Forbes.com
Leadership
What We All Can Learn From Sarah Palin
Shaun Rein, 05.10.10, 12:00 PM EDTLove her or hate her--you'd be foolish to ignore her.
When Sarah Palin first entered the national consciousness, she seemed more like a candidate for the Jerry Springer Show than for vice president. Her interview with Katie Couric showed she was woefully unprepared to be John McCain's running mate. And when her grandson's father appeared in Playgirl magazine, Palin seemed destined to go down in history as a cocktail party joke. Yet almost two years later, she has bucked the naysayers and is more beloved than before. Yet despite landing a TV show on Fox, a deal with Discovery Channel, and a bestselling book, too many political elites still underestimate Palin's presence and ability to connect with a large number of Americans.
But that is not the point. Palin has the ability to connect with a growing portion of Americans in a way other politicians like Mitt Romneywill never be able. This makes her powerful, no matter whether she runs for office again or not. It would be foolish for both Republicans and Democrats to continue to disparage and underestimate Palin, and ignore the anguish that has given rise to the Tea Party movement and the phenomena that is Glenn Beck and Fox News. The more the self-defined elites belittle Palin, the more they empower and bring together disenfranchised, scared and angry Americans. And with the unemployment and ballooning debt situation not looking to improve anytime soon, there are a lot of those. Why does Palin appeal to so many Americans?
Even now, I can't discern any real policy Palin stands for.
What makes her and the Tea Party so popular is a nostalgic longing for an America that probably never really existed--except in Hollywood and in grade school history books. Palin has learned how to tap into this mix of fear and love for an idealized America to become a force in business and politics.
Although we might disagree with her politics or think she is not qualified to be president, we cannot underestimate Palin. She will remain popular for the foreseeable future. There are some leadership lessons we can learn from her too:
[1] The first lesson is to understand your core target market, and create a message based on a longing for the past that resonates with them. Palin understands that many of her supporters are scared for their families' futures and love America. They are the type who fly American flags on their porches and only buy American. Every message Palin utters is geared toward reinforcing her love of America to her constituents. Her Fox show showcases the stories of inspirational Americans and how that core American ideal of overcoming the odds is still possible.
She also knows many Americans are fed up with both sides of the aisle in Congress. They want America to be great again and not the declining superpower it is becoming, so she talks about getting back America's groove and taking a rogue or outsider's perspective on how to fix things. How can you be more American than that?
Brand managers similarly need to connect emotionally with their target markets in the same way. Take, for instance, Disney ( DIS - news - people ). Their commercials show generations of families coming together and enjoying life together. By the time my son was two, he had already been to Disneylands on two different continents--more because it helped my wife and I feel a connection with him and our own childhoods, than because he would remember anything about the trip.
[2] The second lesson Sarah Palin can teach leaders is that you should create an underdog attitude among your troops, to lead them in a fight against the competition. By referring to herself as outside of the power elite and doing what is right for America, Palin gets her supporters to help her fight overwhelming odds against the establishment, much as the signers of the Declaration of Independence did against the British. By crafting her message that she is doing the right thing for America, she instills a fighting spirit and creates shared loyalty.
Employees push harder and rise to the occasion when they are given the mandate to show the world they can defeat the big player in a David and Goliath battle--much as rental car company Avis did against Hertz, when they advertised they were the No. 2 player, but that they cared more. Great leaders should encourage an "us against them" fighting spirit, and should never get too comfortable with a leading position.
Arrogance and overconfidence destroys companies and makes even once great businesses fail. Look at what happened to Motorola ( MOT - news - people ) in the mobile phone space. It was so far ahead of the competition that it was unable to adjust to new technological and design conditions brought by Apple ( AAPL - news - people ) and Nokia ( NOK - news - people ). A similar thing is happening to Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ) and its hubristic leader, Lloyd Blankfein, who seems unable to see the anger flowing through the U.S. about high pay packages and bailouts. That never would have happened with former Goldman Sachs senior partners Gus Levy or John Weinberg.
Don't let a leading position let your team lose its edge and go soft.
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