Extreme Ownership And The GOP
A few years ago I read a book called Extreme Ownership. The premise of the book is that to be a great leader, one must take responsibility, not only for things under your direct control, but for everything that could affect your success. For example, if something outside your control could derail your mission, you build contingencies into your plan to take those things into account. Leaders practicing extreme ownership therefore take responsibility for the failure of the mission, even if the blame could reasonably be placed with someone else. They don’t make excuses for failure and they don’t blame others when things go wrong.
These days, this type of leadership is in short supply, especially in politics. No political consultant or advisor would ever suggest a political leader accept responsibility for something that went wrong. Making excuses and blaming others is common place. Our current political culture doesn’t encourage political leaders to take ownership over much of anything.
Think about what this means for the Georgia Republican Party. On November 3rd, while it was clear Trump likely lost the Presidency, the GOP had avoided the predicted blowout, had made gains in the U.S. Congress and had the chance to maintain control of the U.S. Senate. All things considered, not a bad position to be in. Given the events of the past three months, is the GOP in better or worse shape now? While Pelosi has a slim margin in the House, Chuck Schumer is Majority Leader, and Donald Trump returned to Mara Lago after being impeached by Congress a second time while his most loyal supporters talk of forming a third party.
Has any Republican leader taken extreme ownership for what has transpired and attempted to put forward a plan to fix it? Or has the blame game and excuse making continued?
The Georgia Republican Party is about to begin it’s convention process and select party leaders to serve through the next election cycle. I’ll vote for (if they exist) candidates who don’t blame a “stolen election,” the media, Never-Trumpers, or RINOs for the failures we witnessed on November 3rd and January 5th, but instead take ownership by charting a path forward. The GOP can win again in 2022, but only if it takes extreme ownership of the situation and stops makes excuses for failure.
