OK, so at about 3:20 seconds into the video (below) you see and exchange between a Politico journalist (Johnathan Martin) and Obama. Obama is being accused of being “irriated” with a substantive question.

Martin asks Obama  a policy question as Obama is doing an informal tour of the White House Press area. I don’t see irritation on Obama’s part, but rather good leadership. He lets the journalist know that his question isn’t getting an answer and does it with a fair amount of “presence” and focus on Martin. Martin completely missed the moment by asking the question in the first place.

Note to Martin at Politico: You may get more answers to your questions if you learn how to read the moment and enter it with more savvy. Be more than a journalist, be a human being who can just be OK with not needing to ask a question. The President came down to “make nice.” Was there a motive behind his visit. Of course; he even explains it a bit at the end of the video. He wants the media to cover things a certain way. Duh. Should the media challenge Obama? Of course, that’s, in part, their job. But, knowing when and how is the key. Martin wants to frame this, as do other media types, as a dodge on Obama’s part. Maybe instead it was a misread on his part.

One of the more important qualities of a great leader (or a great you name it), is the ability to read the moment. Martin missed it. When my “mission” comes before my humanity I’m bound to piss people off. And just so Martin doesn’t feel alone, I’ve misread the moment myself a couple of (thousand) times. So, I’m really good at spotting it.