Does Sotomayor Have The Effective Leadership Skills Required For The Job?
Shaner on Leadership Tagged conscious leadership, diversity, perspective, Women in Leadership August 11th, 2009The majority says Yes!
Even though the “Senate has affirmed that Judge Sotomayor has the intellect, the temperament, the history, the integrity and the independence of mind to ably serve on our nation’s highest court, ” says Obama, there are a number of people who don’t think so – all Republican. It’s not helpful to set up a Democratic/Republican split – and yet if there weren’t so many Democrats in office, one wonders if she would have been elected. People tune out with these labels and don’t inquire or hear the reasons why a yes or no vote is cast. I found it fascinating to read WHY the Republicans voted the way they did – yes AND no reasons are equally enlightening.
How Republicans Voted For Sotomayor check out the comments to the right of the voting record.
I find it ironic that those who said no did so because they didn’t believe she could uphold the letter of the law and the constitution and/or would try to legislate from the bench – And yet some who said yes did so because they believed the exact opposite.
Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, who voted yes, cited how valuable this process has been – “requiring us to return to inquiring deeply about the qualifications of the nominees and accepting the consequences.”
As with any leader, time will tell how accurate all these assessments are – and it goes to show you two people can be given the same facts, hear the same answers and interpret them in a polar opposite fashion drawing very different conclusions. While the law and this position aspire one to be as objective as possible in decision-making, is being COMPLETELY bias-free a POSSIBLE reality or an ASPIRATION that we can never stop striving for? We only have ourselves to keep each other in check.
Copyright 2009 Sage Leadership Strategies, LLC www.sagelead.com
2 Responses to “Does Sotomayor Have The Effective Leadership Skills Required For The Job?”
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August 12th, 2009 at 7:27 am
Perhaps this view is cynical – but I believe that the qualitative quotes that the politicians offered – in particular, regarding their “no” votes – might say more about them individually (and their individual political calculations, reckoning and assessment of constituency), than reflect any real depth regarding what they really believe about the qualities, capabilities, experience and perspective of now-Justice Sotomayor.
August 14th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
It is a shame that we don’t always trust What a politician says or Why he says it. You may be right that it doesn’t reflect their real beliefs which is why our trust in stewards of the public good is so corrupted. Time for an authentic overhaul.