Prep team can't cope.
I spent a fair bit of time in my Army career working on the personal staffs of high-ranking flag officers. In one particular job I was the speechwriter for a senior DC-based general holding a prominent Joint job who had frequent appearances before Congress and industry conventions. While every general is extremely political, I learned that there are basically two styles when it comes to public speaking, public/high-pressure meetings and how they prep for them:
1. Some generals and admirals have extremely high IQs and rely on their ability to think on their feet. In preparing these types of flag officers for a speech or a meeting, they generally prefer to be briefed on all of the significant facts and personalities surrounding the event, and while they will often ask you to write a detailed speech, they will gladly (and often do) ad-lib off of it as they read their crowd. For high-level meetings, they just want you to make sure you have prepared them with the important data and they are ready—they will dominate the meeting. If something goes wrong, they usually blame themselves for not having anticipated what happened. These are great bosses to work for—officers you would gladly follow into Hell for a fight.
2. Other generals and admirals are extremely good at creating an illusory image of competency and proficiency while they themselves are plagued by real self-doubts about their own mediocre IQs. These types of flag officers have achieved high rank solely via a pathological level of preparation and rehearsal in all public things. As one of their staffers, you must prepare a detailed speech that they will not deviate from, and that speech will be rehearsed over and over and over and over and over and over (with you present to coach them). For a high-level meeting, they expect you to prepare them with any and all possible bits of data to a ridiculous level of detail, down to the least significant things. Whenever possible in a high level meeting, they will bring a subordinate along to do all the talking while they sit at the table and sagely nod their head. This sort of flag officer strives desperately to never be put in a situation where they must speak extemporaneously in public. If anything at all goes slightly wrong in any speech or any meeting, or if they are caught unawares and forced to speak off the cuff, they will instantly and tyrannically blame their staff, even if the fault was clearly their own. These are hellish bosses to work for—officers you would not follow into a 7-11 for a fight, given a choice.
I am 100% convinced that the GOP candidate for President is #1 and the the Democrat candidate is #2.
America cannot afford a President who is #2. |
