Someone recently asked me about my thoughts on Leadership. There are many important qualities in a leader. Here qualities that need more emphasis.
Humility
A leader should be willing to learn. Hubris is the downfall of individuals as well as nations.
A Good Follower
What leader can expect his or her followers to take their lead when it is obvious that they don’t follow their leaders? Does a legislator seriously expect the laws they pass to command respect when they ignore law?
Driven by Passion, not Anger
“Beware of those who stir us up to such anger that calm reflection and charitable feelings are suppressed.” (Robert S. Wood, April 2006)
Long Term Thinker
A leader abandon principles and long term goals for short term political gain.
For example, I don’t always like what the Supreme Court does but I’m not in favor of abolishing the court because its current decision goes against my interests or beliefs.
Many of our nations current problems stem from political expediency. A leader won’t damage respect for the law even when the “law” does not favor their current agenda. They will seek to change the law rather than ignore or subvert it. For example, many of the problems we now have with illegal immigration are the result of our “leaders” in Washington ignoring the law for political expediency.
I once read the Constitution of the United States of Mexico. (Until then I was unaware that that was the official name of Mexico.) It is similar to our constitution. Most written constitutions in the world are patterned after ours. Why is our nation exceptional? Not because we have a written constitution but because, at least in the past, we have respected the rule of law and we have followed the law even when it was not in our own self interest. Do we want to become just another third-world country? If we sell respect for the rule of law for short term expediency then that is what we will become.
Encourages Self-Government
“Self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments.” (D. Todd Christofferson, October 2009)
If we can’t be kind, respectful neighbors then we will have an ever increasing number of restrictive city ordinances.
Respect for All
A good leader focuses on the challenges, not those that challenge them. We waste time and energy we question other’s motives instead of looking for answers. Certainly questionable motives exist but it is not our job to judge.
“Ambition, avarice, personal animosity, party opposition, and many other motives not more laudable than these, are apt to operate as well upon those who support as those who oppose the right side of a question.” (Federalist Papers, No.1)
The focus in any public forum should be on issues and principles. Respect and civility should permeate all public discourse. (My perspective is, admittedly, LDS. But I think these principles are common to most religions. The Mormon Ethic of Civility) Although our community is predominately LDS we are blessed by those of other faiths that live with us. Some of our best citizens, those that work the hardest for the benefit of our community, are not LDS. I’m saddened when I see or hear people put minorities of any kind. That is not christian behavior and it is beneath the dignity of anyone that claims to be a Latter-day Saint.
Willing to stand alone
A good leader gets input and learns from everyone. For example, in deciding what should be in the community park a good leader will listen closely to every citizen. However, in questions of right and wrong, in matters of justice he cares more about what is right than in what is popular. The good leader is willing to stand alone to defend the rights of a single individual even when everyone else is against them.
And for anyone that would like something to ponder I recommend the following passage. The language is heavy and I had to hear it read before I could understand it. But it says a lot about politicians and I recommend its principles to every voter considering a candidate.
An over-scrupulous jealousy of danger to the rights of the people, which is more commonly the fault of the head than of the heart, will be represented as mere pretense and artifice, the stale bait for popularity at the expense of the public good. It will be forgotten, on the one hand, that jealousy is the usual concomitant of love, and that the noble enthusiasm of liberty is apt to be infected with a spirit of narrow and illiberal distrust. On the other hand, it will be equally forgotten that the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty; that, in the contemplation of a sound and well-informed judgment, their interest can never be separated; and that a dangerous ambition more often lurks behind the specious mask of zeal for the rights of the people than under the forbidden appearance of zeal for the firmness and efficiency of government. History will teach us that the former has been found a much more certain road to the introduction of despotism than the latter, and that of those men who have overturned the liberties of republics, the greatest number have begun their career by paying an obsequious court to the people; commencing demagogues, and ending tyrants. (Federalist Papers, No. 1)
