Speaker of the House

Nancy Pelosi writes about power in her recently published book entitled Know Your Power: A Message to America’s Daughters. Reviewed by some 170 readers on Amazon.com (at the time of this post), the overwhelming majority rate the book 1 out of 5 stars, the lowest possible score. In addition, reviewers’ mostly vitriolic comments describe a self-aggrandizing book of inferior quality, lackluster writing style, and turgid content, begging the question: Are these reviews about the book or about the woman? Suffice it to say, Nancy Pelosi is a woman who elicits strong reactions from others. But rather than get caught up in the negative energy often surrounding her, let us discover the worldview that drives her.

And why is it even of interest to know Pelosi’s worldview?

To begin with, she is the politically highest ranking woman in American history.

If the President and Vice President were to lose their lives in a tragic event, for example, Nancy Pelosi, as Speaker of the House, would be sworn in as President of the United States.

In terms of understanding worldview as key to knowing a person’s leadership style, therefore, note that a person’s earliest recollection from childhood expresses the first notes of a melody that by adulthood is fully developed and well-rehearsed. The melody becomes a “song” or attitude that the owner continues to express toward all the experiences of life. Thus, when we understand a person’s practiced refrain, we are able to understand that person in ways more profound than most can imagine.

In her early memory, Nancy is three months from being seven years old. She is traveling with her family to watch her dad take the oath of office for his fifth term in Congress.

As the youngest of six children and the only girl, it is likely that Nancy Pelosi was not simply the focus of her family’s love, attention, and concern, but that she was also seen as a one-of-a-kind treasure, a gift and a blessing by her parents and her siblings. As the solitary female offspring, we can only imagine the throne on which her decidedly Italian family placed her from the second she was born!

And in her uniquely only sister position, she was able to enjoy an up-close and personal relationship with boys and men that few girls are able to experience from a similarly solo position.

By default, Nancy would have learned how to make peace with her brothers and to go along with what the majority wanted. On occasion, she may have colluded with one or more of her brothers to get her way, but always this would have been accomplished without the assistance of a sister to come to her rescue or distract her by offering other avenues for enjoyment. She would have learned how to politic in the purest sense – by learning how to manage her position among five male siblings.

On the other hand, she probably won too easily much of the time, thereby taking the upper hand without a genuine struggle. Sure, being the only girl has its advantages – but the disadvantages include seldom having to really fight for what one wants, and thus never getting to know the stuff one is made of! As an example, despite the persistent whining about Hillary staying the course in the quest for the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary's pushback made Obama a better campaigner. Without struggle, no one even has a chance of reaching his or her full potential.

Whatever the case may be, Nancy was gifted with the opportunity to experience early life in the company of brothers only, a situation that enhanced her knowledge and understanding of the male gender.

Notice, in fact, that in her early memory, she makes reference to her father and shares an interaction with her brothers. Women or girls are never mentioned.

Specifically, Pelosi’s early memory focuses on an incident in which her brothers attempt to include her in their excitement about seeing the Capitol. Initially, she resists their enthusiasm, but they persist. Finally, she asks for specifics: “Is it a capital A, B, or C?”

Recognizing that Nancy is elsewhere focused, her brother Joey physically turns his sister’s head toward what she later describes as “the most amazing sight.”

“I didn’t see the giant letters I expected,” she says. “Instead, I saw this stunning building with a magnificent white dome.”

She never acknowledges mistaking Capitol for capital. Instead, she says, “It was not what I expected,” thus inferring “and that doesn’t make me wrong.”

I saw something instead of what I expected to see – something that was beautiful; something different, but not something I anticipated seeing (perhaps because my brothers didn’t explain it correctly!).

Growing up with competitive boys in the process of becoming men gave Nancy little choice but to stand firm (sort of) in all things, and also to expect that things would often go her way. And today in her role as Speaker of the House, she is often criticized for not doing enough – for not getting more involved in the fight, including taking the risks that winning demands. But as her early memory tells us, she stays in her own world, looking for what she expects to see, anticipating she will be right.

Truth is, Nancy is today the same Speaker of the House she was as a child (when Daddy was “President;” Mom was “Vice President,” and Nancy, “Speaker of the House”), standing out by virtue of gender and birth order rather than because of leadership strength and strategic skill. And now, as Speaker of the House in Washington, nothing much has changed, except maybe the size of the House. She has assumed the power position, but has she come through as a powerful Speaker, one to whom the Presidency could be securely entrusted? You decide.