Leadership lessons learned from Tim Russert

Within minutes after the unexpected death of Tim Russert was announced, the story took a life full of their own. While at first I admit I was just curious to find out what happened, I was immediately humbled by the outpouring of shock and sudden impact that Russert had on so many people. Not since the death of JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and Princess Diana I remember seeing so many people stunned by a death. Everywhere I visited, people watched television, glued to the radio, or talking to strangers about his death. Because the death of this journalist and host of Meet the Press significantly? We've lost celebrities in the past, but the public response to them pales in comparison to what I saw and heard this past weekend. Because the passage of this man have a profound effect on so many people?

When I started to watch and listen to stories told by Russert on television during the day, tributes and memories, I realized that Russert exemplified the virtues of a great leader. Almost everyone, from politicians, colleagues and even his competitors, lauded Russert prowess as a journalist and interviewer. But these were only filled that role. What is most important is that, while he held no official position of leadership other than Washington Bureau Chief for NBC, his life encapsulated the behavior that whoever finds him or herself in a leadership or management should strive to emulate .

I must admit I always liked listening to Tim Russert, but it was not a faithful viewer of Meet the Press, nor its other shows. But when channel surfing, my fingers stopped clicking on the channel change if Tim was a guest or host. I admired his spirit, his humility, his curiosity, his perseverance, his direct questioning, but fair.

Despite its enormous success and recognition as one of the world's leading political analysts, Russert remained just an ordinary boy. It seemed like the kind of guy that we rely on his darkest secret and deep, although only met minutes ago. It looked like the guy you'd strike up a conversation with the bar on the corner of what was happening in the neighborhood and stands there talking for hours.

Tim Russert never forgot where he came from. He never forgot his roots from Buffalo, the son of a laborer who worked two jobs for thirty years to support his family. He had a humble beginning and has remained humble until his untimely death. He was not embarrassed by his father's trade as a trash conveyor. Instead he was so proud that he made him a national hero.

There is no greater legacy he leaves to Tim Russert, both current and executives from that humility is critical to becoming an effective leader. Too often these days people start life on third base and then I think he hit a triple. Russert never took his success for granted and was always grateful to those who have helped us become the person she has become. Russert told Larry King one of the lessons taught his son, "you're always, always loved but never entitled."

Russert loved what he did and has always shown. I thought it strange that in the days that followed his death, not one single image shown not to show him with that huge smile or devilish glint in his eyes --- or both. And then I heard Tom Brokaw say that because it was so. "It was hard to find a picture of my friend Tim when he was not smiling"

But the smiles were not with him, but the success of others. Despite the high, high standards set for itself Russert, success has never been about him. He achieved even more success for all of his.

Story after story came out from family, friends, interns to politicians about the life that Russert touched. It 'was the ultimate mentor and cheerleader. He had this missionary zeal to raise the people to want to make everyone around him better. This does not mean that he ignored the flaws in people, but recognized them as human beings. He once said that "the best exercise for the human heart is to pick someone up and keep them on."

His style of interviews has been described as tough but fair, direct but never condescending, persistent but civil. Russert was always difficult, but never hostile. He never intended to embarrass anyone, but to understand what they were thinking. It has a high standard that others only wish to emulate in the performance of all. James Carville, Democratic strategist and good friend of Russert, was asked "if [Russert] was really good as it looked?" Carville replied, "it was better."

Eleanor Roosevelt once said of Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill that "the best men always had a lot of children in them." What made it great was that Russert never lost the "kid" inside. Despite meeting and interviewing presidents, world leaders, and several popes, has never lost its innocence. Until his death he took the most complex and polarization and spun down to its simplest form. He put "legal-eze" and political-speak in terms that even the common man can understand. He did not try to impress us, even with clothes that could afford. Tom Brokaw said, despite the success of Tim, still relies on his "three tailors -. L. L. Bean and" Driving Russert had a passion for truth and integrity. He was genuinely curious, always wondering what you were thinking and who you were. Rarely fought for a cause other than plain old human decency. What you saw was what you have. Russert was an excellent model. His passion for life and for her work come from his heart. Walter Cronkite-had this kind of integrity. She lived her life so that others only dream of living. He was passionate enthusiast. He wanted everyone to be an A player, not just himself. He revered his father, his wife and son. He believed in God, his country and another man.

What I learned in these last days by Tim Russert was what leadership is all about. I learned more about leadership to listen and observe how he lived his life that I have read hundreds of books on leadership, spending dozens of hours of workshops and class, and writing too many columns and essays.

The leadership lessons of Tim Russert is simple but so true:

1. Never forget where you came from.
2. Never forget who helped you get where you are.
3. Always be tough, but fair.
4. Never stop challenging others to seek the truth.
5. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
6. Help everyone to become a player A.
7. Have fun doing whatever you do.
8. Do what you do with a missionary zeal.
9. Keep the child lives within you.
10. Keep the faith, families and friends in the front line.

Or, to sum it all up in the words of Tim Russert: "Work hard, laugh often and keep your honor."

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