As I write this, we are a little less than a week away from the 2024 Presidential Election. While I have asked the question “Is this really the best we have” for the past couple of election cycles, it has, in my opinion, really been an incredibly appropriate query for this cycle. It also undoubtedly influenced this post.

I am a leader.

There is so much to unpack from those four words. If you are reading this, you are probably a leader in some way too. Whether at your company, in your industry, in your church or community, in your family or household, you probably are seen as a leader, whether you want that title or not. Believe me, there are days where I don’t want the title. There are days when I am proud to carry it.

The problem I see facing leaders today, certainly not just political leaders, is that the constant visibility and critique makes people not want the responsibility. I believe that when good people begin to turn from leadership roles because it isn’t worth the hassle, a leadership vacuum is created. This is a monumental problem that needs to be addressed because what fills the space created by that vacuum is rarely good.

Some of my closest friends are police officers. They are retiring, or outright just quitting, in droves. As soon as they can retire, they do. What was once an admired and respected profession (and still is for people like me) has become one, whether through policy or vilification in media, where the people doing it for the right reasons are leaving because it isn’t worth the effort. The problem with that is when the people who are there for the right reason leave, all that is left is the people there for the wrong reason(s). Thus begins a vicious cycle.

Now, take that and apply it to politics, business, trade association leadership, and anywhere else you want.

Leadership should be without agenda. Leadership should be about we when credit is given and me when blame is taken, not the other way around. Leadership should not be boastful or arrogant. Leadership should be humble. Leadership should not seek to belittle other people or their opinions, but also not compromising of their own opinions. Leaders should be respectful of everyone, even if their opinions are different. Leaders should be candid, yet tactful. Leaders should not be worshipped or idolized. Leaders should be focused on the long game, not the headlines or headwinds of the moment.

Does that mean that leaders are infallible? Of course not. I might argue that a good leader is one that has failed and learned from those failures so they can be better tomorrow. The good Lord knows I have failed more times than I can count. Yet, often, those failures, especially for people in the public eye, are blown completely out of proportion.

Nothing that we are seeing today is really new, by the way. George Washington stepped away from the Presidency after two terms because he was afraid that people would want to make him a king. And they did want to do so. The painting in the dome of the US Capitol is called The Apotheosis of Washington. Apotheosis is greek for “make a God of”. Fortunately, he was the kind of leader that I described above, and set the example for a little over 150 years until Presidential term limits became part of the US Constitution after the death of FDR.

At this point I think I am rambling on about it, but the point of the story is, we have a leadership vacuum in this country, at many different levels. I believe that vacuum exists more because the right people don’t want to deal with the bullshit rather than the wrong people are the best we have. Until we fix that, well, our leadership will just suck (pun totally intended).