At a time when social norms and expectations of moral character and good conduct have eroded, the Election season brings on a renewed hope of re-establishing what we want to see in our leaders. Our standards are much higher for our President and future Presidents when it comes to character. What makes a good leader? Do all leaders and Presidents past and present have the same character stack?
In the last 20 years, empathy has permeated the culture, an empathy revolution in fact, perhaps as the leading social energy that blead over from all the anti-bullying phenomena in schools, work places and other institutions. Empathy is the new fashion. BUT empathy is essentially an emotional state. It is not something you can emulate and you certainly can not teach it. It is of course a human quality that few may not have but the way empathy is manifest varies with every person and yet today among more left-leaning voters, it is the prevailing benchmark for judging if someone is capable of making good decisions. Remember, empathy is an emotional state. I would hate to depend on a President’s empathy on a daily basis to lead our country.
The main complaint about Donald Trump has been that he does not show empathy. Is empathy on the top 10 must haves for a leader? Here is what Steve Jobs said about leadership:
“Management is about persuading people to do things they do not want to do, while leadership is about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could.”
Persuasion or inspiring does not require empathy. Does someone like Trump need to feel a connection with someone to persuade them? Does he need empathy to inspire someone do the impossible? No he does the impossible therefore he inspires the same.
Deep Patel former Forbes contributor describes great leadership:
1. Self-Managing
2. Acting Strategically
3. Being An Effective Communicator
4. Being Accountable And Responsible
5. Setting Clear Goals And Persisting In Achieving Them
6. Having A Vision For The Future
7. Managing Complexity
8. Fostering Creativity And Innovation
9. Team Building And Promoting Teamwork.
10. Creating Lasting Relationships
11. Learning Agility
Empathy is not on the list but it doesn’t mean it does not have an integral place in leadership. The problem is that no one can judge wether someone is empathetic or not. Empathy is a good quality but is not necessary for effective leadership. Empathy makes a great social worker, parent, friend or an AA counselor. With that said what has made Biden appealing to anyone who did not vote for Trump? Empathy: He seems to have empathy. He speaks empathetically to his credit but is a hallmark of leadership? Look at it this way: The main reason people are turned off Trump’s leadership is for his lack of “showing” empathy (NOT required for leadership) and the only reason Biden appealed to some, was for his "empathy" (the only quality NOT required in a leader).
Time Magazine wrote a good article on common traits of historic world leaders that included: Energy, Ability to plan and Adapt, A Great Memory, Luck, Understanding Public Sentiment Well-timed Unreasonableness, Steady Nerves, Inspiring Persistence and so on. Empathy is included but not an absolute prerequisite for being a great leader:
It is perhaps more important to look at outcomes and how systems set in place reveal a President’s character rather than the rule of empathy, as “A prophet is never accepted in his home town” Luke 4:16. The question we might ask— could Trump have brokered a peace deal with UAE and Israel without having some form of empathy? Is national security not important to him to want to keep our country safe, free of unnecessary wars and be energy independent?
It will take some time to raise our collective emotional IQ to find empathy where we least expect it. When we do, we will have found that great empathy is found in people who display it the least and move people deeply through action by negotiating and finding out what is the desire of a people. That is the kind of leadership that we should seek in a future President.