It is hard to not find articles, editorials or social media posts on leadership abilities in our world today. Everybody seems to have an opinion and most often, “they” seem to articulate a negative perspective of the job being done. We have witnessed some of the worst leadership internationally, nationally and provincially during this pandemic, but to be fair, we’ve also witnessed some of the very best in this time of crisis. Unfortunately, we focus much more on the negative aspects of leadership instead of holding high and celebrating the many positive impacts of great leaders.
While I certainly don’t support many of the recent decisions made by government officials, I also need to recognize that we are in a crisis currently and not everybody can lead in a crisis. But maybe even more important, is that leadership is extremely difficult and not everyone can be a leader. Arm chair critics usually have no “skin in the game” and so it is easy for them to condemn decisions made by leaders.
What most of those arm chair critics fail to realize is that put in the same position they would likely fail miserably and in fact, have outcomes far less desirable than the current state.
I think there is a right to expect our leaders to act with honesty and integrity, be focused on service, not self-serving and not have an arrogant attitude. Those characteristics should be cornerstone to our leaders and if not evident, then we should be vocal (respectably) about our displeasure. But there is a difference between addressing character flaws and simply attacking someone because of a tough decision needing to be made.
Leaders, always need to make tough decisions and some are just not that popular…period! Poor leaders tend to make poor decisions and worse, weak leaders make no decisions. The unfortunate part of this is that while we may be frustrated with our leadership, most of the public would be poor or weak leaders at best! Opposition parties in politics tend to get voted out of power because they weren’t that good either!!!
In most cases, leadership like many roles in life are experiential, you have to live in them before you truly understand them. Have you ever heard a non-parent give a parent advice on raising his/her own children? The general public loves to comment on what they believe a teacher does on a daily basis simply because they’ve gone to school and you know how that is received. There are exceptions, but getting advice from one who has “not walked a mile in your shoes” tends to ring pretty hollow.
One of the advantages I had as a Superintendent of Schools is that I’d experienced the life of a teacher from K-12, taught provincial achievement test and diploma exam classes, been both a vice principal and principal as well as held a number of different portfolios in senior administration. All those experiences didn’t make me an expert but certainly provided me with a first hand look at the positions and ultimately the decisions required at the level. Even my closest colleagues didn’t fully understand the complexity of my role because they had not lived it.
So while I don’t believe we should tolerate the bad behaviour we have witnessed in some of our political or other leaders, I also don’t believe we should simply hang them out to dry because they are making tough decisions. If we want better leaders, we need to provide them an opportunity to be vulnerable and allow them to say a mistake has been made without crucifying them. Any of us would want the same given the option. So I think we should continue to be hold our leaders and politicians to a high standard but always through a fair lens. Pointing fingers when you really have no idea what the magnitude of the position is…well that’s just ignorant… which by the way is a trait you’d not approve of for yourself as a leader!
