Campaigns are about persuasion.
"Candidates who can best persuade the most constituents that they can provide the services people are looking for generally win elections, said Ronald Heifetz, founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Campaigns are about issues.
“An improvement in schools, transportation system, better jobs, reduced crime … " Heifetz said.
Campaigns are about making a connection.
"What people are looking for in a candidate is the capacity to communicate being a trustworthy person, the kind of person who can wield power, gain influence, and make things happen,” Heifetz said.
Heifetz says the biggest mistake politicians make is to think the office itself gives them all the power they need.
"The reason why Mayor Menino was reelected over and over again is he loved people," he said. "When it really comes down to it, the man loved people. He loved being in the streets, neighborhoods. He could relate with anybody, and he really cared.”
But Menino showed he cared over time. He became “the accidental mayor” in 1993, when Mayor Ray Flynn resigned to become ambassador to the Vatican. At first, Menino fixed potholes. Then he received criticism for ruling more like a king, playing favorites with developers, not having a grand vision. But Menino stands as the longest serving mayor in Boston's history -longevity alone has made him a strong leader. So how can a crowded field of 12 candidates prove that they, too, have what it takes to lead? After all, they haven't truly been tested in the face of a crisis, like Rudy Giuliani on 9/11 …
“Everyone in the city should remain calm," Giuliani told the city that day. "The very best thing to do right now would be to remain home. If you’re outside of southern Manhattan remain where you are … ”
… Or President Obama days after the Marathon bombings.
"If they sought to intimidate us, to terrorize us, to shake us from those values that make us who were are as Americans, well, it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it," Obama told a crowd at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in the South End. "Not here in Boston. Not here in Boston."
“Trauma needs to be talked about,” Heifetz said. “People need to be able to hear their representatives or candidates speak to the disorientation that comes from the sharp reduction in people's sense of safety. And from having friends or loved ones that were damaged or killed.”
But again, is there a way for candidates to assume a platform and demonstrate leadership? Especially from the campaign trail? Of the 12 Boston mayoral candidates, there’s a former community organizer, a hospital executive, a housing director, a school teacher.
For thoughts on leadership, I turned to Menino. It’s not a topic he talks about on a daily basis, but he was willing to chat when I caught him on Boston Common. Menino said it’s difficult to predict how someone will handle crisis. But he says one sign is individualism.
“You have to be able to stand up for what you believe in," Menino said. "People elect you because of your thought process, your brains, what you have in mind for the future of our city. Sometimes you have to take positions that are very controversial. Moral leadership is about you standing up there and not being afraid of the consequences. And that builds a stronger city.”
Menino isn’t saying which candidate he would choose to be Boston’s next leader.
“I can’t tell you how they’d react in a crisis, like the marathon bombing or the issues that we’ve had," he said. "I can’t tell you about that but I’ve seen them as legislators or in business how they’ve reacted and I have some questions.”
It’s difficult for voters to picture somebody as a leader in a crisis until a crisis actually happens, said David Bernstein, a political analyst for Boston Magazine and WGBH News. Bernstein, who has been following the Boston mayoral race closely, said voters will have to observe a candidate's profile, listen to a speech or two, learn about their vision and perhaps use intuition to determine who will be the best leader.
“It can be very difficult for candidates to convey leadership – in crisis or otherwise – because campaigns tend to get focused on issues,” Bernstein said.
Susan Duffy of Babson College’s Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership said voters can evaluate a candidate's leadership potential by watching how candidates handle anxiety.
“It’s really this ability to be in highly emotional scenarios and maintain a sense of calm, so that you can access your cognitive capability," Duffy said.
Effective leaders don’t see failure as something to be avoided, Duffy said. They often embrace experiments and pilot programs and they surround themselves with smart people.
“They complement their strengths with the strengths of the teams that they put around them and the experts that they call bring the best minds and experiences to bear,” Duffy said.
Neal Hartman, a managerial professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said business leadership and political leadership aren’t that different.
“Clearly we want a mayor who can deal well under pressure," Hartman said. "Someone who can maintain a sense of competence and confidence in a crisis which by definition is unexpected. We certainly can plan, if you will, for crises to happen, but we don’t know what that crisis is until it actually happens.”
And, while no one’s hoping for any major disasters or citywide emergencies in the coming years, it’s inevitable that the future mayor will have to make bold decisions. As Labor Day approaches and the race heats up, the candidates are expected to become more aggressive and present more specific platforms. But the question of who is best suited to lead Boston may be harder to pin down.
