On The Pipeline Deal The President Voted 'Present' ... Again

The president's excuse for disapproving the Canadian pipeline shows poor leadership skills. It's a teachable moment in which to describe what comprises good leadership skills regarding decision-making and doing what's best for the entity for whom you work.

Competent leaders keep an eye on key areas affecting a company's future so they can either take advantage of an opportunity before it evaporates or be properly prepared to say no to an opportunity rather than risk rushing into something that will most likely be bad for the entity. Note that I said properly prepared. The more important an area is to the entity's future, the bettter prepared competent leaders are to make a decision before any important deadlines occur after which the opportunity will evaporate.

Would you say that energy is one of our most important issues? President Obama claims it is. He has said so in pretty much every speech he's given as president or as a president candidate. It's important to the future of our energy supplies, to manufacturing, to our economy, and to national security, right? Problem is, after 3 years of evaluating the pipeline's impacts, President Obama is still not done getting information about its environmental impacts. Or so he claims.

A competent leader would have made sure he/she found out all he/she needed to know before Canada's deadline passed. It's irrational to think we couldn't have found out the answers to all relevant questions within three years. We've won world wars in less time and the people in this administration claim to be experts on the environment. Do you really think that this pipeline and its effects on the environment is as complex as winning those world wars? The president has a literal army of self-proclaimed experts looking into the environment issues, including thousands in the private and not-for-profit sectors and they can't figure out the impacts in approximately the time it took to win world wars?

So, either he and his administration are nowhere near as competent on environmental issues as they claim or his pipeline decision is strictly political. Neither answer ought to be acceptable to our citizens. This is too important an issue not to be prepared to make a decision by a deadline we knew has been coming for three years.

Real leaders take responsibility to make sure they're ready to make a decision on important issues based on merit (pros/cons) by deadlines beyond which a decision becomes moot. Real leaders find a way to be ready by deadlines in order to do the right thing for those for whom they work. Not being ready to make a decision is an abdication of responsibility. President Obama really didn't make a decision. In effect, he voted 'present' ... again.

So, we're going to let a very important opportunity pass that we may never get back because he didn't make sure that he knew enough to make a decision yet based on merit (pros/cons). Unacceptable sir. It's your job(!) to become ready. Making excuses for why you weren't ready is weak and irresponsible. You chose the worst of three options ... yes, for specific merit-based reasons, no, for specific merit-based reasons or I don't know yet. This is as weak as saying you didn't turn in your homework because the dog ate it. You knew when it was due. It was your responsibility to get it done on time.