As president, Joe Biden has led our country capably through vexing domestic public health, climate, and public safety crises while uniting allies to join forces to counter global security threats. He’s sparked constructive exchanges with business leaders at our CEO forums. He was cogent and engaged when one of us spoke with him at an event in Greenwich last month. Having worked on his 1972 Senate campaign before his wife and daughter were tragically killed in a car accident, one of the authors has seen how Biden can rise from the ashes of catastrophic personal loss. Far better than his handlers, he knows how to fire back from his disastrous debate. But Biden must move quickly before this crisis spirals out of control and before it becomes the unfortunate and unintended capstone to a five-decade long career defined by resilience from adversity.
These last five days, however, have been squandered as the Biden team seems shell shocked and in denial, with Biden not practicing what he knows better than any: how to rebound successfully from disaster.
Rather than assuaging the concerns of anxious voters, alarmed donors, political allies, and media critics, the Biden campaign seems to have made things worse through a combination of evasion and hubris, clumsily waving away concerns over the President’s age. They have been blaming media and finger pointing at debate prep staffers, rather than explaining what happened and presenting any coherent strategy to counter Biden’s biggest weakness – the public perception that he is declining fast.
Here are five key lessons from Firing Back: How Great Leaders Rebound After Career........© Time