A gaffe is defined as an unintentional act or remark causing embarrassment to its originator. Through-out Joe Biden’s 120+ years in elected office he has been hounded by gaffes. Some real, some imagined and some magnified by viral and social media.
If I could advise Biden I would say this: embrace your tendency for gaffes and then pivot to what is more important.
I would say the same to all of you. Embrace and pivot. Does a prospective or current client think you are expensive? EMBRACE the comment and pivot to value.
Does someone not like your location or hours? Embrace and pivot to your cost or value.
My point is that Biden is not going to stop making gaffes. President Obama, known as no-drama Obama with a penchant for perfection and control, still selected Joe as his running mate. He saw a larger more strategic value in him. I assume he knew his VP would not be mistake free in his comments. Seems to me that what he saw as his strategic value, his knowledge of the Senate and how it works, his long term relationships, and his warmth and genuineness were pluses that outweighed his gaffes.
That is what I would like him to say on the stump and in debates. Yes I will make verbal errors and probably never get my website correct. If as individuals and a nation you want to sleep peacefully at night, not worry about the latest twitter war or a president telling 12,000 lies, then I am your candidate.
Can you identify your strategic value? If I woke you up in the middle of the night could you list the top three reasons that someone should vote for you, hire you, select you, and give you their money or their business?
That is where I would want you to what I call “live”. Live in your value, Embrace a weakness. No one is perfect. Then Pivot.
