Everyone is going to have a different take on President Barack Obama’s inaugural address. Time magazine wondered beforehand, like so many, if it would be “one for the ages.” What jumped out at me wasn’t the historical context, but something a lot more basic that I’ve experienced before.

It was the vision of a new leader for the people he is now leading, the new boss setting the tone for the people he needs to actually get the work done.

In fact, I thought it was telling that Obama specifically focused on the strength of the American workforce and what has been accomplished in spite of the economic difficulties we currently face: “We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth,” he said. “Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished.”

I’ve heard a lot of these kinds of speeches given by all sorts of new business leaders—by the new CEO, division vice president, or even the acting department head. And, I’ve given a few myself, although never, ever with the kind of rhetorical style and power that a Barack Obama can muster. All of them, however, follow a time-honored pattern and generally are designed to do three key things:

1. To specifically encourage the workforce by first acknowledging the critical skills and talents that they collectively bring to the table;

2. To give a strong sense of the very real challenges and struggles that are ahead and must be overcome; and,

3. To encourage and unite the team with a strong sense of common purpose in the task at hand and the very real work that must be done.

Obama did all of these things in a brief, 20-minute speech that set the tone for both how he will lead as the new boss, and for what he will need from those who toil in the trenches.

“Our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions—that time has surely passed,” he said. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America. For everywhere we look, there is work to be done.”

There will certainly be those who quibble with Obama’s speech and gripe about what he said and how he said it, and historians will surely still be parsing every phrase for meaning long after all of us are gone.

Yes, there are political and historical elements of Barack Obama’s inaugural address that will be discussed and debated for a long time to come. Of that, we can be sure. One thing about his speech is undeniable—he clearly showed that as the new boss, he wanted to set a new tone and lay the groundwork for all of us to follow.

And like all bosses trying to get the rank and file to buy into the need to change, he’ll find that although this is a critically important step, it’s the easiest one of all. The really hard work of transforming the workforce is yet to come.

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