According to Jim Collins (”Good to Great”), one of the eight characteristics of a  ‘Team on the Way Up’ in today’s challenging environment is, “People bring forth grim facts – ‘Come here and look, man, this is ugly’ – to be discussed; leaders never criticize those who bring forth harsh realities.”

Reading about Dan Balz and Haynes Johnson’s new book about the 2008 elections (”The Battle for America 2008″), I was struck by a clear example of this observation.

An early memo to Hillary Clinton from her chief strategist Mark Penn told the candidate, “We have incredible image strengths.  People don’t just like Hillary Clinton, they love her.”

O.K.

Meanwhile, a David Axelrod memo to Barack Obama warned the candidate, “I don’t know if you are Muhammad Ali or Floyd Patterson when it comes to taking a punch.  You care far too much what is written and said about you. You don’t relish combat when it becomes personal and nasty.”

And we all know which team was ‘on the way up.’