It occurred to me a few weeks ago, that if I were coaching Hillary she'd win easily, but I didn't really get it until I heard myself say it out loud.It's really true. I know what the crucial ingredient is that she's missing (And Barack seems to have it in abundance) and it's really something we all have (including Hillary) and it's quite easy to express - but only if you know how.
It's one of the key things I do for clients with my coaching and if Hillary asked me to help her with it, I could bring it out of her in minutes (this is not my ego talking). And it would be available every time she speaks. Imagine Hillary making speeches that are as moving as Barack's.
There would be a seismic shift.
I don't know if Barack always had this ability, or if a coach helped him with it, but what I'm talking about is the same quality that Reagan had and Oprah has. It's sometimes called 'charisma' and I used to think it was something only the lucky few possessed. It's not.
You were born with it and so was I.
This is the real reason people flock to Barack's rallies. Maybe they like his message, but his message is not really new. In fact, it's pretty similar to Hillary's message. It's just so much more inspiring when he says it. There's a very specific reason for that.
The reason I'm so confident that this is the crucial ingredient is that Hillary expressed it right before the New Hampshire primary (when rumors of her demise were a bit premature) and the voters immediately swung back her way.
Remember the infamous "crying" scene? Cynics accused her of manufacturing tears to get the sympathy vote, but tears had nothing to do with it. In that one moment, Hillary spoke from the heart about why she wanted to serve. She expressed her passion for making a difference and her lifelong career as a servant leader. She wasn't manufacturing anything. She was expressing her Personal Greatness. New Hampshire voters got it and voted for her overwhelmingly and thereby embarrassed virtually every political pundit in America.
That's Greatness.
The difference between me and the average voter is that I not only feel Greatness, I know what it is, where it comes from and how to elicit it from my clients. It's actually quite easy.
If you're a good coach, you know how to do it, too.
Now the election is complicated, of course. But Hillary's biggest threat is that Barack expresses his Greatness via the spoken word. We don't really know if he expresses it by doing great work, because he really hasn't done anything, yet. Hillary has and that's why she would win if she could just get past those frozen smiles, carefully crafted statements and those dratted 5-Point Plans.
Hillary also suffers from Good Girl Syndrome, but that's another post.
And of course we are at the stage of the election where mud slinging reigns. Today, the day of the Mississippi primary, the NY Times ran a piece that compared Hillary's red phone ad to the Ku Klux Klan. Talk about fear mongering. So much for the new clean politics we were promised by Barack.
And prejudice is an issue on both sides. Bill Maher, whenever he makes fun of Hillary, says, "I'm not sexist." (Me thinks he doth protest too much.) But it was on his show that I first heard of the poll that says twice as many Americans would refuse to vote for a woman than for a black man. Most of us are past this, but not all of us. Greatness however, overcomes prejudice.
Seth Godin says Hillary will damage her brand if she doesn't give up quick. What brand is that? Surely it's not her Comeback Queen brand.
If both sides keep getting dirty, both will suffer, but Barack more than Hillary, because his brand is specifically based on a new clean approach to politics. (Just watch what's happening to another politician who ran on a "clean politics" platform, Elliot Spitzer. Once you say it, you'd better live up to it.) Hers is based on being a smart, tough broad who just keeps coming. (Jon Stewart calls her the Terminator!)
If Hillary learns to express her inner Greatness, there's no stopping her, because it takes a lot of time to develop experience and Greatness, as important as it is, can be had just in an instant.
The reason people are so attracted to someone who's expressing their Personal Greatness is because they start to slip into their own Greatness, as well. It's contagious and it's intoxicating and it helps us be better people. We DO want a President who inspires us to Greatness!
Anyhow, that's just how powerful masterful coaching can be. It can change world history in a moment by shifting just one client. Cool, huh?
So Hillary: I'm available. Want to win an election?
