Page 164 - Leadership Lessons of the White House Fellows

LEADERS ENERGIZE THEIR PEOPLE

want, and who will give you all the credit when you do it well and who
will also back you up when it doesn’t go so well,” Joss said. “I learned that
a leader’s job is to energize, motivate, and inspire younger people to achieve
everything they can for the good of the cause. That’s why in all the leader-
ship roles I’ve had, I try to give people all the responsibility and give them
all the credit, because I know that when they do well, it will make me look
good too. But when it doesn’t go well, you’ve got to back them up and
take responsibility off their shoulders so they don’t get crushed by it and
yet learn from it. Of all the things I learned in my Fellowship, that was
probably the most valuable.”
In 1971, Joss had a chance to observe a different kind of energy at work
in Washington when President Nixon appointed former Texas governor
and U.S. Navy secretary John Connally, Jr., to be Treasury secretary.
Unlike David Kennedy, Connally was an outgoing, charismatic politician
of the highest order. He was flashy, engaging, and energetic and was a
household name because of the fact that he had been riding in the con-
vertible when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and had been
injured seriously in the shooting.
“I’ll never forget something Connally once did that was so impressive.
You might think it was contrived, but it wasn’t—he did it so naturally,”
Joss said. “We were on the Hill one day when we ran into a congressman
who had a group of little school kids visiting from his district. When
Secretary Connally and I came in, the congressman said, ‘Boys and girls,
this is the Secretary of the Treasury. This is John Connally.’ That con-
gressman was so proud to get to introduce his constituents’ kids to the
famous John Connally. But then Connally did the most amazing thing. He
sauntered over in his big Texas way and he put his arm around this
congressman, and he turned to the kids and said, ‘Now boys and girls, I
want you to know that your congressman is the most fantastic member of
Congress,’ and on he went about how great this gentleman was, and it was
just the most amazing thing to watch. That congressman was just beaming
because John Connally made him look so good in front of the little kids
from his district. I learned that day that a very important aspect of leadership
is to build relationships with others through positive actions.”
Frederick Benson III (WHF 73–74) was influenced by a similar posi-
tive leadership approach he learned during his time in Washington, D.C.
After his Fellowship, Benson served as military assistant to Assistant

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