Partisanship and Unity: A Question of Priorities

Partisanship and Unity: A Question of Priorities

First off, I’ve recently started a new job back into local government. This time around, there actually are no real limitations to my political expression other than of course it has to be done on my own time and as a private citizen. Still, even if I CAN, there is the question if I SHOULD. In particularly, one of my ideas for a blog post was to focus on what I’ve seen are the problems with the current Republican Party. To be more (though not completely) neutral, and to be more holistic I’ll instead take a look at both major political parties, and the overall question we’re being faced with. It is the question of partisanship and unity at time where there is no clear answer and both will come with sacrifices.

A Few Examples of Growing Partisanship

1.       The Supreme Court: Whatever our personal partisanship, people seem to agree on the narrative that it was a circus. We may disagree on who played the role of clown, on who the victim is, on whose anger is justified. Regardless, the process itself was embarrassing. However, it is but another step in several partisan Supreme Court nominee processes. Before Kavanaugh, Justice Gorsuch was elected with a simple majority as opposed to what had been established as needing 60 votes. Before that Merrick Garland did not even get any official hearing.

2.       Lack of Common Friends/Enemies: The two times I have seen the country united in my lifetime was first with 9-11, and then with the death of Osama bin Laden. I’m not sure if there is a common enemy to be found today. When North Korea is treated like a long lost friend at the same time Canada was accused of stealing from us through unfair trade, it feels like a bit of a mess. Russia, Saudi Arabia, Europe, China, the lines feel more blurred than usual. Even domestically we are now in a time when literal, proud Nazis can wave the swastika and have the U.S. President say some of them are decent people.

3.       Questioning of Foundations: The Electoral College, the FBI, the Press are but a few of the institutions that have been questioned at a fundamental level over partisanship. There have been others questioned recently, and there will likely be more that have less to do with their inherent function, but more on their bias whether real or perceived. It forces them into the partisan debate whether they wish it or not.

But What is Partisanship?

The definition I’ll be going with among a few options is thus: a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person

We treat partisanship as a dirty word. Our very beginning as a country was compromise. Two Senators from every state, representation by population for the House, the Executive chosen by electorates that add the two together? The system was built on compromise, on unity first and foremost. It was not a Constitution built under one ideal belief system, but on being acceptable to multiple divergent perspectives.

Partisanship risks that unity. Too much of it rocks an imperfect often slapdash governance trying to balance, two, three, or even a thousand different viewpoints. And the rocking, that pushing the boundaries is rational, acceptable, and normal. It is not inherently right or wrong, good or evil. It is choosing a party, faction, cause, or person over the country as a whole because that whole is many things from beautiful to ugly, from brilliant to ignorant.

The Democrats

I see two things eating away at the foundations of the Democratic Party currently.

1.       Holding together a broken system: At some point the Democratic Party became the keepers of our flawed system. As the Republicans turned to anti-government rhetoric (more on this below), the Democrats came to defend government as a whole, the place of the public sector in society. The public sector holds purpose, it is necessary, but as stated before, it’s deeply flawed and imperfect and perhaps it will always be. Still, defending a weak castle invites defeat. Our institutions are human-led, and there will be mistakes made, and in those moments Democrats as they are will struggle as their defense of these flaws is highlighted.

2.        Populism in the Democratic Socialist movement: On the flip side the growing movement of democratic socialism that became more mainstream with Bernie Sanders in 2016, which is gaining more traction and champions as an alternative system is at the moment populist in nature. By populist, I mean a movement that defines itself as representing the common people against the elite or other, as being for good against a wrongness. Populism is powerful, it is dramatic, and most of the time it is factually wrong. No major decision, however well-intentioned and well-informed, no matter how expertly implemented and followed, will benefit all common people. There will be people who will be adversely affected with no fault of their own, it is the nature of having hundreds-of-millions of people in one country. So long as democratic socialism gives itself a romanticized role of David vs. Goliath, it risks losing sight of the nuances and consequences of hard decisions.

The Republicans

I see three main causes that are shaking the Republican Party.

1.       Defining government as the problem: I can empathize with certain aspects and applications of government being a problem. I can understand the wish to reduce government. I can respect having more faith in the private sector. What disturbs me is defining government as a whole as naturally, and without solution, the problem. It is like the CEO of an airline company saying planes are the problem with transportation, or the President of a fast food chain saying that meals should be done slower and people should wait and really savor it. Those are both valid opinions to have, only that those probably aren’t the people we want to have those opinions. When elected officials on a philosophical level don’t believe in the institution they are a part of, that they lead, when they see themselves as wardens trying to keep ‘the problem’ to a minimum, it is hard to govern well. It is hard to govern well when the very idea of governing well contradicts one’s belief.

2.       Lack of Information: The Republican Party has of late been cutting ties to traditional sources of knowledge. Academia, the Press, the scientific community, bureaucratic experts, other democracies, and so on. To be fair, this is a two way street and I honestly can’t say who threw the first metaphoric stone at the other, but it is leaving the Party with looking at nostalgia and feelings over history and evidence. It handicaps policy and implementation.

3.       The defense of bigotry: Most of the Republican Party are not white supremacists from the Alt-Right or KKK. However, I have seen many conservatives appear more offended, hold greater scorn for black men peacefully kneeling during their football games than they do for white men carrying torches and swastikas. Fighting back at liberals with “what about Black Lives Matter?” as if there is some sort of political equivalency, whether intended or not, protects an increasingly emboldened movement of bigotry. Claiming they’re beneath notice, that there are more pressing issues, or getting defensive is complicit. Kavanaugh highlighted the problem conservatives have with women too, a problem I only expect will grow as things are now.

We Cannot Have our Cake and Eat It

I cannot say whether partisanship or unity is the correct answer, because both hold merits and sacrifices. However, what I do see is that more, not less, decisions will come to us in the coming years, and I think it’s important for us to understand the choices we make. Is unity for the country as a whole worth sacrificing one or more of our causes? If so, which ones? Is partisanship over something truly important and vital to us worth widening the rifts between us? What boundaries will we set for ourselves? Will we stop at not breaking any laws? Will it be not to damage the integrity of our institutions? Will it be stopping just short of violence?

And perhaps these two goals, partisanship and unity, are not always so mutually exclusive. Perhaps there are people, causes, movements that ultimately can bring us more together. However, it’s not what I’ve seen of late, it’s not the direction(s) we’re heading in. We have let our passions get strong enough, our beliefs solidified enough, that it is worth disrupting the unity of America for many of us. And perhaps it’s the way it should be, but I do take a moment to question it and consider the full implications.

Vote

Which gets me to my only direct answer at the moment, because Lord knows if I didn’t feel so conflicted this blog post would look quite different. Voting is a way we can let our voice be heard in a way that is non-violent, that doesn’t require us to compromise, that can better show where we are at now as a country. Even if you live in a place where you know your vote won’t change the overall outcome, people are looking at the percentages. They are looking and making decisions from whether a race that should’ve gone 70/30 ends up 60/40, a measure that should’ve lost by a landslide gets close. While we all sort through this mess, which may take a generation or more to unravel, we can also vote.

VOTE.

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TAKE ACTION!

Vote.

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What’s Next?

The other two ideas I still have on deck for a blog post are my case for why bureaucracy gets a worse rep than it deserves, and my thoughts on being in an inter-cultural relationship will likely be my next topics I’ll cover. Maybe if some revelation comes from the Election I’ll post on it, but hopefully this post will be enough to share my political (and partisan) thoughts for the time being.  

The Ethics of Political Neutrality

The Ethics of Political Neutrality

Many, if not most of the jobs I applied to while looking for work from late 2016 to early 2018 would have had restrictions to what I can say politically in public. The International City Manager’s Association (ICMA) has its rules of ethics that include refraining from partisanship, and plenty of other public sector positions have similar rules or guidelines. When I was in the Peace Corps we were asked not to go into politics whether American or that of the country we served in.

Currently I have no such boundaries, but I think it’s worth exploring them regardless. This blog post will be about why it does serve us as a society for some roles, some organizations to remain politically neutral, and then move onto what I see as an increasing difficulty to be so.

Reconciling Political Neutrality with Freedom of Speech

Freedom of speech seems to be a very misunderstood right in America. Its origins can be found pre-Revolution, when speaking out against the King was a criminal act. Somehow between then and now many of us developed this idea that freedom of speech includes social and professional consequences as well, as if freedom means to be respected and taken seriously regardless of what we say, do, or think.

It doesn’t. Freedom of speech covers our right to express ourselves peacefully without being thrown in jail, fined, or some other action that robs us of our freedom in a much more literal sense.

Still, even if the First Amendment doesn’t protect a City Manager, Federal employee, or Peace Corps Volunteer from saying how much they think X controversial issue should be handled one way or another, there is still the spirit of the law. There is still the want for people to engage in political discourse to celebrate and strengthen our democracy. However, if democracy is a recipe, then it takes several ingredients to make it work. Whether we want to call it a pizza, salad, stew, or gluten-free-all-natural-free-range-non-GMO-whatever, it usually takes a few essential parts to make it work. Yes, we do need people to raise their voice. We need people enabled to be activists, to protest, to go to a Town Hall meeting. We also need people in a position of trust regardless of political leanings.

A Matter of Trust

Even in the best of times, in times when politics are less toxic and divisive, there is still some toxicity and divisiveness to it. Politics is the art of getting our way, and inevitably some people won’t get their way, often on matters that are important to us. When that happens, when citizens are let down, feel wronged, think the country is going in the wrong direction, it’s necessary that there is still some level of trust in the system. People can think the Electoral Count is wrong, but still need to be able to trust that the system however flawed was implemented correctly. One side or another can think the majority was wrong, were “sheep” or “tricked” into voting wrong, but still need to trust that the majority cast their votes as our government says we did.

This trust that at least our democracy doesn’t outright lie or make things up is dependent on those people who are in positions that could abuse it. We need the County Clerk to have all votes counted, bureaucrats to interpret and implement the laws fairly, a judge to weigh a case on its own merits without bias. We also need to believe they are doing so, as we cannot be a fly on every wall to verify one way or another. When people in such positions fail to do so, or are perceived to do so, our democracy is eroded.

Even in the best of times having someone publicly be pro-legalization or anti-legalization of Marijuana, who happens to be in charge of counting the votes will create doubts. We do not live in the best of times, and as mistrust or irreconcilable partisanship grips the country, it’s more important than ever for some of our professionals, some of our leaders to sacrifice speaking about politics publicly.

However, it’s becoming harder.

Some of the Challenges

Neutrality is relative, what one person believes deep down to be fair and objective may be radical and emotional to another’s perspective. As the country becomes more politically divided, as the Left moves more left and the Right move more right, so too does each group drag their definition of neutral towards themselves, and put mediators in a position where they’ll be seen as too conservative, too liberal, or even both at the same time.

Many of the institutions we once held up are now questioned and dismissed at every turn. Although no institution should be held so sacred that it’s beyond criticism, it’s impossible for a journalist, scientist, academic, or religious figure to be viewed as neutral if large groups of the public have predetermined them to be biased.

Though the bureaucracy is meant to be political neutral, there is an increasing gap between one party that wants to reinforce and increase their mission and one that questions their existence. It is not impossible to overcome and remain neutral, but neither is it easy.

When what once was held as unbiasedly all right to say is now considered political propaganda, such as condemning white supremacists, more people in positions of neutrality are forced to either stomach and quietly accept what we didn’t have to before or still speak out and lose the faith of some of the public.

Sometimes there is no neutral position, that even silence is its own answer.

Sometimes we as flawed human beings make mistakes, or make the conscious and deliberate choice that neutrality is no longer the option we can personally take.

The Numbers Don’t Add Up

The numbers don’t add up to an easy solution. Hate groups are more active than they’ve been in a long time, conspiracy theories and propagated by our leaders, the lines we draw in the sands are deeper than before. Although we need some individuals to remain neutral in public, I expect many will not for some time until other issues in our society are remedied.

I see it as another symptom of a very serious illness in America. It’s one that I would’ve been thrust into, to do my best to be neutral in spite of the challenges, but since I don’t have to will try to make the most of speaking out.

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ACTION!

Define what you personally see as politically neutral. Is it staying quiet? Is it not taking certain actions? Is it some stance right in the middle of Democrats or Republicans or has one party become so extreme in your eyes that even the middle of the road is unacceptable? If you were in a position that asked you to be silent publicly, would you? What would cause you to falter?

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What’s Next?

There’s a few things on my mind of late that I want to write about. One is my case for bureaucrats, how perhaps we need bureaucrats to do well as a society and that they are not just stuffy, red-tape-making pains-in-the-butt. I’m also thinking about some of the socioeconomic and cultural considerations of dating a Filipina. Finally, I’m likely going to write about what I see as the philosophical knot that modern conservatism has tied itself into, though might wait to see if the Primaries prove me wrong first.

Of Struggle and Privilege: My Year of Unemployment

Of Struggle and Privilege: My Year of Unemployment

This is a blog post I’ve been eager to write for some time, in part as a means to express my own trials and realizations, but more so because I was holding off writing this post until my job search was over. The purpose of this post is to share my experiences as I reached for the American dream, that job that would provide both career and financial stability, the struggles I had during this time, and then to reflect and point out how privileged I am in many ways even as I stumbled.

Before I do though, there’s one article I came across just recently that really put a lot of my own frustrations and confusion into context. You can find it here and I highly recommend it:

https://medium.com/@IjeomaOluo/the-anger-of-the-white-male-lie-6f9a6e646d47

Fortunately I don’t drive angry, and I don’t blame women or people of color for my own failures. However, the idea that I was promised a kingdom for simply being me really hits home. It describes what’s been this unease that the fact I had so much trouble on this job search felt wrong, but that in and of itself was also wrong. The unease is from the fact that I am constantly and continually told about how I’ll receive greatness (which I’ll be covering more below), but I realize that a lot of people don’t get that encouragement and in fact are told they shouldn’t aspire to greater heights.

As a fair warning, this is not a summary of how the white male protagonist reached his dreams. It’s not a tale of how I was better than the anger described in the article. There are thoughts below that are entitled, that are presumptuous, that are flawed and it’s me recognizing that about myself. There will be realizations in here that many people will find as common sense, and others who will see my “struggle” as better than they’ve ever had.

The Struggle

I finished my MPA[1] at the end of 2016 along with my paid internship[2] that coincided with it. I did the “work while you go to school” thing that older people like to preach about. With that, three years of the Peace Corps[3], and a few other odds and ends here and there I believed it was my time[4], that the next job would put me where I wanted. What propelled this more than anything was my first finalist interview for a Town Administrator job that happened earlier in 2016, that though I didn’t get the job I was told that I was their second choice and they would hire me[5] if negotiations with their top choice fell through. I received some of the highest, most ridiculous compliments[6] I’ve ever received from that community from more than one person telling me I should be a Senator, to gushing about my background from being an Eagle Scout[7], to a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader[8], “wow, what do you struggle at?!” It made me confident that I had just barely missed out on that job, and surely I’d land the right one soon enough.

My goal was to find a top local government position in a smaller town, or a mid-level administrative role in a larger city[9]. I applied to a few other good opportunities that came up like searching for Peace Corps staff (not volunteer) positions. I hit a wall, and at the early part of 2017 could only managed to get as far as a phone interview.

The first hard pill I had to swallow was to get on unemployment[10]. Between a bit of thriftiness and living in an area with a pretty low cost of living comparatively[11] I was able to build up a bit of a nest egg[12], but it ran out around four months in to bills and just daily living expenses. Politically I’m okay with unemployment, I think it’s a good safety net, it helps people stay on their feet in their time of need. I didn’t think it would be me though[13]. In my arrogance, in my delusions that I only had to look forward and upwards I didn’t think I’d have to get checks from the state to pay my rent on time[14]. I felt humiliated for taking advantage of something that I had paid taxes for myself, I had a bit taken out of my check from my last job for unemployment insurance, but I realized that the shaming of the poor that happens in America had rubbed off me more than I wanted to admit[15].

It was at this point that the eagerness, the enthusiasm in me began to fade and was replaced by a creeping doubt. The Peace Corps gave me many lessons, and facing true poverty such as families sleeping on the sidewalk atop cardboard boxes and a group of street kids high off solvents humbled me[16] and made me aware that things like a shower or bed weren’t necessities but luxuries[17]. However, the Peace Corps never made me doubt my own destiny. It challenged my biases, my prejudices, my beliefs[18], but never once during the Peace Corps did I think that I might not end up where I want eventually. My year of unemployment did.

As the year went on I slowly but surely expanded to other industries, tried to get less prestigious or paying jobs. I managed to become a finalist for four other communities, to be the Town Manager/Administrator, and each of them was about the same. I was told I interviewed great, they appreciated my background, but had to go for someone with more experience. I was a finalist for a few other things, and in those cases it was less about experience and more on “specialization” (apparently organizational development is a specialization these days as an example).

I ran out of my unemployment benefits in October[19], and as before I had managed to save a little extra[20], between my pretty low cost of rent, and not splurging on things I didn’t need, was able to push a few more months before I finally had to turn to family for help[21], to borrow money so once again I could pay my rent, my utility, my groceries. Once again I felt like an utter and complete failure. I’m 30[22], I thought it was time for me to be financially independent.

By this point I was fed up with being told how much promise I had, the continual reinforcement[23] that I just had to keep looking and I’d land the job I want. In part it was because it wasn’t happening, and in part because the people telling me this were the ones who were turning me down. I developed a theory that it wasn’t me they liked, it was the idea of me. I was young, I had good things on my resume, and because I’m a thirty-year-old white, straight male, they like the concept of someone like me being successful[24]. The article above made me tweak this belief, that it’s not even the concept of me, but simply the concept of the way we think society is that compelled people to promise me the stars even as they denied me the moon.

I finally caught a break in January 2018[25]. I applied to an arts nonprofit a couple towns over, and during that interview when asked what I had been doing the past year (as my resume ended in 2016), I admitted I had been searching for work with no success. They empathized and when they too turned me down for someone with more experience, reached out and offered a part-time position, 16 hours a week[26]. I’m not proud to admit that the first thoughts in my head weren’t that appreciative, but I had the sense and decency to swallow my pride and accept.

I expected my job search to end with a friendly call and a triumphant exclamation of victory[27]. It wasn’t. The person who received the full-time position resigned[28], a person who in the couple of months we’d worked together I came to really appreciate and call a friend. There was no glory in having to step in to keep the organization running. I also had to decide what to do with my job search as an arts nonprofit really wasn’t my plan, and honestly though the pay offered was enough to get by and no longer have to borrow anything, there were no benefits, and it’s not like I’d be making much headway into the student loans I do still owe from my undergraduate degree[29]. The compromise I came up with myself is that I’d hold out for those last couple of chances to reach the American dream[30], those last couple prospects I’d already applied to and told the Board Members openly about it.[31]

These last two rejections hit the hardest. One because it had been the best interview I’d ever had, a group that I felt connected with but when I reached out to found out that like so many others hadn’t bothered to tell me they’d chosen someone else despite promising they would. The other because their reasoning was that they were concerned I would be using the position as a “stepping stone”[32]. After a year being told I needed more experience, being told that I didn’t get a job for fear that I was trying to just get experience hurt. It’s a paradox without a solution, or at least not one I want to accept. I’m presumptuous for aiming high, and egotistical for wanting a job that’ll help me get to where I want. Of course, the real sting was in that those rejections meant that for the foreseeable future I won’t have a few of those luxuries I thought I’d have like healthcare or a chance to pay off those loans quickly.

It was not a triumphant end[33], but one with more humbling lessons, a few more frustrations. However, I have job now, and it’s enough. Actually, it’s more than enough. I can get experience there. I can earn enough there to move forward with my life. It’s challenging, invigorating, and I can do a lot of good there. It’s more than many have.[34]

The Privilege

1.      I have a Masters degree, which most people don’t get to have.

2.      And many people don’t get the option of both an internship with relevant experience that can also pay for tuition.

3.      Not every country has a Peace Corps, and despite the hardships it really is a privileged experience to work and live abroad with a support system.

4.      This belief that it was my time is definitely born from privilege.

5.      Despite the fact I didn’t get the job I wanted, I almost did and very early on. I almost didn’t even have to worry about a day of unemployment and could’ve started working there as I finished my Masters.

6.      Getting compliments from interviewers is a lot better than insults or general negativity.

7.      The Boy Scouts was yet another opportunity I had growing up.

8.      Not only did I get to do the Peace Corps, but got accepted to an optional third year with more responsibility and experience to gain.

9.      These positions would not only fit the American middle class dream, but also give me the privilege of feeling that my career is directly helping others.

10.  Not everyone has access to unemployment.

11.  Other people in the same internship program struggled with the salary the internship provided as they lived in more expensive areas whereas I got to be more comfortable with my finances.

12.  A nest egg is not something everyone can afford.

13.  A privileged thought, to think that I was somehow “above” unemployment.

14.  Not only did I get unemployment, but I can attest that it worked well for me to stay afloat.

15.  The fact that I had the option to look down on unemployment like this too was a privilege.

16.  I do count a lot of the lessons learned, the humility a privilege. It gave me tools and experiences to cope and deal with much of my own anger that other people don’t have.

17.  Shower, bed, running water. Things that many of us take for granted, but really shouldn’t.

18.  Once again, having opportunities to grow as a person, to not become too rooted in my biases really, really has helped me out.

19.  My unemployment lasted pretty long considering.

20.  Once again, getting to save a little extra is something many people aren’t able to do.

21.  This is a big one. Having family in a position to help like this is a privilege many, many don’t have.

22.  It’s not as if I’m a fresh college graduate, but I’m still relatively young and still have time on my side. Won’t last forever, but it’s there now.

23.  I think I agree with the article that being told how much I deserve has ended up a problem, but that also it’s a privilege compared to being told not to try, that I’m not deserving.

24.  Being a poster child for what America calls success is a privilege when so many people are told that they aren’t the stuff of success despite being more than capable.

25.  I caught a break. Not everyone does.

26.  Some work is better than no work, at least in this case.

27.  Even after everything, even after a year of unemployment I still held onto the privileged stereotype of what landing a job “should be like”.

28.  The opportunity to move up was something out of my control, it wasn’t by my own merit that it came to me.

29.  Even an undergraduate degree is something many people don’t get. Some people can’t get a loan to go to the school they want.

30.  Once again, still clung onto this idea that the American dream was mine for the taking to the very end.

31.  Not everyone gets to be honest about their job search. I do believe there’s privilege in the fact I was able to openly and honestly negotiate this with my organization with no repercussions, and instead encouragement.

32.  The fact that people believe I’m moving up in the world, and are concerned I’m too qualified or will reach too high though may have cost me this job, is yet another example of how I get a privileged spin to even job rejections.

33.  Believing in a triumphant end to my job search really is that sense of being owed a kingdom.

34.  I’ll be all right. I’m in a good place, and despite wanting more I really do have a lot now.

These just cover what I wrote on specifically. It doesn’t even include having an amazing girlfriend who grew up without a lot of luxuries and helped support me, but also keep my ego in check. It doesn’t include my car which only needed repairs near the end of the search, and I could get to where I needed when I needed. It doesn’t include all the day to day privileges that though not necessarily directly related to the job search, also spared me many of today’s prejudices that could have weighed me down.

Conclusion and What is the Point

Recognizing my own privilege is not something I do out of guilt, but from awareness. The point isn’t to try to give myself a “woke” badge (as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I’m not even keen on the term), but to come to terms with my own experiences when they are in stark contrast to my beliefs. It is about accepting that some of my attitudes are entitled, angry, even pathetic, and through this acceptance can gradually become wiser and more resilient all while not falling prey to the allure of ignorance, bigotry, and apathy.

The fear that comes with these realizations is that the ugliness of a member of the Alt Right waving a Nazi flag isn’t as alien to my own inner conflicts as I’d like. The thought that it wouldn’t be all that hard to become yet another person yelling angrily at strangers and cutting them off on the road is nauseating. However, the hope I have is that it’s very possible to not be that way, to learn, reflect, and grow. Knowing that I am not entitled to a rich life puts me on shaky footing, but it also is a liberating sense that lets me open my eyes wider.

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ACTION!

I find recognizing the privilege, or the good things in my life during harder times, during painful situations helps me move on faster. What’s a time in your life that despite whatever struggle there was, still had a lot of good going on?

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What’s Next?

Well, my job doesn’t preclude me from talking about politics so might take advantage of that. However, I think for my next post I want to talk about the ethics of neutrality. Many of the jobs I’d applied to had ethical standards that including non-partisanship, to keep silent and objective for political and other controversial issues. I want to explore that a little bit, on why we want some people to remain neutral.

The Amorality of Leadership

The Amorality of Leadership

Defining Amoral

1a : having or showing no concern about whether behavior is morally right or wrong 

b : being neither moral nor immoral; specifically : lying outside the sphere to which moral judgments apply

As I’ve suggested in earlier posts, there are many important words and concepts that are broad and interpreted in different ways. Love, freedom, justice, many of the things we hold most dear are not universal in their meaning or application. I strongly believe that leadership is among these important, yet ambiguous concepts.

Although I’ll briefly discuss some of the major theories of what leadership is, the focus of this post will be on the relationship between leadership and morality, or more specifically the lack thereof.

Defining Leadership

I’m taking most of the different theories of leadership from “Leadership Theory and Practice” by Peter G. Northouse, with one notable exception from the Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner. We’ll start with this exception as it’s my favorite.

Kouzes and Posner suggest that leadership is a relationship, an agreement or acceptance between the leader and the followers. What I appreciate about this idea is it answers a few of my own struggles trying to grasp at leadership. As an example, how can some people feel to their core that Obama was a true leader and Trump isn’t, while others feel just as strongly the other way around? Both men are Presidents of the United States, wielding all the authority thereof. Both have millions of supporters, how can one be a leader and the other not? The idea of leadership as a relationship answers that question, that both have people who accept that relationship, and others who do not.

It allows for all types of leaders, different methods, different strategies, different ideals. If leadership is a relationship, all it takes is the willingness of someone to take on the mantle of leadership and others willing to recognize that mantle. However, leadership is broad enough that there are, and should be, other definitions.

Leadership is a trait(s): The most traditional, this is the belief that qualities of leadership are inherent. Monarchies, dynasties, any work of fiction with a “chosen” one are examples of leadership as something one is born with.

Leadership is a skill(s): In contrary to leadership being inherent, it is a skill to be learned, practiced, and perfected. This suggests that anyone, or at least many people, can become leaders.

Leadership is a behavior(s): Regardless of one’s ability level, this suggests that leadership is best defined by how one acts above anything else.

Servant leadership: This theory is based around the ideal that a leader is in essence a follower themselves, that they follow and act on the behalf of those they lead.

Transformational leadership: This theory in contrast suggests that the leader taps into the underlying motives, making a true connection with the desires of their followers and through that bring out more out of them.

There are many other theories and beliefs out there. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive, we can believe that leadership has elements of multiple or even all of these. Even if we agree on a definition above, we may still have very different ideas on leadership. If we decide that leadership is a skill, what skill(s) best define leadership? Same with behaviors, how should a leader act?

Where Morality Falls?

What I want to emphasize though is in none of these definitions is morality promised, is it guaranteed. Throughout history, ruthlessness has been a trait of many historic leaders. Manipulation is a skill that can be learned and used to convince others to follow us. There have been leader who acted reprehensibly, but not only did their followers accept it, but emulated it. On the surface being a servant leader seems selfless, but what if the “servants” are a hate group? From a stereotypical schoolyard bully with a couple of other kids backing them up, to a tyrant over an entire empire, we can apply the different definitions above to them just as readily as to saints and martyrs.  

Where then does morality fall? Where do ethics come in? I would contend that it comes from elsewhere. It is true that many of us do look for morality from our leaders, who look for genuineness, compassion, self-sacrifice. It usually serves a leader well to show some level of integrity, some sort of moral code or standard. What I contend though is that even then there’s no certainty that such a code or standard will be looked kindly upon by history. Even surface-level integrity is despicable if used towards a terrible end.

Leaders have responsibility and influence, and it is the choice of leaders how to wield it. A transformational leader can reach into the hopes of followers and tap into the best of people, the worst of people, and everything in between. Leaders can use their talents to serve the underprivileged and desperate, or the powerful and entrenched.

So too is this true for followers. We choose who we follow. We choose regardless of how we define leadership of what qualities we hope for in a leader. Sometimes that decision is coerced in some way. Leaders can and have tricked followers, have threatened them, have extorted them. Even then there is still the choice, though with consequences should someone reject the leader-follower relationship.

The Problems with Accepting Inherent Morality in Leaders

I also like the definition of leadership as a relationship because it hits upon my biggest issue with how most leadership is taught. We keep the darker potential for leadership at arms-length. We struggle to cope with historical figures like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or Charles Manson. We confuse the fact that we as individuals reject them as leaders, that we do not accept that relationship personally, with whether they were leaders at all. They were. Others did accept that relationship. Thus, they led. It's disheartening, it's troubling, it's hard to swallow. We should push past the discomfort though.

I see two major issues with this confusion, with not accepting that true leaders can be morally bankrupt. The first is that we underestimate their potential. When we claim someone is not a “real” leader, we don’t take the threat of a bigot, a psychopath, a fanatic serious enough. If they are not a real leader, surely others won’t follow them, surely they won’t hold the same degree of influence that far better men and women have held, right?

The second, and to me more damaging, issue with believing that leaders are inherently moral, is that when an immoral leader comes to prominence, we wrongly assume they are moral. We assume that a leader elected is right and just because the people chose them. We assume that the head of a company is the best for the job because they are the one who got the position. We fail to look at our leaders with a critical eye, and either miss, ignore, or refuse to believe in their faults.

The Point of all this Generality

I understand my post this time has been much more broad. Rather than try to really narrow things down, offer specific suggestions and solutions, I’ve suggested that there is none. I’ve tried to encourage the idea that leadership is much more than we often like to believe. Sometimes it’s better to leave things ambiguous, as it allows for greater flexibility. If we can accept multiple definitions of leadership, if we are open to the idea that even if we don’t follow a certain leader but others genuinely do, I think it prepares us to meet the realities of our world better. It keeps us from taking leadership for granted.

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ACTION!

Consider a leader that you admire, that you perhaps not agree fully with, but mostly. Take a more critical eye and consider their faults, their moral shortcomings, their weaknesses. Consider ways you could challenge those parts of a leader without completely rejecting all they stand for. It’s easy to see the immorality of leaders that we personally don’t follow, but it’s harder to do so with those we wish to get behind.

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What’s Next?

Still holding off on the current job search being done and settled before reflecting on both the struggles and privileges of the experience, how the two are not exclusive of each other. Depending on the job I get I may have to take away any partisanship or heavy political matters to adhere to the policies of the organization, in which case I’ll definitely shift over to more informative topics such as what public works or community development department is, and why they matter in our lives.