Backing out and walking aways?

Why does it seem that the late American President John F. Kennedy is more remembered than most others? Was it because he steered USA thru the turbulent diplomatic waters called the Cuban missile crisis? Kennedy then confronted Premier Nikita Khrushchev, of the then USSR, when Russian missiles were stationed in Cuba and perhaps positioned against mainland America. Or was it because he died at the hands of an assassin, who, until now, despite the massive intelligence capability of Uncle Sam, has remained unknown? Or was it because, in the beginning of his term, when he saw that Russia led in exploring the space, he promised that USA would beat USSR before the decade would end.

I dare say that people around the world remember Kennedy comparatively more than the other presidents because in his short term he succeeded to push American interest to the max.Did he not do the Americans proud in putting Neil Armstrong, in Apollo 11, on the surface of the moon in 1969 a feat that was more impressive than the Yuri Gagarin's orbiting the earth in a Sputnik? And I dare say further that he did it because he was unafraid to surround his presidency with people who were considered the best and the brightest. By the way, this phrase, Best and Brightest, was a coinage of David Halberstam in a paperback that described the policies leading to the Vietnam quagmire of an American military adventure.

Some of the men I remember to have worked with Kennedy were Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, Adlai Stevenson, W. Averell Harriman (after whom I named my second child, Averell) and Robert Kennedy.In one occasion, the president was confronted with the issue of nepotism when he named his brother as Attorney General and Kennedy was heard to have said "Name me someone better and brighter, and I'll make him attorney general", or words to that effect.

If government leaders were to reckon the administration of Kennedy as successful, they should better emulate his example. High officials should not fear the intellectual depth of brilliant men, most of whom are eccentric and who are not shy to demonstrate their over powering capabilities. It is good for a leader to present what he intends to do while in power to the incisive criticism of his own Rusks, McNamaras, Stevenson and Harrimans - the people picked up by him to surround his ordinary mind with extraordinary thoughts.This is what precisely will happen - to bring his ideas closer to fruition, if he receives the profound, calculated and educated views of his brilliant subordinates.

Looking for a mentally sharp ally to help in his governance, a top government leader has another aspect to consider and it is very important one. As a rule, a bright boy thinks far more expansively than the ordinary guys. He views things differently. He is able to anticipate many facets of the most ordinary project where others are blind. It is therefore not entirely possible that this brilliant man may put one thing over the rest of his breed. Indeed a greedy bright human being can redirect the most salutary program of a great leader to achieve undesirable ends.  

In order that the vision of the leader may be approximated, the bright guy he intends to engage must necessarily be "straight". One quick measure is the predilection for material things. A guy, for instance, who salivates at expensive possessions, prefers luxury than modesty and talks of a kind living beyond his means is and should be a red flag. The leader will do well avoiding him.

Unfortunately, some of our leaders and majority of their coterie of supposedly trusted lieutenants are also afraid of their own shadows, figuratively speaking. They are insecure to think that among their subordinates, the men and women who work for them, there are minds far better than they are. That their sub-alterns will expose their own ineptness as well as the incompetence of their peers haunts them no end because, to them, that is going to be most embarrassing. It is worse when a straight guy finds some unacceptable work done by peers for he, in his eccentricity, is likely to assert what he thinks  is right. So when this happens, the boss-subordinate relationship as well as the subordinate-to-peer dynamics will not bear fruits. Suspicion on the part of the boss and crab mentality on the side of his co-workers put a brake to the promotion of a most brilliant project.  In that event, it is best that the subordinate backs out and walks away before he becomes a problem to his boss and his peers and looks somewhere else where he will be appreciated even more.

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