A Few Thoughts On Leadership In the Era of a Donald Trump Presidency!

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By Ron Signore

Growing up, the word “leader” was often brought to my attention. It always started with a look at consequence in the comparison of what you would do in times of deciding right and wrong.

The most common phrase may be the time tested, “If your friends jump off a bridge, are you going to?” The rhetorical question with almost no uncertainty would be answered with something along the lines of be a leader, not a follower. The simple concept of doing what is right when faced with what to do. This is arguably the most basic and common principle of leadership many people will face in their lives.

Then things get deeper as we examine what is “right?” We look at leaders faced with more complex decisions. Leaders that require skills to be developed in many areas to be effective. The consequences of a leader’s decisions at this stage can affect lives on a much larger stage.

A man like Adolf Hitler was a leader. Arguably, he was the most powerful leader in the 20th century. That has been said time and time again throughout the past 75+ years, and the look of shock, or offense, that comes across the face of listeners is still that of disbelief.

The question that immediately follows is always something along the lines of how anyone can depict Hitler a powerful leader? The reaction is almost certainly based on the perception that there is an association of “powerful,” and “leader,” to the word “great!” Furthermore, perception of “great” having some sort of angelic presence, when indeed the it has nothing to do with good and evil. We all know the consequences to Hitler’s leadership in genocide and the realization of catastrophic damage to the nation of Germany which took decades to rebuild.

How did he get the German people to that point? From a high level, he transferred a belief that the most common of people look for in their everyday lives: blame on someone else. The knowledge was accepted, and a perception of the citizens not full-blooded German became the focal point and a hatred passion was acted upon. Kind of ironic when you consider Hitler was not 100% German. But nonetheless, this became the view of what “Patriotism” was for German’s during Hitler’s rise.

While Hitler rose in a government that he virtually reformed, in the United States, we decide who the leader at the top of the chain will be by casting a vote. Unfortunately, while it is our right and civic duty to do so, not every person voices their hopes through the process. This leads to a divided country that is supposed to stand united. In the most recent case, 2016, the appointed President from our democratic process was someone who ran on the slogan “Make America Great Again,” (MAGA). This slogan caught people with a similar perception of what “Patriotism” meant.

In the 3+ years current President, Donald Trump, has been in office; we have seen time and time again parallels to the reign of Hitler. Do not get me wrong, there is no evidence to the extent of genocide out of a maliciousness or sense of nationalism like a Hitler Germany. However, there is a lack of skill set to lead a nation as we see a country becoming more and more divided and over 105K citizens deceased due to incompetency in managing a pandemic.

His actions daily give the exact opposite perception of the skills a leader should have. Every single decision he makes has a consequence, yet, he has surrounded himself with people out of loyalty for roles that require competency. How can someone so grossly unfit lead the greatest nation in the world? The perception of nationalism pulls at the heart strings of pride within people. MAGA to some is the symbol of the greatness that the USA represents. It is distinctly clear the USA is in a very delicate stage right now with a pandemic that has no battle plan for cessation, and riots due to racial injustice.

The right leadership skills would be to make choices that would bring good will and unification to each of the country’s citizens. Instead, significantly like the Hitler reign, Trump stifles the media and spreads misinformation, which can only be characterized as paranoid propaganda. What is worse is the delusional messages are put out into the world via a platform completely up for interpretation, social media. These thoughts turn into unfounded conspiracies, childish name calling and a false sense of stability. This immaturity reaches many people who buy into the support of MAGA being the national symbol of greatness.

These supporters believe in tradition without need for change. Many instances, there is a hypocrisy factor that can be called out. Kneeling for the National Anthem over a cry for racial injustice demonstrated by police brutality has these MAGA supporters up in arms. Why? It is a right protected by the flag of which people kneel. Simple, it is perceived one is not respecting the symbol our soldiers fought and died to protect. When the reality is, they fought and died for our freedoms to act within the guidelines of the Bill of Rights of the Constitution. The discrediting of the media propelled by the paranoid messaging of the President generates a deep divide in the country with the perception of Nationalists’ vs anti- Americans. Anyone who challenges long standing traditions gets labeled an Anti-American.

These challenged beliefs stem from a root of racism and generate a perception of weakness. Those who stand for beliefs of the greater good of people or change slanderously are presumed to not support our soldiers or are willing to somehow not be America. Though this divide has been growing worse and worse over the last 20 years, it is the lack of leadership we see from the current administration led by President Trump that is sending our country back to one of the most infamous time periods of our nation where social injustice separated the country, the years between the end of WWII and the quagmire in Vietnam.

During that time, one of the most brilliant leaders brought a message of peace so simple, yet so misused by many: equality. That leader was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When our forefathers won our freedom from England in 1776, one message was clear- all men were created equal. Yet as time grew on from that, our country saw the consistent decline of the value of human life for the African American. We went through slavery and segregation. Groups were created to exercise the nationalism belief that the United States was for white people only, most infamously, the Ku Klux Klan. This group used tactics that brought violence and hatred that led to a perception of inequality.

Martin Luther King led many on the principle of people should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. The brilliance of his leadership was using America’s freedoms to exercise his point. Protests were organized, speeches were given and over time, the message would become more and more received. White politicians started integration policies and we started seeing progress from the work of Dr. King that extended long after his death. Nothing was perfect and expressions of racism have popped up time and time again to this point in time.

The biggest difference socially between now and the 1960’s is the modernization of laws and acceptance is more widely spread. With the latest trigger of injustice, the death of George Floyd, we find leadership driving backwards to a segregated America. Though this time it is not necessarily by the color of one’s skin, but rather political ideology being the main testament of difference. Instead of stepping up and driving a resolution of unity and peace, President trump draws his line in the sand and sends messages of blame to those of the opposite political party and doubles down with threats of military use to control protests. The loss of control sent our leader down to a secret bunker for protection and the rest is yet to play out.

There is no doubt in my mind that Trump thinks his decisions in leadership are right. However, like Hitler, we see the consequences driving our great country to a place of civil unrest and a lack of trust in leadership. While the basics of leadership cause movement in ideas or actions, the piece that is missing currently in the United States that can measure a good leader is accountability. A leader is accountable for their decisions, all of them. The ones with great outcomes and the ones with deep consequence. When the message is twisted and turned to only project great outcomes, even when false, you lose your credibility as a leader and simply become a tyrant. Tyrants lose control and rebellions form to a revolution.

When millions of lives are at stake, their freedoms, and their futures, you need a leader to drive a prosperous peace. Not every decision will be perfect, or have the most positive outcome, but their decisions will be based on what is best for all affected. Their decisions outcomes or consequence will he held with the leader. This is the hope for change we have and need right now as a country. We have the opportunity in November to put a leader in the White House and remove a Tyrant.

Joe Biden is that hope.

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