it is a testament to his character and value as a person that he fought it out to the end. He continued the rhetoric and continued the battle right up to the last minute. With the election result as dramatic as it was there was no way that he could have avoided kn owing about the inevitable.
And the same goes for his team. Senator Lindsey Graham who remains at his side, Senator Joe Lieberman who stayed with him throughout and even the Governor Sarah Palin who waited until a week after the campaign to break ranks and start answering back her critics.
Because regardless of political viewpoints, this sort of thing takes character. Character that is not taught it is learned and springs from our internal belief systems.
At the same time as these few were heroically facing their certain doom, others were jumping ship.
Republican Gov. William Weld of Massachusetts and former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson of Minnesota supporting President Elect Obama in the last week of the election were notable. So too were the reports of resumes streaming out of his own campaign staff.
Were they expressing their true views, and finally they felt liberated to state their feelings. No, they were trying to attach themselves to a winer. Period! (As Tom Peters says)
They would not have done so if the election was going differently.
It's all about character
Its not valor that makes people jump ship in the dying moments. It's cowardice. I refuse to hire people who left senior roles in failing projects. They have already proved their value as fair-weather friends and I wouldn't want to trust them with protecting my back in times of trouble.Should the workers of GM or Chrysler try to get out while the going is good? Absolutely! Its all about survival for them.
I have worked on failing projects or companies during the dying days and for me it was like working for the Nazi party. Everything was going so well then suddenly we lost the war!! (How did that happen??) If you are a powerless member of a greater team or company, then take your opportunities where you find them
But should the board members? No way. They had their chance to make changes, they are part of the problem, they should have the valor to face the consequences of their decisions.
Fail, learn and move forward; not fail run away and blame everybody else. You can tell a lot about a persons character by their history.
