Obama and Rahm Profiles--Match or Mismatch?

Introduction to the Language
The language has many terms—too many to grasp all at once. These concepts will be introduced gradually, from posting to posting. Repeat usage, which certainly will occur, can be followed by using the Labels function on the right pane of the page. Click on the term of interest and you will be brought to all the posts in which it was used. This way, you can see how the terms are applied in different situations, circumstances and contexts.

A Primer
The theory of Structural Dynamics has identified 36 Behavioral Profiles. Each Profile has three components: one covering an individual’s propensity for one of four action Modes (Mover, Follower, Opposer, Bystander;) three preferred Communication Domains (Affect, Power, Meaning) and three Operational Domains (Closed, Open and Random.) A Profile is an individual’s skeletal structure. Voice, nuance, intensity, and other qualities add fuller bodied resonance to a Behavioral Profile. Structural Dynamics emphasizes these core structures. They represent the subtext of all action propensities as expressed in speech and behavior.

Here are just a few quotes from an article that set the stage for my comments on leader's profiles--"The Limits of Rahmism" Rahm Emanuel is a Mover in Closed System Power. Barack Obama, is a Bystander in Open System Meaning.

Source: NYT Magazine March 14, 2010 “The Limits of Rahmism” By Peter Baker Online version

“…Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel, an unlikely tandem of inspirational leader and legislative mechanic, that was supposed to enact the most expansive domestic program since the The Great Society.”

Leaders choose their Followers carefully. Obama’s choice of Emanuel was a calculated strategic decision. Baker’s article raises questions about the wisdom of this choice.

“[This] paradox…has not been lost on Washington. A visionary outsider who is relatively inexperienced and perhaps even a tad naïve about the ways of Washington captures the White House and eager to get things done, hires the ultimate get-it-done insider to run his operation.”

In our view, for precisely Baker’s point, Obama made a smart choice. Obama is a skilled Bystander. Bystanders hang back, take in as much information as they can, internally reflect, and then act, Move. Emanuel, sleeves rolled up and quick to Act. That is, he is a strong Mover who is a known, arm-twisting Opposer as well. This combination may not endear him to adversaries, but no one doubts he intends to “get things done.” The Domain of Power, in our lexicon, is all about “getting the work done.”

“If Emmanuel’s philosophy is to put points on the board, to take what you can get and then cut a deal, everything negotiable except success, then the White House is testing the limits of Rahmism.”

Yes, the proof of a leader’s choice of Followers is in the results. One can imagine that during this critical search for Democrats to vote yes on the president’s health bill, Rahm Emanuel is not sitting on his hands wondering what to do.

“[Their relationship] is hardly a relationship of dependence and deferral. These are two strong willed individuals, yet…Obama calls the shots. When Obama makes a decision at variance with Emanuel’s advice, Emanuel does what staff members do and adopts the decision as his own.”

There are two main types of Followers. Those who follow faithfully, even blindly, and do not question (Actively Bystand) or Oppose (challenge their leader’s positions;) and those who do all this, but in the end, Move as One with the leader. Baker opines, we think correctly, that Emanuel is the second type.