Learning from George Washington's Leadership

A business school professor assesses the first President's leadership style—and how the current candidates stack up

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Mark McNeilly
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

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The successful war hero was known among his peers to ask his top advisers for advice and suggestions on how to proceed. Then he would analyze the information and make the final decision. It sounds like a modern approach, doesn't it? Well, actually it was the way George Washington, a general and the first U.S. President, worked as a leader. And it was among the reasons he was able to defeat the British Army to win the Revolutionary War.

Washington's management style is the subject of a new book by Mark McNeilly, associate professor of marketing at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's Kenan-Flagler Business School. George Washington and the Art of Business: The Leadership Principles of America's First Commander-in-Chief (Oxford University Press, 2008) examines Washington's career, including his defeats and how he learned from them to build the foundation for modern America.

McNeilly, who is the executive director for branding and marketing strategy at Lenovo (LNVGY) and has served as an infantry captain in the Army National Guard, recently discussed the book with BusinessWeek reporter Francesca Di Meglio. Naturally, the conversation turned to the current crop of Presidential candidates and how they stack up, leadership style-wise, with the man whose picture is on the dollar bill.

McNeilly points out that his views are his alone and do not represent those of the university.

What do you think made George Washington a successful President?

His Presidency was somewhat tough. Like any President, he didn't have as much control over everything that he would have liked to have. It really came down to his integrity, character, and moral courage. He relied a lot on the fact that throughout his whole life, he always put the country first. People could trust him to stand above the politics, stand above the fray, and keep the interests of the country in mind. One of the things Washington very much did not want to see was the formation of parties, known as factions at the time. He was hoping very much that the U.S. would not go down that path. Of course, it ended up doing that.

Of the 2008 candidates, who do you think has the qualities most in common with Washington?

If you look at Washington, he has traits like self-discipline, strong character, integrity, and courage. Many of the founding fathers trusted him because of that. If you look at things like self-discipline, strong character, physical and moral courage, and integrity, you probably have to give that piece to McCain. Also, McCain has a strong record of reaching across the aisle to the Democrats to come up with some sort of practical solution and way to move forward.

Washington really had a vision for where the U.S. could go and what it could become, and he had this idea of moving beyond parties. Obama speaks to that a lot. I think it's yet to be proven whether he could implement his vision, given his voting record. He doesn't have the history that McCain does in terms of reaching across the aisle.

Washington was really innovative. People don't know that. He was the father of the American mule, for example. He looked for innovative ways to improve his farm. Obama, in terms of his campaign, has done a lot of innovative things. He's shown the ability to build a winning team. Obama has done a very good job at looking beyond the first few primaries to develop a campaign that was going to go on all the way to the convention.