I've had a lot of questions about Mitt Romney recently as he pursues the Republican nomination for President. Mitt was my boss ten years ago when he was CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, which was responsible for staging the 2002 Winter Olympics. I managed the leadership and customer service training for the volunteer workforce and staff, and I had a front-row seat to observe Mitt's leadership style. Politics notwithstanding, Mitt was an exemplary leader and I use his example from workshops to college classes.

There's a lot, too much you could argue, that's been written about leadership, and I won't get into definitions and descriptions here. However, there are several traits that are universally accepted as being common to and essential for great leadership, and Mitt demonstrated them well.

• Vision: Mitt envisioned a future for the 2002 Winter games that was clear and compelling. This is always essential but even more so at the time because of the so-called scandal that forced the previous CEO and his leadership team out. Mitt laid out a vision of what could be as we all moved forward, and presented it with enthusiasm. He conveyed absolute confidence that we would succeed, and that our goal To Be The Best Games Workforce Ever would become a reality. Great leaders can inspire people to share their vision and we did.

• Communication: A mark of great leadership is great communication, by word and deed. Mitt did both. He was constantly communicating the vision in venues large and small. Sometimes it was an all-hands meeting of the 5000 SLOC staff, other times it was small, impromptu meetings in the hallway. I even remember speaking with Mitt in the men's room and even there he was always on message, always exuding confidence in us and fulfilling the vision. Another time after a huge volunteer event, Mitt was outside greeting the volunteers as traffic snarled to a halt leaving the venue. In full Olympic uniform, he went directly to the street and began to help direct traffic out of the parking lots. Cynics labeled it a stunt, but there was no hesitation and it inspired the volunteers.

• Crisis leadership: When 9-11 occurred, the world community suggested that the Olympics be cancelled. Here in Salt Lake, our headquarters was in a 30-story building and frankly many wondered if we would be targeted next. I asked our trainers to poll the volunteer training classes to see if they wanted to see the Games go on and if they would continue themselves. Overwhelmingly the answer to both was yes. Mitt considered all the factors and advice from national and world leaders and made a very decisive statement. The Games would go on. In fact, the world needed the Olympics now more than ever, he announced. In the face of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, we would show the world what could be, the international display of sport presented with complete cooperation from nations around the world. We would enhance security, of course, but the Games would go on.

The Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games were an unqualified success. From the president of the International Olympic Committee calling them the best-run Games in modern history to the universal compliments from media around the world, the vision was accomplished. And in terms of fiscal responsibility, Mitt insisted the Games not operate in the red as virtually all others did, but that we would have a budget surplus, and we did.

So from a leadership perspective, Mitt is as good an example as you can find and I can't praise him enough for his example at the Olympics. A final observation: we had a 10 year reunion of the Organizing Committee a month ago, and Mitt took time out of his campaign schedule to be there. As he spoke, I looked around and saw people from every political perspective, and Republican and Democrat alike they were all cheering. Great leadership transcends personal politics, and he united a very disparate group to accomplish the task of staging the largest international sporting event doing so with resounding success. And never once does he claim credit, but instead pours the praise onto the staff and volunteer workforce. That's something else great leaders do.