Today we will continue with the rest of mental frames needed for a presidential thinking. I will return back to add more pictures to this article later OK.  At the moment I am writing from a Starbucks shop, and I don’t have all the pertinent images for this post.

Let’s start.

12. ADAPTIVE THINKING
This mental frame allows a leader to adapt to the circunstances of the situations in a chamaleonic way. An adaptive leader will always look at the things as they are, and will positively find out how to overcome the obstacles with the resources he has. Adaptive presidents are agile. Usually they can perform milestones with different kind of people, and they can expand their sources of funds or financing with a beautiful deployment. In words of the Volvo Ocean Race, one of the most adaptive teams was Vestas 11th, this american-danish team was able to sail and finish all the legs despite the difficulties. They repaired the boat a couple of times, and they showed resilience and attitude to continue until they ended the race at The Hague.

13. PROFESSOR THINKING
A professor thinking is another of the mental frames that flourish in a good thinker naturally. Jesus was a fantastic preacher and professor. If you read the new testament, 75% of Jesus time was used to teach to his own disciples and to his followers. As Laurie Beth Jones has written it “Education was Jesus’ number one priority”. Leaders with Presidential aspirations who come from corporations or entities which do not educate their people to be better, have to be seen cautiously. A leader who spends more time crunching the numbers, and doesn’t teach to his own employees, is not a good presidential alternative. We have to ask ourselves first: how much time does this potential candidate spend educating his or her nation?
A country without education of excellence, will never be considered to earn more than the minimum or lowest paid salaries. And we don’t want to have a president who doesn’t educates us, don’t we?.

14. COMMON SENSE THINKING
I added the common sense thinking because a potential presidential candidate who loses ground can harm a country without knowing. Many decisions at the top presidential level, need someone with common sense, with compassion for the poorest of the poor.  Hitler did not have common sense at all, and he almost destroyed Europe. When someone has common sense, he will never decide for his own interests, but for the love and service of doing good to his or her country. Common sense is beyond thinking logically in simple terms. A president with common sense will be balanced in his decisions. And he will lbe able to overcome the extreme pressures coming from several directions at the same time. Often, common sense is lost, and wars or poverty are caused. Common sense is needed to clearly define a presidential mission and his or her quest to serve his people wants and needs.

15. RELATIONSHIP THINKING
A good presidential candidate is able to have excellent relationships at every level. He or she treats everyone as equal. He or she has excellent relationship management skills. He or she knows the importance of dedicating time to build links with people at every level, from the bottom position to the higher one. Relationships are key for everything, particularly to get new resources into the country’s table. Relationships are the base for successful strategies, and a President’s life will be all about co-creation and companionship. Relationships are built with time, with trust, with faith and with collaboration. Be aware of anyone who wants to be a president and who doesn’t spend time making relationships for the benefit of his country (not for him).

16. SELF-MASTERY THINKING
As I mentioned previously, self mastery are the group of mental frames which are related to all the functional mental frames gathered through the life time of the potential president. If he comes from the business world, he has to have several business frames such as operational frame, financial mental frame, marketing mental frame, public relations mental frame, accounting mental frame, manufacturing mental frame, human talent development mental frame, etc. If he comes from another background, he also has to master his or her self profession frames.

17. ASSERTIVE THINKING:
Assertive thinking is nothing else than the injection of confidence, assurance and the procurement of the belief in the mission as a president. It means determination, boldness, and the strong will to continue, even when no one cares, or no one believes in him or her. Be aware that assertive thinking is not to force others, it is not to be authoritative or commanding or dominant. The assertive thinking means confidence.

18. OWNERSHIP THINKING
A presidential candidate who doesn’t feel owner of his or her own role is useless. In my country, we have had presidents who couldn’t switch their past jobs as journalists, and once they were ruling our country, they continue behaving as journalists. The leader needs to feel that he or she is a President, once elected, and is in debt with the population who has chosen him or her. His or her people by electing him, are giving him a mandate, a gift, and he or she has to “take care of each of his or her citizens”. It is his or her responsibility to keep, love, protect and promote each person who lives in his or her territory. “In order to own a gift, the president must receive it and own his role, as his heritage, his inheritance given by each and all the citizens who voted for him or her”. A president who knows he owns his role, will never steal one single penny from his or her people. A president who owns his or her role has the sense of ownership to create goods and services for his people. Someone who owns a tremendous role as this one, has generosity and willingness of those he serve.

19. TEAM BUILDING THINKING
A good presidential candidate, will never choose his team of ministers based on friendships or personal links or nepotism. He will choose a team which will master each of the fields of specialization required for his or her desired results. It is pity to see presidents, as soon as they arrive to their office, they choose all his ministers from his friends pool, and many of them have no relation neither experience to lead.
Team building means to build a team or staff who has expertise in each area of the government. It means to develop a healthy staff. There must be a unity of purpose.

20. GOD’s CENTERED THINKING
Finally, a good thinker without God, is rubbish. Sorry for being so bold about it. The president of a nation has to believe in God in order to pray for his or her country blessings and healing every single day. Presidents with God at their core are ethical, have their priorities in order, are always requesting noble things, see things with the heart and the mind, are able to say NO to corruption, always say thank you and please, serve only the best not the mediocrity, are generous, come to be a blessing for others, are not alone, spend a lot of time teaching and helping others, see everything they have or do as God’s gifts to him or her, want to take everyone to become outstanding, are compassionate, and they preach the presence of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in every single action, decision and behavior, in front of his team, outside his presidential office and in everywhere.

Thank you.

Published by eleonoraescalantestrategy

Corporate Strategy Artist, San Salvador, El Salvador View all posts by eleonoraescalantestrategy