William Jefferson Clinton's Leadership Stylemove between a concern for solving a problem and a sensitivity to
what it will take to keep people allied to a cause, these leaders are
likely to monitor the environment for cues that indicate the demand
for a particular focus of attention. For Clinton, such a capability aug-
ments his more general openness to information, enhancing the
strategic nature of his proposals and activities. Situations are judged,
and actions are taken, based on what he has to do to keep his position
and move toward his goals, be it to become a taskmaster or to rally
the troops around the flag.
Clinton's relatively low scores on in-group bias and distrust of
others indicate that he tends to see politics as more cooperative than
conflictual. Indeed, there are certain times when cooperation with
others is both feasible and appropriate. The political environment
contains opportunities as well as threats and the possibility for win-
win agreements. In fact, Clinton views the political process as a large
game board, where all players must sacrifice some things so that they
can advance toward the general goal. The desirable end is a solution
that is mutually beneficial to all—or a compromise in which all gain
some of what they want while only having to give up a little. Com-
pared to leaders with an adversarial or zero-sum view of politics,
where there should always be a clear winner and loser, such tactics
make Clinton seem as if he has no principles or, at the least, is wishy-
washy and weak.
For Clinton, politics is the art of the possible. There will generally
be another chance, another time to try to get more. In effect, there is
forever next year. Some observers have described Clinton as similar
to a child's "Bobo clown"—when hit down in one place, it pops back
up; no matter how many times the clown is pushed down, it comes
right back up again. The toy, in a similar manner to Clinton, seems
to say, "You didn't like that; well let's try another way to do it."
There are always opportunities to be taken advantage of and rela-
tionships to be built.
One downside of this more optimistic view of life and politics is
that threats may have to be major before they are registered as threat-
ening. Clinton may miss what to others would be obvious signs of a
brewing confrontation because he is working on what is positive in
the situation rather than seeing the negative. Thus, at times he is
figuratively interested in negotiating a settlement, not perceiving