Someone told me today about a corporate leader who would, after making official remarks to the employees, throw his arms wide and say loudly, "The bar is open!" This signaled that the formal part of the program was over and the chatting was about to begin.  The people working for this guy would have walked over hot coals for him.  He would spot people across the room and shout their names.  He was a convincing manager.

It's not the shouting that makes a leader.  A conductor can be a great and inspirational leader without ever raising her voice.  It's something else -- some ineffable combination of strength and garrulousness and conviction.

The current astonishing Times crisis seems to have thematic links to the stories of cronyism [link will expire soon] in the Bush administration.  We know leadership when we see it, and we're not seeing it at the moment.  Leadership doesn't have to involve saying "the bar is open," but it does have to include making good management decisions, drawing lines, being willing to be questioned, and facing controversy.