Learning from the management style of "the great communicator.".

• Author: Weidenbaum, Murray
• Position: Profiles in History - Ronald Reagan's governance styles and methods

IT IS VERY COMMON to hear that government would run better if it were more businesslike. That may be true much of the time. Nevertheless, let us turn the tables on that proposition. Couldn't business benefit from learning some management lessons from a surprisingly gifted governmental executive--Ronald Reagan?

Those who had the good fortune of working for Pres. Reagan witnessed firsthand the effective management style of an unusually successful chief executive. Here are 10 lessons that could be learned from observing Reagan in action:

Set clear and attainable objectives, albeit goals that seem difficult to achieve. In early 1981, the President set his sights on a healthier economy with lower inflation and unemployment. Those who thought only in terms of a trade-off between more jobs and a slower rise in prices were proven wrong. Under his leadership, the U.S. achieved both objectives.

Aside from the substantial rollback of taxes, the adjustments made in economic policy in 1981-82 initially were painful. They especially included a wide variety of spending cuts as well as a tight monetary policy. Nevertheless, those actions led to the longest peacetime expansion in American history. Simultaneously, the escalating double-digit inflation that the Reagan Administration faced in early 1981 has been consigned to the history books.

Choose subordinates who share your views and outlook. Disagreements on details are inevitable among strong-minded people. Nevertheless, the team that Reagan brought together was united in its dedication to lower taxes, much slower growth in civilian spending, a stronger military establishment, and a less burdensome regulatory system. Progress in each of these areas was substantial during his eight years in office.

Give your people lots of leeway and operating authority. For example, those charged with putting together the initial budget cuts had full discretion in assembling an ambitious assortment of spending reductions. Subsequently, the President reviewed each significant budget change before making his final decision.

Reagan was anything but a robber stamp. However, he did not try to micromanage the decisionmaking within each of the agencies, but held his appointees accountable for the results. He gave his key subordinates a lot of genuine discretion to exercise. For example, one of my first assignments was to perform an audit of the U.S. economy. The President announced the audit's results at a White House press briefing that we conducted jointly. The...