Biden's Leadership in Focus: Crises and Opportunities

Background:

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. is the 46th and the incumbent president of the United States of America who is a democrat by party affiliation. He was a senator of State of Delaware for at least 3 decades, and served as Barack Obama's vice president from 2009-2017. His administration is currently beset by big problems such as inflation, falling approval rating (which is now down to a dismal 39% from 50% in 2021) due to growing public perception of incompetence and senility, consecutive legislative and judicial defeats, and the prospect of a much bigger political defeat this coming US midterm election which could potentially derail his reelection in 2024. Many political pundits believe that his administration is ,indeed, in shambles- his leadership in crisis mode.

Leadership issues:

1) Failure to unify the nation.

President Biden has not delivered so far on his big promise of unifying the highly-polarized nation that he made during the campaign (he promised to be a president for all) which was amplified by the mainstream media- contributing to his electoral victory. But, instead of arising to the occasion and firmly stand as a leader for all Americans, his public pronouncements have not clearly-articulated that important message .

The discerning public was quick to notice this incongruence, buttressing their suspicion of hypocrisy at the highest level of government. For instance, while Biden purportedly tries to lower the temperature of racial conflict in his country, his speech in the mostly-white State of Georgia (in January 11 this year) was racially divisive and incendiary.

He zeroed in on the Republicans who opposed the passage of 'Freedom to Vote Act' legislation that he so vigorously supported, likening them to Bull Connor, George Wallace, and Jefferson Davis who were known historically for their segregationist, racially-discriminatory sentiments- essentially calling them 'racist'. This insensitive rhetoric casts doubt on the Biden administration's sincerity in bringing the unification agenda to fruition.

Analysis: From the leadership standpoint, the aforementioned issues are concerning and call into question Biden's integrity, cognitive capacity, ability to bring people together, conflict management skill, and communicative competence- in spite of his long experience in politics. These crucial attributes are imperative to effective leadership.

• Integrity problem- Biden's weakness in this area greatly affects his credibility. Because good leaders are seen as 'men of their words' who command respect, any promise or commitment officially-made in public, especially with timelines, must be kept- or else, people will be disillusioned.

One infamous event where Biden's words were tested was the Afghanistan exit fiasco. He promised that 'no American will be left behind' which didn't happen, even insisting that 100% of the remaining American citizens will be brought home, causing many (especially soldiers) to be demoralized (https://apnews.com/). ABC News Martha Raddatz listed many of those broken promises regarding the botched withdrawal in Afghanistan.

A leader who is caught lying, whose word carries no weight as a result, will find it extremely hard to lead. Former president Clinton had learned this the hard way with his 'Monica Lewinsky scandal'. In 1998, erstwhile president Bush Sr. promised: No new taxes. But in 1990, he was forced to sign a new legislation increasing taxes, and the headlines in the news next day was: "Read My Lips...I Lied."

On the bright side: One redeeming value of his nascent presidency is his consistency on matters pertaining to green energy, climate change, diversity, racial and gender equality. His strong leadership in pushing for these agenda- albeit, recklessly sometimes- in various fora and events, exhibited his steadfastness in advancing these advocacies for which he has veritably become their 'poster boy'. Amid mounting criticisms, Biden continued to make progress in the said issues in spite of the opposition.

Leadership must keep on sailing through the roughest of political waters at times, braving the harsh elements, to fulfill a mission and keep the word. Regardless of the questions on his moral uprightness with his support for controversial issues like abortion, Biden has kept some of his words on matters that will potentially reap good dividends in the future for America. As the hall-of-fame American football linebacker, Junior Seau, said: "Leadership comes with consistency."

• Cognitive incapacity- The presidency requires a great deal of mental health. Every leader needs to be alert and be cognitively-sharp in order to make sound decisions, carry out high-stakes meetings, intelligent conversations, negotiations with other leaders, while issuing directives to his people . It will be dangerous for an organization, let alone a nation, to be led by someone who is mentally unfit.

In fact, lack of cognitive acuity is disqualifying for a leader. A leader cannot simply lead without a sound mind. Some quarters allege that President Biden is showing symptoms of senility. He would often mumble words, confuse details of his story during a speech, fall from stairs, shake an imaginary hand, say controversial words off-script which are later changed by his staff for damage control. Ronald Reagan had likewise exhibited early signs of dementia due to Alzheimer's while in office which fortunately was not affecting his mental capacity as his doctors certified.

On the bright side: Biden has shown his dogged determination to survive every interview, speech, meeting, interaction, event, and other grueling presidential activities that demand good cognitive skills- despite the limitations of his age. His over-reliance on structured script is understandable. As a leader, Biden showed great mental and psychological courage in serving as a top leader of the land and the leader of the free world that is a very tall order.

A leader (though aware of his limitations) who still try his best to function, advance, and lead his people in the battle field against great odds, is admirable. Many of his gaffes are forgivable and deserve a compassionate look. Biden needs to establish for the record his cognitive fitness for office in order to assure the public that he has the intellectual bandwidth to lead their great nation. A quick brain scan and taking cognitive diagnostic tests will be a good start. Transparency is key.

• Inability to bring people together- Biden's failure to bring people separated by political, religious, gender, racial differences together worried even his close supporters. Leadership is about developing consensus and fostering collaboration among the people under your charge. Understandably, there are things that naturally separates people because of diversity.

A true leader leverages this diversity to create and empower a powerful team or coalition to achieve big goals. President Biden is in a quandary being in the middle of colliding boulders, representing his party, Republican party, and the various interests groups that he is beholden to, who helped him last election. It is not an easy situation for him.

Leadership's independence is always compromised when a leader strikes a deal with parties that have vested interests in the affairs of the organization or nation. Leaders must set a clear-cut demarcation line to prevent them from overstepping their bounds. Effective leadership relies on organizing and mobilizing people to accomplish a mission. Biden's weak coalition-building skills have failed to form a broad united front to help solve the big issues of the day.

In contrast, amid racial strife and ideological differences in multicultural Singapore in 1965, the late Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew's strong leadership had gathered his people and led them through tumultuous times to bring Singapore to where it is now- a wealthy, peaceful, united first world nation. To a leader with a big dream for his beloved country, no adversity can stop his leadership.

On the bright side: When it comes to leadership, time is a very precious resource- every second counts. Leaders cannot be underestimated nor prejudged if time is still ticking. For president Biden, he still has a good amount of time to turn things around and redeem himself before the 2024 US presidential election. Sensitive people issues take a bit more time to resolve; that's why, Biden needs to leverage his political experience and networks to coalesce all the colliding groups as soon as possible.

Again, the good news is, time is still on his side, but it's quickly dwindling. Leadership action is always time-bound, and that precisely is the reason why leaders have to set a clear schedule, bring everyone on the table, build consensus, iron out differences early on, remove bottlenecks to smoothen and accelerate the process in order to meet deadlines. As this old phrase goes, "time is of the essence."

• Mismanaging conflicts- Instead of narrowing them down, under Biden's watch, racial, political and gender divide have widened further- resulting to a more fractured American society. Many of his speeches put former president Trump in a bad light, criticizing his 'Make America Great Again' slogan or MAGA, at the risk of offending his supporters (comprising almost half of American voting populace).

Leadership in politics is about addition, not subtraction. It is in the best interest of a leader to avoid any form of misunderstanding. That's why, leaders mince their words, so to speak. One of the many issues that Biden's tone-deaf rhetoric exacerbated unnecessarily was his 'autocratic tone' in berating his critics and in issuing stern warnings to non-complying public in observing covid-19 protocols (vax, lockdowns, mask) that deepened the chasm between pro and anti-mandates. This highly-publicized verbal tussle has protracted and magnified this conflict instead of minimizing it.

Leaders have the responsibility to de-escalate and promptly-manage any conflict to avert any complication. A matured, wise, inclusive, diplomatic tone is critical in this situation. Needless to say, Biden has missed the mark on this one.

On the bright side: President Biden can turn these leadership missteps into opportunities to regroup-if you will, to learn, know his weaknesses, adjust his approach, and conduct a mid-course correction to rectify his mistakes. Good leaders do learn from their blunders. Leadership is continuously-sharpened and strengthened by circumstances for as long as the leader is open to change.

Biden had this precedence back in1988, when he ran for president, but due to some untruthful details in his academic record and reported plagiarism during law school, his campaign was halted. He later publicly-admitted his mistakes and vowed to change. For this, I coin the word 'leaderesque' which is characteristic of a leader. As John C. Maxwell aptly puts it, "A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them."

• Miscommunication - The American body politic has been regularly dumbfounded by the apparent lack of finesse and confusing mixed-messages emanating from the White House. It's crystal that the presidential communication team is not on the same page with their chief executive boss on a myriad of issues. Great leaders communicate in no uncertain terms, speaking from their hearts to connect deeply with their people to inspire, encourage, instruct, direct, and to 'rally the troops'- if you will- to deliver the desired results.

Any form of miscommunication creates inertia, discouragement, distrust, slowdown, delay, and conflict while engendering more problems down the line- resulting to a general dysfunctional operation. Biden's leadership communication gaffes have single-handedly put his entire administration in disarray, not helped at all by his vice president, Kamala Harris' series of faux pas either. Leadership, therefore, cannot be established without proper communication, especially from top to bottom. They are inseparably-intertwined to make for a functional leadership system.

As president of the the no.1 nation in the world in terms of economy, military and political power, ideally, Biden must epitomize the best practice of leadership communication. The smaller nations are looking up to America for higher standards and benchmarks that they can model after. It is unfortunate that America's leadership in these areas is perceived to be not strong enough due to the incongruent messaging. Indeed, when America speaks, the world is supposed to listen. The geopolitical stakes are high- and it's not looking very good for Biden's leadership at the moment.

Leaders cannot be who they claim to be if they have no above-average communication skills to articulate policies, goals, mission, and vision of the organization with clarity. Even in business, according to a study by Haiilo.com, 3 in 4 employees?see effective communication as the number one leadership attribute. Yet, less than?1 in 3 employees feel like their leaders?communicate?efficiently. Hence, irrespective of the field, leadership communication is critical.

On the bright side: Biden's 2-year old leadership at the highest position of the land is still very much a work in progress which deserves the American public's benefit of the doubt. Despite the reported freefall of his approval ratings, there are gains in the global front, not least of which is his successful leadership in uniting and gathering support from NATO members for Ukraine against Russia. The joint agreements, communiques, and actions are crucial for decelerating Putin's advance.

Biden administration's resoluteness in implementing the heavy sanctions on Russia and in sending financial, military hardware, and intelligence support to Ukraine that led others to do the same. His bold tone on Moscow, in synch with NATO, had constrained Putin's camp to limit the scope of their military adventure to just within Ukraine and not beyond its borders.

Leadership needs to sometimes show a decisive face matched with a determined action and a firmly diplomatic voice, especially in conjunction with others, to express a strong resolve. A congruent message means that the words, tone and body language are all aligned. It becomes a power language that other strong leaders understand and respect as Trump would always say.

Biden can reset his communication with his people by publicly-apologizing to his people, point by point, clearly acknowledging his mistakes, taking responsibility for them and stop putting the blame on others, appealing for their understanding, renewing his strong commitment to serve them to his best ability as President of United States of America, highlighting some urgent actions to take going forward to address the big issues and keep them posted afterwards, encouraging them to come together and join him in marching towards a better future for America.

2) Perceived lack of direction of his presidency.

Careful observers of the Biden administration are increasingly-convinced that he really has no clear strategic plan and direction for bringing America to the next level. He seemed to be just trying to survive politically, issue after issue, living by the day- but nothing is significantly afoot future-wise. Absence of a long-term national agenda exposes Biden's purported lack of sincerity and seriousness in public service. A leadership with no plan is akin to a floundering ship in the ocean with no destination.

Analysis: To ordinary people and their families negatively-impacted the most by the current issues on inflation, stratospheric rise of the price of fuel, and problematic supply chain (recently highlighted by the unavailability of baby formula milk in local stores, forcing some parents to drive all the way to Mexico only to buy it), Biden's leadership is not good news at all, even earning him the moniker, 'empty shelves Biden'. Irate citizens bemoan his apparent lack of accountability, intentional leadership and vision in extricating America from these economic mess.

• Lack of accountability- To make matters worse, instead of taking responsibility as what genuine leaders would, president Biden has taken every opportunity to blame others like Putin- calling inflation as 'Putin's inflation'- except himself. Hearing this from your Commander-in-Chief is disheartening to say the least. It could easily be the height of leadership irresponsibility that undermines any leadership credibility.

A famous leadership author, David Cortrell, once remarked: "A great leader spends his time fixing problems, not finding who to blame". Biden, being the top leader, has access to the best minds and resources of the government that he can mobilize in solving any national problem. Actively leading and managing urgent national concerns at the highest level is the best use of his time. Blaming is a waste of his precious time. Blaming is never a leadership strategy nor a plan. Blaming is the low point of anyone who identifies himself as a bona fide leader, or aspiring to be one.

'Blaming' must be removed from Biden's active vocabulary (In fact, from any leader's vocabulary) as soon as possible. Accepting responsibility is the only way that Biden can regain public trust in the light of his dismal approval ratings (39%). It is a also a good place for a reset, to start afresh with great ideas and big action plan. After all, reset is always a viable leadership option.

On the bright side: Last July 13, it was reported by Washington Post that President Joe Biden finally-acknowledged that inflation- soaring to 9.1% in June compared to a year ago- is 'unacceptably high' which indicated his full awareness of the gravity of the situation as probably briefed to him by his economic team. This is a good sign that Biden is taking this issue seriously; his assurance that this is his top priority is a tad encouraging.

However, this is still short of explicitly taking command responsibility which, applying the word that I coined earlier, is not very 'leaderesque' (meaning: leaderlike). Leadership requires that leaders keep a tab on every consequential issue that comes their way. Armed with sufficient data, quality intelligence, and proper expert advice- a top leader like Biden can make a well-informed decision undistracted by subjective politics.

• Lack of Intentional Leadership- Having an honest, strong intention aligned with a crystal clear vision powerfully drives a leader and his followers to consistently move forward and accomplish great things. This is the essence of intentional leadership. Mark Sanborn, a leadership expert highlighted this in his book: The Intention Imperative: Three Essential Changes That Will Make You a Successful Leader Today.

President Joe Biden's leadership style perceivably lacks the robust intentionality that is needed to lead the nation forward at this critical juncture. America needs to see a vivid image of where things are now, where the country is going, when and how this will happen under his able leadership. This will certainly calm things down. Again, a solid, consistent, credible messaging from the White House is needed, but so far it is not yet forthcoming.

Leaders stand up and deliver a powerful, momentous speech to communicate reassurance, inspiration, encouragement, determination, clarity, vision, a victorious outcome, a great plan, and certainty in uncertain times. To this, Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Martin Luther King, Jr. quickly come to mind. Biden needs to do the same.

On the bright side: Facing growing dissatisfaction at home, President Joe Biden set his sights on the Middle East for some quick political gains such as seeking for energy relief from Saudi Arabia by persuading it to increase its oil output, endeavoring to normalize Jewish-Saudi ties and restore diplomatic relationship with Palestine. Despite failing to secure major deals, he didn't come home empty-handed- several agreements have been signed and pledges made that need a bit more time to be fulfilled. Despite his controversial visit framed as fruitless by his opponents, Biden has demonstrated his willingness to take risks for his nation, instead of just making those sedentary phone calls inside the oval office. Making a serious intentional effort of flying great distances in spite of his matured age, putting himself under intense global media scrutiny of his critics that had embarrassed him in the past is a big courageous move- and certainly, a good thing for America. Al Jazeera gave a quick rundown on some of the gains of Biden's recent trip to the mid-east below:

His supporters would certainly claim that he scored some points in showcasing his diplomatic experience, creating the optics as a working president, and telegraphing his intention to prioritize this region. In leadership, the fluidity of the situation makes you win some and lose some, but a steady, vision-driven, intentional leadership is the ultimate game-changer. President Joe Biden still has every chance to prove his detractors wrong.

3) Crisis at the border.

When President Biden assumed the presidency, on his 1st month in office, he issued a barrage of executive orders rescinding Trump-era immigration and border policies, according to Robert Law of the Center for Immigration Studies. The sheer speed of such reversal indicated strong disdain for Trump and his achievements. Leadership should never be vindictive nor envious. It must be magnanimous, acknowledging a good deed, giving credit to where it is due- even though a political opponent did it.

Unfortunately, Biden may have exposed his sophomoric grasp of leadership and lack of maturity that most people could find off putting. At the very least, the incumbent president should have taken a closer rational look at the merits of a strong border, the wall, and other major issues that surround it with the end in view of fully-understanding what's going on there, making official reassuring pronouncements, expressing appreciation to the heroic efforts of the border guards and Texas government to contain the problem- addressing outstanding issues in a timely fashion.

Analysis: President Joe Biden's apparent neglect of the border has overwhelmed the guards in the area and has subjected the State of Texas to the undeserved chaos of being swarmed by illegal migrants on a daily basis at its expense sans federal help. With the encounters registering at 207,416 reported by US Border Security for last month alone, Texas Gov. Abbot has stepped up efforts to fill the gaping leadership vacuum left by the Biden Administration's inaction.

His ill-conceived idea of rushing to delegate the responsibility to VP Kamala as 'Border Czar', who appeared unexcited to handle it as shown by her minimal presence and activity in the area, could be interpreted as a deliberate ploy to keep the border open as promised by his camp during the campaign. If this is true, then Biden's border crisis could become his undoing. This is tantamount to dereliction of duly at the top level worthy of prosecution.

Border matters are considered as top national security. That is, if there is 'no solid border, no country'. A leader sworn to protect his country's territorial integrity, must prioritize establishing a strong border. Biden's inertia on this vital issue is quite appalling. It is hard to trust a leader who is willing to put their citizens in harms way -just for politics. In contrast, the Lone Star state's government, under Greg Abbot is staying on top of the situation, shining as an epitome of leadership in this dire time.

• Welcoming illegal immigrants to sanctuary cities- Making matters worse is the declaration of certain blue states like California and New York as illegal migrant-friendly place or 'Sanctuary Cities' that openly welcomes the illegals and their families as a matter of policy, thereby officially incentivizing more border crossings (risen to at least 60%) since Biden came to office.

At a glance, the democrat leaders of the aforementioned cities were just being humane, but a closer look reveals what could be described as a discreet calculated strategy to expand their political capital by flooding their bailiwicks with more voters with the steady influx of the illegals in the country. He ended the Trump-era policy preventing 'Sanctuary Cities' from receiving certain kinds of funding. California governor Gavin Newson announced recently that his government will grant medical insurance coverage to illegal migrants effective on January 2024. Los Angeles Times likewise reported last June 28 that the State of California is offering free food stamps to undocumented migrants aged 55 years old and above- being the first one to do so. Programs such as these are laudable, but the cons could outweigh the pros in the long haul.

On the bright side: Biden's 'love' for illegal migrants may not be all that negative, for it could serve America's strategic interests in the future, considering that many of them are legit skilled-workers, artisans, intellectuals, artists, and professionals with genuine interest to contribute positively to the American economy, with a deep sense of gratitude- that could develop into fervent patriotism- for welcoming them.

Remember Albert Einstein and hosts of other Jewish scientists who were Noble laureates, brought to the US from Nazi Germany. Remember the waves of immigration from Europe which helped built America to become the no.1 country in the world. John F. Kennedy described it best when he said that 'America is a nation of immigrants'. Studies show that undocumented immigrants, numbering to more than 10 million now, contribute considerably to economic growth, to the tune of 1.7 Trillion USD. Illegal migration will not go away as long as there is geopolitical economic instability in the surrounding nations.

President Joe Biden should accentuate the positive message of embracing and managing illegal migrants to our advantage, instead of bickering endlessly. Leadership posits that every person has leadership potential in them that can be harnessed to impact the world.

4) Rise in criminality.

President Joe Biden's laxity on violent protesters, criminals, and crime in general (but toughness on police), has exacerbated the crime situation around the country- especially in cities governed by Democrat leaders, triggered by the killing of a black man, George Floyd in 2020 by policemen. The whole country was plunged into a chaotic racial debate, putting into question the effectivity of policing in fighting crimes and its perceived bias against black offenders- leading to the 'defund the police' campaign.

Analysis: Being the Commander-in-Chief, Biden failed to defend the entire police institution under his command as an important pillar of law and order in the country, not shielding the innocent law enforcers from the sweeping accusations of the public. This is definitely demoralizing to them. The officers, as part of the chain-of-command, depend largely on top leadership for high-level official communication support to clarify, to placate, to inform, to assure the people that policemen are there to preserve order, that the sensitive matters are going to be taken cared of. Sadly, the Biden administration had taken the side of the protesters early on (pre- 2022 SONA) and amplified the position of the democratic party on these contentious issues, severely-complicating the public's relationship with the police which is counter-productive to community development. Consequently, numerous men in uniform either opted to retire early, moved to the red states, or have already resigned. Law-abiding Americans who detest crime also changed cities. Biden's efforts for damage control has been painfully slow and futile. He should have extinguished this socio-political fire at the soonest time as any strong leader would. The delay certainly cost his administration dearly.

On the bright side: President Biden had already distanced himself from the 'defund the police' campaign, a position which seemingly had been likewise abandoned by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other senior Democratic Party stalwarts. Realizing that it's a losing proposition in the light of the worsening crime situation. Biden, pronounced his now unambiguous support for funding the police, earning a bipartisan applause during his state of the nation address last March 1st of this year. This strategic backpedaling from this thorny issue has redeemed his leadership's reputation as Commander-in-Chief who is for law and order- not 'soft on crime' as what he was often accused of by Republicans. True leaders have the humility to chance their stance when the occasion calls for it. Finally, President Joe Biden unveiled his new long-term strategic plan to combat crime- despite still being sick of Covid- called: "Safer America Act" few days ago, as reported by Fox News.

Conclusion:

President Joe Biden's Administration is in a quandary right now as to how the pressing national issues can be resolved swiftly, inclusively, and optimally to move the country forward and ensure his political survival until reelection. His promising leadership that started with a bang has now gone awry- quickly losing steam. This is the time for aligning all the divergent elements of his government and operate as one cohesive whole to establish clear messaging, political harmony (esp. between Pres Biden and VP Kamala), closer bipartisan cooperation, building national unity and patriotic fervor, giving due priority to domestic concerns, rightsizing global leadership engagements, strengthening strategic energy resource and supply chain management, significant crime reduction, stronger border security, depoliticizing the education system, rethinking the pandemic strategy, economic stimulus, etc. At this critical juncture, he needs to cease being a partisan president, and must start leading this great nation as a president for all, as a President of the United States of America.