What to Ask America's Next Leader
More than 200 leaders from across the country
offer questions for McCain and Obama

Cambridge, MA —In response to Americans’ growing worries about the quality of the nation’s leadership, Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership (CPL), in association with The Ken Blanchard Companies, recently convened a diverse group of more than 200 people to develop questions to help voters better evaluate the presidential candidates’ leadership capabilities.

“As Americans look toward the general election in November,” said CPL director David Gergen, “the question that is increasingly important is not who will win—as important as that is—but whether the winner can govern. What kind of leader would John McCain be? What kind of leader would Barack Obama be? It is enormously important for voters to know in advance, and that’s why we brought together a group of leadership scholars and practitioners to ask: what questions should be posed to these candidates about their leadership?”

“This is quite possibly the most important presidential election in the United States since Franklin Roosevelt swept into office in 1932,” Gergen continued. “Historians say he was one of our best. The question in this election is whether we can find another leader who can govern as well.”

Americans are alarmed about the quality of their current leaders and concerned about the country’s future. As CPL reported in the National Leadership Index 2007 (NLI), more than three-quarters of those surveyed believe there is a leadership crisis in this country.

The NLI also revealed that Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the media’s campaign coverage. A remarkable 88 percent of those surveyed strongly or somewhat agreed that the news media focuses too much on trivial rather than important issues. Sixty-four percent said they do not trust the media’s coverage of the most important aspects of the presidential campaign.

“Americans are engaging with this presidential election with an intensity not seen in decades, and seeking answers about the leadership abilities of our elected officers,” noted Ken Blanchard, leadership and management consultant to CEOs.

Gergen added, “The media can play a vital role in helping us find out in advance just what kind of leader John McCain and Barack Obama will be.”

To view the complete list of proposed questions and the products of “Leadership and the Next Presidency” visit: www.howyoulead.org. CPL, The Ken Blanchard Companies, and the participants at this gathering invite all Americans to help disseminate these questions, add their own thoughts and questions, and urge the two presidential candidates to answer them.

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