The Boss Who Micromanages

No one wants to work for a boss who micromanages everything. You receive the assignment; you come up with your plan to get the job done, and the next thing you know he or she is breathing down your neck, second-guessing what you're doing. If you're like most people, you're ready to push the assignment back across the desk and say, "You do it."

What the press -- and the public via the Internet -- are doing to President Obama looks to me like "micromanaging." Saturday morning I was struck by several news pieces concerning President Obama's one-day trip to Copenhagen in pursuit of the Olympics for his hometown and for his country. The first was a comment from President Obama about the fact that Chicago was not chosen. His remarks were along the line of "you can play a great game but it doesn't mean you always win." What a role model!

But the majority of coverage involved pundits from both parties talking about whether Obama should have taken time out of his schedule to travel to Copenhagen. The discussion always seems to revolve around that fact that if only he had stayed home, he could have "gotten the health care bill written ..." or "solved" Afghanistan.

The president answers to the American people, but I don't recall this type of outcry when President Bush got on the plane to go to Crawford, Texas. Even Democrats knew the White House essentially moved with him so work could progress. Where's that element of trust with this White House? Except for the brief period when President Obama was off the plane and talking to Olympic officials, he probably read, talked to advisers, and possibly caught a badly needed nap. What are we complaining about?

When we elect our officials, we need to express our feelings about the big picture -- how we feel on health care, Afghanistan, abortion, the status of immigrants and anything else that has to do with overall direction of our country. How he manages his day really should not be our concern.

The founding fathers did not have to deal with this round-the-clock coverage. There were few daily newspapers, and those that existed were not widely distributed. There was no radio or TV coverage of everything they did, and certainly no citizen reporters who could post on the blogosphere at any time day or night.

The Obama family has given us an admirable family unit that shows they learn the lessons that are important. Early in the campaign Michelle was quoted talking about picking up after Barack -- a typical wifely complaint -- but she quickly realized that was not the quality of comment that should come from a candidate's wife, and she never repeated that type of remark. Think back over other candidates in recent years. How many of them made a mistake and learned from it? Not many, in my recollection.

As you know from reading my posts, I am a strong believer in citizen activism -- voicing one's opinion and volunteering one's time -- but I think there's also a point where we need to give our elected officials some space. Barack Obama willingly took on the hardest job in the land, and while he -- and all our governmental representatives -- want to hear from us as to the general direction of the country, we ought to give them some leeway on day-to-day issues.

We are lucky to have a president who shows no concern about the dangers and difficulties of his job, and just as we would not want our own boss checking his or her watch on Friday afternoon of a long weekend when we're basically "doing a good job," then perhaps we ought to let Obama do the job as he sees fit.

I have no doubt that he is thinking, reading, and talking about the important issues every moment that he's awake. I'm not sure we've seen this type of 24-7 dedication in a very long time.

www.americacomesalive.com

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Comments

[bentenrai]

I believe the president has the required maturity to handle that kind of pressure without cracking up. That's why I voted for him.

[Kate Kelly - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for posting!

[konybvg]

24 hrs a day, i see the pundits trying to micro management the president. Why I love this president is that he is no push over and works in his own pace and with careful deliberation, and that is why these talk show hosts and pundits are screaming louder with fraustration that the president is his own man, Now the news media is looking for another route to micromanage him by coming up with this new strategy "He has not accomplished anything". I guess this new stratagy is to unnerve the administration and President into making rash decisions and doing what they want or make mistakes. In his interview with Brian Williams Obama said he does not listen to all these pundits because he does not learn anything from them.

[Kate Kelly - Huffpost Blogger]

Good point!

[IreneL - Huffpost Blogger]

Great post, Kate!
I think the President would have also been criticized for NOT going to Copenhagen!
Let's give this administration a chance~

Best,
Irene

[AndISay]

I read this because I thought it would be about how to handle a boss who micromanages. But I am delighted that Ms Kelly turned that around to point out that the press is trying to micromanage the President. The press has become like a bullying office tyrant. And some of them have the social skills of children, always yelling instead of reporting. Like anyone, President Obama should be given the chance to sit back and think. Otherwise he gets pulled in this or that direction without having time to contemplate. He doesn't need to be working 24/7. Often times the perfect solution to a problem comes when the mind is at rest. Bravo for this article.

[bellawilfer]

I completely agree! Great post.

[renaissance]

The success or failure of health care legislation has become THE point for supporters of Obama (Huff Post), not the possible effects of the changes to law.
It is now a fight to prop up Obama, and make sure HE DOES NOT LOSE!
All the time you scream about how opponents "just want to make Obama fail", and here you all are just trying to make him succeed, no matter what he may want to do.
Obama supporters are verging on personality worship, idolatry, and are making the ideological and factual debates into a referendum on whether you like the president.
GET OVER IT! This is about the country, NOT Obama!
To hope he succeeds personally, no matter what, is just as bad as what you claim the opposition does...
BEWARE CREEPING STATISM!
DEFEND INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBI­LITY/LIBER­TY!!

[Kate Kelly - Huffpost Blogger]

I appreciate your right to voice your feelings but I'm not certain what this has to do with my post about Obama traveling to Copenhagen.

[rockwood]

Absolutely right, Kate! The lessons learned here are important. You articulated the issue so well... I can't believe what the so-called pundits are saying ... more dissing rather than discussion... more criticism rather than collaboration... let the guy do his job.

[RickO]

Among the most vocal critics of Obama's time management are members of congress who spend the majority of their time fundraising rather than legislating.

[MarieNat]

I read this post and my mouth literally fell open. I have felt this - and not been able to articulate it - for quite sometime. I think there is an additional element not mentioned here, and other factors that I think contribute to the micromanagement of President Obama in particular. But ultimately it's not important that the blogger attributes it to the 24-hour news cycle and I attribute it to something a little more insidious - it's just cool that she put this phenomenon in a context we can all relate to. Good work!

[renaissance]

What is this "additional" "insidious element"??
Would that be...related to color???
Are you hinting at.... Bigotry????
Racism? Ignorance??
The last refuge of racists is to see race everywhere, to filter life through racial identity.

Or, am I wrong, and the insidious element is Socialism?

[Kate Kelly - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for posting! It is very clear that you have a good point...

I do think the fact that there is so much time to fill leads the newspeople to cover minutiae.