What Makes a President?
...not limited to 'frogs and snails and puppy dog tails', nor 'sugar and spice and everything nice'...
Answering this question is a tall order, and one I’m sure many people want answered by tips on how to win an election. But that’s not where I’m going. I’m talking about what I think a president should be. People won’t agree with me wholeheartedly, I’m sure, but these are the skills and character traits I think are necessary to make a good president of any organization.
Once upon a time, when people acted like everything was far simpler than it was, there was a pair of sayings used in childhood.
What are little boys made of? Frogs and snails and puppy dog tails.
What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and everything nice.
…an oversimplified way of categorizing what kind of behavior was expected from the two genders.
Well, things were never like that, even when society claimed they were.
Life is much more complex, and people are made up of all sorts of things. That’s why some people are better suited to certain jobs while others are better suited to, well, other jobs. And that’s a good thing, because while a well-functioning world requires all jobs be done properly (okay, I know we’ll never meet that standard), jobs require different skills and personality traits.
If you’ve lived long enough, I probably don’t have to prove that to you, so we’re taking it as a premise. If you don’t get it, please take a look at the different skills required of car mechanic and a car seller. One must know how a car is put together and what makes it work and be capable of beating an engine part into submission to fit. (I don’t recommend that’s the way to do it, but hey, it’s a strength.) The other doesn’t need to know an impact wrench from an Allen wrench. Instead, knowledge of a car’s capabilities and how to handle people are better tools for the car sales person.
So, what are we looking for in leadership? What do we expect a president of an organization (countries included) to be like?
First of all, they have to know how the job is done.
Does that qualification startle you? Did you think it went without saying?
Organizations founded on the idea of representation often—preferably usually—encourage their members to participate, including by running for office. At all levels. In theory this leads us to the thought that anyone can become a president. And that’s true. But, what the voting members need to look for is:
Does the candidate know how to run the organization?
Does the candidate know how things work, what the goals are and how to delegate properly to make sure things get done the way they are supposed to?
So many elections are based on promises, personality, and perception rather than qualifications, character, and history (by which I mean relevant experience.) Which leads me to my second qualification…
What is their overall character, in terms of ethics and morality?
Okay, I’m not referring to looking for a saint. Saints, generally speaking, don’t make good presidents. Their focus is usually serving the populace in sacrificial ways the rest of us couldn’t do (yes, I mean they’re basically better than the rest of us) and thus they are rewarded by being named saints. Not that I want a leader to be an anti-saint.
A president should be someone who strives to be virtuous, and even if the candidate fails to succeed at being virtuous, they should have the self-awareness to know that they fail and be able to work to do better. The website Virtues for Life lists over 70 virtues. Here are some I expect a good leader to acknowledge are worthwhile and to strive for with sincerity:
Commitment (to serving the membership)
Compassion (towards the members and those the organization deals with}
Cooperation (a willingness to work with others for the good of the organization)
Courage (of their convictions and for dealing with difficult situations)
Ethics (standards to live by that prioritize the right and honest way of treating people)
Honor (a determination to live life by doing what is right)
Fairness (using the same yardstick to judge others and events by; conducting oneself without extreme partisanship)
Flexibility (the ability to change one’s mind and path when warranted)
Forgiveness (the awareness that we are all not perfect and the willingness to forgive mistakes and to work with those who make them)
Honesty - do I really have to define this one?
Humility (the ability to realize that although they may be the best for the job and extremely talented, they need to also realize they are not perfect, and they need to not brag on themselves unduly)
Integrity (the determination live with honor and honesty, and to hold oneself strictly to that standard)
Justice (related to fairness, but with the goal of building fairness in any given situation through just application of the rules)
Kindness - if I need to define this one, I suggest you get counseling or go back and talk to your kindergarten teacher
Modesty (being able to talk about yourself and achievements without boasting or bragging and not needing to be the center of attention)
Patience (being able to wait for what you want; the opposite of ‘needing’ everything you want RIGHT NOW!)
Perseverance (being able to ‘keep at it’ to reach goals)
Reliability (being the person who can be counted on to carry out their plans, to be on time, to live up to promises)
Responsibility (this is two-fold: like reliability, responsibility is when you do what you have agreed to and fulfill what you have promised; the other is being willing to step up and claim responsibility when you have caused something to happen, even if—or especially if—you wish you hadn’t)
Service (despite the fact that members elect someone to a leadership office, the leader serves all the members of the organization by doing the job they were elected to do. They serve at the pleasure of the voters, and they serve all the members, even those who voted for someone else.)
Sincerity - Ok, this is one that you know when you see/hear it. You can tell from listening to what is said and observation of a person’s actions what is genuine. Actions will align with words when a person is sincere. Unfortunately, some people can be fooled by those who fake it. All the more reason to develop the ability to detect sincerity vs fakery.
Tact (taking care with words and actions so that they are productive and useful rather than inflammatory and off-putting)
Tolerance (the ability to ‘put up’ with something, despite how unpleasant it may seem personally ALONG WITH the ability to agree that humans are all different and deserve, within reason, tolerance of their behavior)
Trust (the condition of being someone who can be counted on to try to live up to their own ethics and standards and whose word can be relied upon,
Truthfulness - Unh-unh. Not defining this one. If you don’t know what it is, then I have little hope for you.
Understanding - the willingness to try on another’s experience and point of view so as to really relate to them, as well as the willingness to let some things you don’t truly understand, pass
This is fewer than 70 virtues. Do any of us practice even all these? I doubt it. But we should all be trying to, our whole life long. And anyone having presidency or leadership conferred upon them should be trying even harder. Virtues, like anything else, are developed and strengthened by constant, intentional practice. When a person’s character is virtuous, it is not difficult to see and identify.
As members of various organizations, we should be seeking out leaders who are truly trying to live their lives this way. It’s not just about platforms or preferences or even points of view. Our leaders are our representatives. They should reflect the best in us, not the worst. And they should be the most capable and qualified among us.
In the agony of change and discomfort, we have often turned to candidates we don’t really know to put in position of dealing for us and solving our problems. While we might not be able to understand the intricacies of a union or council or corporate board, we can understand whether or not a candidate is trying to live a virtuous life. We can tell if they are sincere. We can check their history. We can tell if their behavior is honorable or not.
Leadership is not easy. And history is full of leaders who started out trying to do right and who got mired in the chaos nations and organizations operate in. But, of all things, we should present and elect candidates who sincerely try.
I don’t think we’ve been paying enough attention to this. Let’s change that.