JACK MIXNER STRATEGY

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I grew up in New Jersey and am old enough to remember the day Robert Kennedy's last train passed through New Brunswick on the way from New York to Arlington National Cemetery. But I had forgotten what that day was really like until I read the Prologue of Thurston's new book. I suspect that restraining personal emotions while reading Thurston will be hard for anyone, especially those of us who lived through the times. He details what people were seeing and thinking during that last journey.

• Since 1968, the word hope has become the oratorical equivalent of an American flag lapel pin ... (Thurston, 2).
• His assassination on June 5, just eight-two days after he had announced his candidacy, represented not just the death of another Kennedy or a promising young leader, but the death of this hope (Thurston, 2).
• Theodore White: It was only, however, when the funeral train that was to bear him to Washington emerged from the tunnel under the Hudson that one could grasp what kind of a man he was and what he meant to Americans (Thurston, 3).
• Because anyone who owned an American flag had flown it or brought it, they saw flags flying at half-staff in front of factories and schools, dipped by American Legion honor guards, and waved by Cub Scouts (Thurston, 4).
• Some of the spectators who broke into "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the train passed through Baltimore and Philadelphia may have been making the Kennedy-Lincoln connection as well... (Thurston, 5).

I had forgotten other things about that long ago campaign, as well. Kennedy had a heart-felt connection to the American Indian and visited incredibly poor reservations all over the country. He visited poor blacks in the Mississippi Delta and came away saddened. There is more. It's all in the book.

So, what is the strategic implication of all this?

Two things:

• Kennedy took some time to figure out how to come out from under the expectations placed upon him because he was a Kennedy. When we got to know him, he was indeed a different kind of Kennedy from his brother.
• Kennedy's campaign focused on values in a way his brother's had not. While the implications for America aren't clear - let's not forget that this was a very challenging time in America's history - it is clear that Robert's differences from John would have had implications for the kind of America we all inherited.

The point?

Leaders change the tone of their organizations. If they give thoughtful guidance to their teams, if only by their carriage and tone, they will have large impacts, sometimes larger than they had expected.

Reference

Clarke, Thurston. The Last Campaign. Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America. Henry Holt and Company. 2008.