Leadership

On November fourth, we, the people of the United States, witnessed an unprecedented election as the first African-American man was chosen to be our next president. Welcome, President-elect Barack Obama.

John McCain has slowly gained my support throughout this campaign. I respect the fact that he is a war veteran. Even more I respect the fact that he is a torture victim that returned home with his honor. But nothing he has said or done has had more of an effect on me than his concession speech given in Arizona. I haven’t seen or cared about very many elections, as I am still fairly young. However, from what I understand, concession speeches often lack sincerity and depth and are little more than a formality. Tonight however, I heard a very sincere plea directed at the American people. Support your new President!

I can understand why it must have been confusing for supporters of McCain to hear their candidate build up his former bitter opponent as he did. After months of very critical, negative and down-right dirty campaigning, it is a bit odd to hear anything positive or hopeful. But I don’t think that is any excuse to “boo” as McCain’s crowd did upon mention of President-elect Obama. The behavior of the crowd didn’t diminish my opinion of McCain in any way -- he did silence them -- but such behavior concerns me greatly. I’m not sure where or when it originated, but such behavior perfectly characterized the attitude that exists in American politics. We’re all a bunch of sore losers.

Why is this damaging?

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity to lead a group of about 20 of my peers toward a religious goal. As their leader I was expected to maintain the highest standards of behavior and conduct. I was supposed to lead by example just as much (if not more) as by my words. I found this to be very difficult. Yes, I was more experienced than most of those that I led, but I was far from perfect. I knew about my imperfection all too well. On various occasions I was caught in the act of doing something that I should not have been doing. Getting caught doing the very things you’re preaching against is not fun. In many ways, I was not practicing what I preached. I appeared a hypocrite. It was never anything big but I didn’t like being caught doing ANYTHING bad.

In these moments of public guilt I would make a decision on how to react. I could have given excuses to those that I led hoping they wouldn’t think me any less of a leader. I could have told them that I was allowed to do what I wanted because I was the boss. I could have lied about doing anything wrong. Or I could have admitted to wrong-doing, apologized and corrected my action. I am fully aware that the choice was mine to make. I was responsible for my actions then and cannot blame any poorly made decisions on anybody. But I also know what would have made the correct reaction easier.

When a leader acts imperfectly, he fears what those below him will think. Will they still listen to me? Will they justify themselves in doing wrong based on my actions? This fear is an added stress that is not needed or welcome. Fear is the antithesis of leadership. How much more effective would it have been for somebody to walk up to me and say, “Jared, don’t worry. We know you’re trying your best and we trust you to keep trying. Here are some suggestions that you might try out. You have our support. What can we do to help you?”
In our country, we have a way of defacing those that we don’t agree with. Instead of saying, “I don’t agree with you and here’s why…,” we tend to say, “you’re a moron and here’s why…” Yet we wonder why nobody respects the office of the President anymore.

When it comes down to it, the judgment of a leader should only be two-fold. Does he have a vision to accomplish good things for us? What consequences will be brought about due to his actions? We have to realize that there is more than one way to reach most goals. And while it may be true that one way is more efficient than the other, contention and division is much worse than inefficiency. If our nation doesn’t choose our way, and the alternative isn’t going to bring us to our knees, we should buck up and support the alternative. Yes, there are certain initiatives and propositions that would bring us to our knees, but these are in the minority by far.

The President of the United States will NEVER be able to please all those that he leads. To expect this of him is ignorant. We must expect to not get our way sometimes. Unfortunately, too many expect to win every time. Thus, we see a lot of unnecessary pouting and whining.

This pouting and whining does two things. First and foremost, it makes our nation appear as a group of snotty teenagers that didn’t get Daddy’s car tonight. Second, it insults and defaces the president, putting him on the defensive. Instead of worrying about how to improve our country, he’s worrying about his approval ratings.

Please understand that I do not believe that the President should be free to do as he pleases, for he is not a dictator. I believe that in order for a dictator to rise the only thing that needs to happen is for good people to do nothing. Just understand that in my eyes, the defamation of our President does not count as “something”. Our country was set up with a system of checks and balances in order to prevent any leader from acting against the will of the people. Whether it be through a petition or a letter to a congressman, when united and organized we have a great deal of power. We should act with intelligence rather than irrelevance.