Lack of National Leaders
Lee Iacocca wrote a book this year entitled “Where Have All The Leaders Gone”? In the book, Iacocca takes acceptance to the present day politicians that are running our country. And with good reason. The book was written well before anyone ever knew about or could possible have predicted the economic tsunami that has it’s beginning in the United States and seems to be plundering the entire global economy into a recession. The United States sees itself as a world leader, but yet we led the rest of the world into a financial disaster of unprecedented historic proportions. What the final results will be from this economic collapse is impossible to foretell. But I can tell you what led us to this point; pure, unadulterated greed stemming from our leaders that have pointed us in the wrong direction.
If you look up the word “leadership” in the dictionary, it means to “guide” or ”provide direction”. That’s what leadership is supposed to do. Great leaders motivate us and inspire us to reach our full potential through higher principals and moral, ethical behavior. And the best way to lead is through example. But if you take a look around at our so called “heroes” and ”role-models”, you’ll find out what our leaders really are pushing. Who and what you worship says everything about you, and in the United States of American, money, fame and quick fortune have replaced God, ethics and morals and hard-work. Americans have grown up and become so indoctrinated in a culture of more is better that we have lost our way. ”Success at any cost” is our new mantra and we’re spreading that message around the world like it’s the word of God.
When I think of our national leaders, I am reminded of the Hans Anderson story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, in which everyone was trying to pretend that they could see the Emperor’s clothes, when in reality, he was really naked. Our leadership is naked; they are nude of ideas, nude of direction and nude of humility. And we are all buying into the lie. The leadership in this country has us all convinced that all we need to fulfill our potential is bigger houses, newer cars and more money. But these things don’t lead to happiness, they only lead to gratification. And if you think about it, most of the things that provide us with gratification actually lead you away from long-term happiness and vice-a-versa.
It’s time to reshape our national culture of “more is better”. And I think the first place to begin is with term limits for Congress. The less our politicians are concerned with re-election, the more likely they will be focused on leading and serving their constituency, and less likely they are to be seduced by the siren songs of money, fame and fortune that seem to be the ubiquitous beck and call of Washington politics.
Developing Leaders
It can be argued that the most successful companies are also the firms that turn out the most leaders. Harvard, for instance, develops an inordinate amount of our country’s leaders, and of course, Harvard is one of our country’s most notably successful programs of educational excellence. You might argue that Harvard is, by nature of being an educational institution, in the business of developing students into leaders. But I will argue that so is every other school that Harvard competes against and most of them don’t turn out nearly as many leaders.
Leadership is a rare trait. I’m tempted to say that leadership is rare in these days and times, but honestly, if you study history, great leaders have always been in short supply. Being the head of an organization does not automatically qualify you as a leader. And vice-a-versa, the fact that you may not head up your department or your office or your firm does not disqualify you from assuming a leadership position. Leaders can come from all walks of life. Anyone can be a leader if they so desire. All that is required is a concrete set of ethical behaviors, moral standards and emotional intelligence.
My point is not to belabor what constitutes leadership qualities, but rather to impress the importance of developing future leaders. I believe that in order for a business to be successful, it must first and foremost focus a majority of its resources on leadership development.
Yes, it’s true that the first order of business for any and all enterprises is survival, and for most businesses, that means economic sustainability. Profitability is the life-blood of most organizations and must be high on the list of priorities. But I want to point out that most small businesses operate on the assumption that profitability is the chicken and everything else that comes after it is the egg. How do we know that leadership isn’t the chicken and profitability isn’t the egg? Maybe the products and services that our businesses render are not really the main products and services that we think we render. Maybe our main product is really leadership and leadership development. And perhaps by focusing on developing leaders within our businesses we can increase our firms productivity, market share and profits. After all, wouldn’t most of your prospective customers rather engage with a person whom displays extraordinary leadership abilities?
