy to Iraq, once played for a local team. “Michigan, you took care of my boy and now that boy is serving in the US Army and he’s going to take care of you.”
Republican strategists have made it clear that the GOP's only chance to win is by reframing the election as a battle of images. And right now, Palin is the pinup queen in that war. She's feisty, she's a mom, she's from a frontier state, she guns down wolves from the air, she's a devout Evangelical, she poses as a reformer, and she insults the Washington elites.
