November 2020 in the USA has brought into stark focus a number of critical geopolitical issues:
- The waning democratic leadership of USA in the world
- The deep divides that exist in the USA, rolling over to other countries in the world
- The pros and cons of advanced democracy v. authoritarianism in the 21st Century to tackle such issues as COVID 19
- A meaningful, clear and progressive political agenda for any popular return of social liberalism
- The importance of character in a political leader
These issues affect us directly in Southern Africa. Many of these issues have been brought onto the front burner by Donald Trump over the last four years, and have come to the boil in the last four weeks. I am the first to admire someone who puts his own country first, who challenges the Washington establishment and gets people out of their comfort zones. President Trump has certainly tried to balance what USA puts into world bodies or groupings v. what it gets out, e.g. Trans-Atlantic Alliance, NAFTA, NATO, WTO and even WHO.
He has however, created divisions in everything he touches – the electoral map of the 2020 USA election is a good start, as the country is now not only pitched red Trump v. blue Social Democrats, but:
- The mid-West v. the east and west coast, dividing the country geographically
- Larger urban Democrat conurbations v. rural and smaller town Republicans
- 56% of women voted Democratic, dividing genders
- 57% whites voted Trump v. 87% of blacks and 66% of Hispanics that voted Democrat, dividing the country racially
- 62% of under 30-year olds voted Democrat, dividing family generations
- 55% of college educated Americans voted Democrat, dividing the country on education and thought bases
What is now needed to heal the divisions and lead the country and the world back from the brink?
We can debate political agendas, country self interest, proactivity or defence of certain interest groups, but I want to focus on the issue of personality v. character as a critical differentiator in effective leadership.
The Personality Ethic has only emerged over more recent years, and focuses on the skills necessary for the behaviour you desire – these skills are appealing but only a temporary fix:
- The importance of the public image
- Attitudes and behaviours are the focal issue
- Easy to apply skills and techniques are proffered
It is all about public success – get rich quick, win friends and influence people. For those attracted to such personalities, cloning ourselves to these idols and peers is a secondary and unfulfilling greatness.
The Character Ethic on the other hand has survived for centuries and is the foundation of lasting success:
- everyone has a character within them – character is a neutral term, but good character like everything else in life, can be developed should you want to
- character is a person’s most prominent attributes – the sum of all the traits and features that make up a person’s nature
- If we say that someone has good character, we believe his nature is defined by core and worthy traits such as:
- INTEGRITY, which embraces honesty, sincerity, fidelity, equity, justice, loyalty, reliability and trust
- SERVICE, which embraces compassion, nurturance, empathy, patience, kindness, and magnanimity
- HUMILITY, which embraces modesty, temperance, dignity, gratitude, politeness and humbleness
- EXCELLENCE, which embraces growth, quality, courage (of convictions) and hard honest work
Character is developed and hardened when you can demonstrate similar and consistent character traits under pressure. As Abraham Lincoln said, if you really want to test someone’s character, give them power – their true character will emerge.
And so we come to Donald Trump – a controversial leader with a significant amount of die hard supporters, equally matched by strong detractors – he divides. When asked by reporters what are the shortcomings of Donald Trump, the consensus was that he lacks compassion, wit/humour, warmth, wisdom, subtlety, sensitivity, self-awareness, humility, honour, grace – all the qualities needed of a world leader; he never laughs, but rather scoffs and makes jibes. He was voted in on his personality – make things happen, bullying, pretentious, confident, seemingly successful (i.e. rich).
The fact that he secured 73.8 million votes v. Joe Biden’s 79.8 million is testament to support for many of his policies coupled with the force of his personality. It is also an indication that nearly 50% of the American voters are either Republican with any candidate, or leaned towards these Trump qualities and seriously believed that these are the key ingredients in leadership. What can the Biden/Harris camp learn from this continued support for Trump – personality creates early confidence so needs to shine through, a strong stand on key issues important to all voters is important, and the principal indicator of success is effectiveness – make things happen.
Power is important, but much more meaningful if it used to actually empower others. I would ask people to re-assess what makes a great leader, and in my mind it starts with a solid and consistent character as epitomised by the four groups of values listed above. Trump’s detractors around the world are concerned about the divisions he has created; even when he succeeded in a political coup on immigration or trade, his victory left a bad taste in people’s mouths and allies/friends came away not feeling like winners, and are now slowly dissociating themselves from his camp.
USA and the world are divided – we desperately need the right kind of leadership to pull us out of the abyss and start elevating people from all geographies and ways of life to come together and share in what is so uplifting about humanity – good character has lasted millenia, and in times of dynamic change and challenge, there is no more important time to have strong character as the centre of leadership gravity.
If you are interested in the concept of building the character needed to improve effectiveness and leadership, we welcome you to join us in our next Masterclass in Personal Effectiveness.
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