Building A Cabinet

Marcus is the president of his Associated Student Government. He and his running mate, Janelle, just won a tense and hard-fought election for the President and Vice President positions. Many excellent candidates ran, and the election was exceedingly close. Marcus is now faced with the task of appointing an executive cabinet. The executive cabinet is made up of the elected President, Vice President, and Senate Chair, and 3 appointed members. Marcus was a member of “exec” for the last two years, and knows that the dynamic of the executive cabinet sets the tone for the entire organization. He wants to get it right.

All four of the opposing candidates in the presidential election had said they would be willing to take other positions if they did not win the race. They are all highly qualified individuals with significant student government experience. Their knowledge could be very valuable on the executive cabinet, and they could contribute the backing of their campaign supporters. Marcus also feels it is important to include his opponents for the sake of organizational unity, because fostering unity is one of the main goals of student government. Despite their high potential, Marcus is seriously concerned that there might be resentment after his victory in the contentious election. In past years, he witnessed great candidates lose the election, take a position on exec, and then spitefully contribute very little to the organization.

Marcus also has the option of hiring individuals who chose only to apply for positions. He knows that some of his most ardent campaign supporters applied for positions and would passionately share and support his vision in their work. They have much less experience than the presidential candidates, but Marcus does not doubt their energy and enthusiasm. They worked very, very hard for him, and he feels indebted. Marcus thinks that he will hire one opposing candidate and one supporter, to balance each other out, but cannot decide how to fill the crucial third spot.

What would you do in Marcus’s position? Should he extend an olive branch, go for experience, and risk a resentful ex-candidate holding the team back? How should he negotiate rewarding his supporters? What factors do you think take priority when assembling a team after an election?