At the end of his interview with Defense Secretary Gates, David Gregory asked him a throwaway question that I thought ended up being very revealing. After asking him what the major difference was between working for President Bush and President Obama, the Secretary took a long pause and responded thusly:
"President Obama is somewhat more analytical and he makes sure he hears from everybody in the room on an issue, and if they don't speak up he calls on them.
President Bush was interested in hearing different points of view but didn't go out of his way to make sure everybodt spoke if they hadn't spoken up before."
This response really grabbed my attention, and increased my respect for the President significantly. President Obama follows a style of leadership that I truly believe is essential to bringing out really good ideas and, if my former Kellogg professors who've come from high leadership positions are correct, it's the best way to lead a corporation, and, I should think, a country as well.
