The Joe Biden Way

CHAPTER 4Build on Strengths

When we build on our strengths and daily successes—instead of focusing on failures—we simply learn more.

—Tom Rath

The importance of the mindset of a leader cannot be overestimated, especially when it comes to the highest job in the land. Every move and utterance of an American president is closely watched by people and the press in America and across the globe.

The best leaders are optimistic by nature. They see possibilities in valuing life and leading by example and want their fellow citizens to flourish and prosper.

At its heart, leadership is, of course, about people. And when you get right down to its roots, leadership can only grow and prosper when it is grounded in decency. Decency, ethics, and humility—these “soft” virtues are considered areas of strength for President Biden. Perhaps surprisingly, he was not always perceived as strong in these areas.

Take 1991 and his handling of the Anita Hill hearings, when Biden was chair of the Judiciary Committee. Biden treated Hill with tremendous disrespect. He did not acknowledge her bravery in telling her story when she had so little to gain and so much to lose in challenging Clarence Thomas on his nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. This event took place 30 years before Biden became president and about 25 years prior to the still-going-strong “me-too” movement.

People often take decades to self-actualize and maximize their perceived strengths. How did Joe Biden go from the man he was in 1991 ...