I confess that election season is compelling to me. The ups and downs in the Republican field has been fascinating. On C-SPAN this past week, I caught Mitt Romney giving his stump speech to a group in Iowa. Tieless shirt sans a jacket, Romney spoke about caring for the middle class, creating jobs for those who wanted them, about what leadership is and how 'of the Republican candidates would be better then the current president.' Polls for months have reflected that last phrase, where the 'generic Republican' out polls President Barack Obama. Chief Executive Magazine is among the business publications that seems focused on the fact that most C-suite business leaders are ready for a change away from 'the change we could believe in' that swept Obama into office in 2008.

I'm not mentioning Mitt because he would be my first choice. Rather, my focus in this column was Romney's thought provoking statements about leadership. That was a shining moment worth sharing.

What is leadership? It is not, Romney said, being 'the boss' or 'the manager.' A leader listens to people. The leader listens to advisors. A leader learns from successes as well as from his mistakes. Having considered the options and input, then the leader charts the needed course of action.

Let's segue from that point of departure for just a few moments. It was learning from mistakes that was a powerful point to ponder.

The truth is, we all make mistakes. While we want to avoid errors, we should expect them at times in ourselves and from others. The mistake is to expect a perfection we will not get from ourselves or another person. Or as G. K. Chesterton put it;

"Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good."

Since perfection is a worthy goal, not readily achieved, the question then is what happens after an error is made? Does one try to correct it, try to justify it, or cover it up? Does someone just stubbornly stay a course that may not be working, or adjust once more and begin to move ahead?

We all know one can learn from one's own mistakes and also from the mistakes of others.

Now let's consider the manufactured housing landscape in that light.

• Are we learning from our victories?
• Are we learning from mistakes?
• Do we or our leaders admit those errors?
• Are manufactured housing leaders using lessons learned to spring board ahead?
• Are we teaming up with others and building bridges? Or are we blowing them up?

In this next example I'm not saying former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, would be my first choice in the Republican field either. But what makes Newt's recent performance refreshing is when he admits that appearing with Nancy Pelosi was 'one of the dumbest things I've ever done,' and when he apologized for his statement about opposing right wing social engineering. Did the apologies or admissions hurt Gingrich? Hardly, suggests the polls! Newt has surged, perhaps in part because he has ideas and has the ability to say, oops, that one needed correction. It comes off as 'real.'

We often want a leader who listens, learns, thinks and then leads.

There are certainly a host of other questions and points one can make about leadership, or as some suggest, a lack thereof. There are some who rant about a lack of leadership these days, but one must note that there are often three fingers pointing back for the one pointing out another's perceived faults.

Isn't it better to promote ideas and offer solutions than to just find fault and complain?

Leader's can work successfully with a variety of people for the common good.

Leader's listen. Leader's learn from successes and mistakes. CliffNotes on leadership says,

Leadership is establishing a direction and

influencing others to follow that direction.

Let's toss in this thought; for leadership to be successful, when the leader(s) need a word or a hand that we can lend, let's give it.

Tearing down is always easier than building up. But it is in the process of building that progress takes place, for a nation or for our Industry. # #

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