By Travis Klavohn, Co-founder and Executive Leader
What is leadership? A leader is simply someone other people follow. A political leader is someone people choose to follow. And, all the best political leaders inspire people to follow them.
Inspiration comes from many personal qualities. Among these are integrity, vision, courage, and steadfastness. Regardless of its source, inspiration to follow a political leader must be imbued in followers through effective communication and personal charisma.
Newcomers quickly discern the state convention represents a variety of groups with interests and values often at odds with each other. At the convention one might meet Trump republicans, never-Trumpers, establishment types, grassroots, conservatives, moderates, libertarians, and even a few Metro republicans.
Each individual views the world through the lens of his or her own experiences and interprets truth based on a belief system. Each of the various groups within the convention approximate a collection of truths derived from the belief systems of the various groups. Only through inclusion and rational discourse can we discern a higher truth beyond our individual experiences. That is the case in our personal lives as well as the convention process.
The challenge for the new leadership will be to bring these disparate groups together for victory in 2020. Winning elections is the purpose of the Georgia GOP. The new leaders of our party will have 2020 victories as their primary measure of success. And, since all these disparate groups are free to choose whether to support our new leaders or sit on the sidelines, inspiration once more is the most important quality for selecting those leaders.
This weekend, the burning question on everyone’s mind is this. Who will delegates choose to follow?