Leadership Characteristics
What characteristics are we looking for in our political leaders?
We are often tricked into believing that skilled and passionate public speakers are smart people. Those two qualities don’t always go hand-in-hand. For this reason, it’s difficult to determine if candidates have the brainpower needed to thrive in a national leadership role. Many prospective employers use tests to assess the mental skills of prospective employees. Even the National Football League uses a test to assess the cognitive capabilities of their draft prospects. Surprisingly, there are no such tests required for the people who will be managing our nation. This requires us to thoroughly analyze the backgrounds of candidates. We must ask questions like where did they complete their undergraduate and graduate degree programs; what subjects did they study; were they academically superior; have they succeeded in their professional lives before entering politics; are their professional experiences consistent with a role as a national leader who must make highly stressful and life-changing decisions; what challenges have they overcome in their lives; and what are their IQs and emotional IQs?
We must become a nation that thinks not in terms of election cycles but in terms of generations. Are the candidates we’re considering, people who can and who are willing to see beyond their immediate term and into the distant future?
Since our leaders will face many complicated domestic and international issues, are they experienced in areas like economics, finance, international relations and negotiations, the US Constitution, science and technology, history, and problem solving?
At the federal level, in addition to domestic issues, our leaders must deal with global issues. Are our leaders well-studied on the histories and current affairs of non-US nations? Are they well-traveled? Have they successfully interacted with and negotiated with senior professionals of non-US nations?
Our political landscape on both sides has been dominated by venom and hate. Our leaders find it totally acceptable to sling unfounded accusations, to name-call, and make misrepresentations about opposition party members. Approaching politics this way places insurmountable barriers in the path of bi-partisan decision-making, makes it impossible for our electorate to see things as they actually are and make informed decisions, and it makes us look completely divided on the international stage. We must have leaders who can bring civil and reasoned debate back into politics. Are the candidates we’re considering extremists who cannot see beyond their rage or are they reasoned thinkers and civil communicators?
We’re one nation, not two. As citizens, our allegiance must be to our nation, not to our party. Global competition is too fierce and the risks to our way of life are too pronounced for us to be crippled by political extremism. For the sake of our generation and generations to come, we must have leaders who put the interests of our nation above their personal interests or the interests of their parties. This will require people of resilience and courage.
Corruption and self-dealing have dominated politics for too long. Corruption means that our leaders can be leveraged and manipulated by criminals and by other nations. And, corruption diminishes the image of our nation on the world stage. We must usher in a new era of incorruptible leaders of honesty and integrity who will selflessly dedicate their time and energy toward building a great nation for us all.
Our leadership seems to be dominated by people who lock into whatever narrative will yield the most votes without adhering to underlying facts. We have leaders who publicly express their opinions and conclusions seemingly without understanding the situations or relevant information needed to support those opinions and conclusions. Worse yet, some of our leaders spin facts and create their own narratives to support their agendas; simply, they lie. Since these leaders often have large followings who hang on their every word, either approach is dangerous. We hire representatives to represent our interests. We depend upon our representatives to deeply consider all the facts and both sides of each issue or situation. Then, after doing so, we expect them to make the right decisions, regardless of whether those decision are easy or popular, and regardless of whether those decisions are consistent with their personal agendas. If their decisions are based upon incomplete or false information, or if they use lies to justify their decisions, they’re not representing us. We need leaders who begin their analysis of situations and issues without bias, without taking sides, without intentionally driving the outcome in a specific direction. We need leaders who will ask the hard and unpopular questions until they discover the truth. Then, after discovering the truth, have the courage to report that truth to us, even if doing so means that they’ll lose votes. In other words, we need leaders who are people of honor, humility, and courage.
Our nation has become viciously divided by political extremism. Republicans and democrats are at war with each other, and our nation is suffering for it. While this is certainly fueled by self-interested politicians, it’s equally fueled by self-interested news professionals. It seems that extreme political positions drive ratings, and ratings drive money. The fundamental problem with extreme political leaders is that they cannot represent their entire constituency. A representative who is far to the left or far to the right cannot represent the interests of the other side and can barely represent the interests of the middle. The advantage of politically moderate representatives is that they are typically more open-minded, and they’re positioned to understand and represent both sides. While there is certainly a place in politics for political extremists, we must carefully consider whether there’s a place for them in the US Congress or the Presidency.
Yes. While it seems like we’re asking a lot to find future leaders with all these characteristics and capabilities, it is not impossible. Consider that we live in a highly diverse nation of around 330 million people, we have the best university system in the world, and we’re truly a land of opportunity where citizens can gain the broadest and deepest experiences this world has to offer. Surely, we have a few hundred qualified candidates to fill our US Congress and Presidency.
Yes, of course, the challenge is in finding them. This is challenging because of our process. As citizens, when voting for candidates, even though we have 330 million people, we’re not actually selecting from 330 million people; we’re selecting from two or three who have bubbled up to the top. Now, if the bubbling-up process were based upon the qualities we’re seeking, this process would be tolerable. But, the filtering process that produces our final two or three choices is based almost entirely upon popularity. This means that our top candidates are compelling public speakers, exceptional self-promoters, extreme on one or two popular issues, or a combination of all three. This typically leaves us with all bad choices. Faced with all bad choices, we choose the least bad choice. Then, once the least bad choice is selected, the least bad choice joins the ranks of a few hundred other least bad choices, and this collection of least bad choices runs our nation.
Another approach is to mimic what successful companies do to find the right leadership to guide their enterprises into the future, which are grooming and recruiting. Yes, of course, our political parties are doing this today, but they’re doing it poorly (as evidenced by the current results).