Franklin L. Lavin is the U.S. ambassador to Singapore and previously served on President Reagan’s White House and National Security Council staff. In this Wall Street Journal ($) Manager’s Journal column, Ambassador Lavin provides an interesting insight about President Reagan’s leadership skills and tells an even better story about Reagan. First, Mr. Lavin outlines the basis of Reagan’s leadership skills:

Don’t be afraid of friction. Friction, or even unpopularity, can be the price for trying to change the status quo. If elected leaders view their job as simply finding the center of gravity on every issue, they might retain their popularity — but all they will have done is encapsulate public opinion, not lead it. On the other hand, if political leaders want to shape a new consensus, they have to risk alienating those who support the current status quo. Reagan knew that his job was not to make everybody like him, but to help move America in the right direction.
Focus on a few key goals. For Reagan, his goals were to confront Soviet expansionism, reduce the tax burden and place limits on the size of government. He proved to be highly successful on the first two goals, and only abstractly successful on the latter. The federal government expanded substantially during Reagan’s presidency, even if we allow for military growth. But let’s not confuse an inability to implement goals with the desirability of the goals. Reagan did change the debate about the nature of government and the open-ended expansion of the welfare state.
Don’t confuse expertise with leadership. As a political leader, Reagan was masterful. He combined a clear sense of purpose with natural stagecraft and the charming occasional idiosyncrasy. He also understood that as president, you didn’t need to be an expert, you could hire experts, and he did.
Be upbeat. People want to believe in their leadership, believe in their country, and believe in themselves. A president has to paint a picture of a better country and come up with the program to help get us there. There is an old saying in politics. “People don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

And then Ambassador Lavin passes along a story that provides a glimpse of Reagan’s humanity that helped make him a great leader:

Reagan was in Alabama once and visited a special school for handicapped kids. He offered a few minutes of remarks and took questions from the kids. It was a terrific — dare I say Reaganesque — moment, because simply by spending time with these kids he was endowing their experience with a bit more worth.
Then came a moment of terror. One of the kids had a severe speech impediment. He asked his question, and no one in the room could understand it. The president asked him if he could repeat it and again no one could understand what was said. The staff froze. The teachers froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster. Instead of allowing these wonderful kids to forget about their handicap, this kid was going to be reminded of it.
Reagan to the rescue:
“I’m sorry,” he said with a smile, “but you know I’ve got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in a while the darn thing just conks out on me. And it’s just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I’m going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell him directly what your question is. Then he can pass the question back to me.”
Rather than make the kid feel small, Reagan brought his own handicap to the forefront.