Leadership Quote by Bob Ehrlich

Leadership, in Bob Ehrlich's telling, is a kind of political dark matter: invisible, unverifiable, but supposedly obvious once it passes in front of you. The line performs a neat rhetorical trick. By admitting he "doesn't know" what leadership is, Ehrlich sounds humble and anti-theoretical, a politician refusing the consultant-speak of mission statements and leadership seminars. That disavowal buys credibility. It signals: I'm not selling you a definition; I'm trusting your instincts.

Then comes the pivot: "you recognize it when you see it". It's an echo of the famous obscenity test ("I know it when I see it"), a phrase that smuggles subjective judgment in under the banner of common sense. The subtext is that leadership isn't something you measure with outcomes, credentials, or process. It's a vibe, a posture, a performance - and if you don't see it, the implication goes, that's on you. Conveniently, that also protects leaders from scrutiny: if leadership is intangible, accountability becomes a matter of perception management.

For a politician, this is strategic. In campaigns and crisis moments, voters often respond less to policy detail than to signals of steadiness, decisiveness, empathy, and command. Ehrlich's framing turns those signals into the definition itself. It's culturally savvy in a media environment where leadership is constantly auditioned on television clips and debate stages, where "looking presidential" can outweigh governing competence. The quote doesn't just describe leadership; it explains how politicians sell it - by making it feel self-evident.