Leaders
Friends, I've been thinking a lot about this lately, and many of you probably have, too.
What makes a good leader?
I ask because our current predicament probably illustrates more what does NOT make for a good leader than what does. Yet we see a lot from people in positions of authority and responsibility, and a lot of it is pretty good.
I won't make this a laundry list of who's who in American politics or state offices or whatever, but let's just think of things that have made you take notice for all of the right reasons.
With the dual challenges of managing the coronavirus pandemic and now with many cities and states beset by extensive civic protests and unrest, we're seeing a lot of public activity. Much of it is positive, as the current crop of governors and large-city majors all seem to keep their overall tones in the positive end of the spectrum. And the common thread I keep seeing is that the ones I feel are most effective are the ones who are very open and transparent (a word that is overused but fits well here) with their citizens.
Some are also very quick to acknowledge that they're not experts in a certain area and are reliant on those who are. This seems especially true relative to the Covid-19 outbreak, as these elected officials are not, for the most part, medically trained. Leaving the expert analysis to the experts is generally a good tactic.
And these leaders appear to be decisive as well. For instance, in my home state of Kentucky, there was a large gathering in Louisville in protest to the death of an EMT whose house police had entered mistakenly. The protest stretched well into the night and eventually someone in the crowd fired at law enforcement and National Guard members. Some of them returned fire and a man was killed, though it's difficult to say if he was the person who fired first.
The leader of Louisville's government, Mayor Greg Fischer, was told the next morning by the chief of the metro police department that the officers on the scene did not have their body cameras activated, as had been the case in earlier tense situations. The mayor dealt with the matter expeditiously and relieved the police chief of his duties that morning. And told the media a short time later that he had done so, for specifically this reason.
Good leadership is seldom easy, of course.
I'm certain there are leaders among the protesters in so many cities, and they're likely the main reason that so many of these protests remain peaceful. Unfortunately, not all of them have. But some that could have escalated into less civil conduct were likely prevented from moving in this direction by some true leadership moments.
I have to interject that I've worked for an awful lot of managers, directors and vice-presidents in my career. A few were really great leaders, some were pretty good, a few were tolerable and many were downright inept. And I've been in leadership roles at numerous points in my career, and I always try to remember all of the lessons I've learned while on the receiving end of another person's leadership--both the good and the bad. Hopefully I'm as good a leader as I hope that I am.
Leaders lead, that's all there is to it. Let's hope the good ones can overcome the lesser ones in our current situation.
What makes a good leader?
I ask because our current predicament probably illustrates more what does NOT make for a good leader than what does. Yet we see a lot from people in positions of authority and responsibility, and a lot of it is pretty good.
I won't make this a laundry list of who's who in American politics or state offices or whatever, but let's just think of things that have made you take notice for all of the right reasons.
With the dual challenges of managing the coronavirus pandemic and now with many cities and states beset by extensive civic protests and unrest, we're seeing a lot of public activity. Much of it is positive, as the current crop of governors and large-city majors all seem to keep their overall tones in the positive end of the spectrum. And the common thread I keep seeing is that the ones I feel are most effective are the ones who are very open and transparent (a word that is overused but fits well here) with their citizens.
Some are also very quick to acknowledge that they're not experts in a certain area and are reliant on those who are. This seems especially true relative to the Covid-19 outbreak, as these elected officials are not, for the most part, medically trained. Leaving the expert analysis to the experts is generally a good tactic.
And these leaders appear to be decisive as well. For instance, in my home state of Kentucky, there was a large gathering in Louisville in protest to the death of an EMT whose house police had entered mistakenly. The protest stretched well into the night and eventually someone in the crowd fired at law enforcement and National Guard members. Some of them returned fire and a man was killed, though it's difficult to say if he was the person who fired first.
The leader of Louisville's government, Mayor Greg Fischer, was told the next morning by the chief of the metro police department that the officers on the scene did not have their body cameras activated, as had been the case in earlier tense situations. The mayor dealt with the matter expeditiously and relieved the police chief of his duties that morning. And told the media a short time later that he had done so, for specifically this reason.
Good leadership is seldom easy, of course.
I'm certain there are leaders among the protesters in so many cities, and they're likely the main reason that so many of these protests remain peaceful. Unfortunately, not all of them have. But some that could have escalated into less civil conduct were likely prevented from moving in this direction by some true leadership moments.
I have to interject that I've worked for an awful lot of managers, directors and vice-presidents in my career. A few were really great leaders, some were pretty good, a few were tolerable and many were downright inept. And I've been in leadership roles at numerous points in my career, and I always try to remember all of the lessons I've learned while on the receiving end of another person's leadership--both the good and the bad. Hopefully I'm as good a leader as I hope that I am.
Leaders lead, that's all there is to it. Let's hope the good ones can overcome the lesser ones in our current situation.
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