It didn’t have to be: POTUS, COVID-19 and the lessons for us all….

Truly, I wish the President no ill will … but as the news of his testing positive for the coronavirus breaks, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve been had he been more honest and leaderful about this lethal, global scourge. I can’t help but think that he and 7 million+ Americans might not be so afflicted and that 207,000+ of our fellow citizens (and more than 1 million+ around the world) wouldn’t have died from it.

There, I said it….

Which brings to mind the sacred responsibility of leadership and the necessity of grounding it, morally and ethically, in the truth: as much as we’re all entitled to our perspectives and prerogatives with respect to any issue and/or opportunity, as leaders, are we not all obligated to share and pursue these in ways that lead to the greater good?

To keep it real, I’m not a fan of 45. I’ve been quite open and vociferous about my belief that that his presidency has been both disastrous and destructive beyond imagination, and I hope that it ends soon. But, this being said, I, too, am saddened to learn of his and FLOTUS’ affliction. Largely because it didn’t have to be.…

In the first month of this global pandemic, my colleague and friend Peter Eisen contracted the virus and died. Even before this, I knew that this emerging hazard was both real and exceedingly lethal, but Peter’s passing made it tragic in personal terms, linking me and my colleagues to the thousands of families and friends whose losses of loved ones were confirming just how awful this disease truly is. Now, a half-year later, as of this writing, 7 million+ of our fellow citizens have been infected and more than 207,000 have died. But it didn’t have to be.…

Yes, I get that politics is a brutal and dirty business, but societal leadership is about something far greater than politics: as has been proven during this pandemic, it’s literally about life itself. Further, this modern plague reminds us, if we choose to take up the mantle of leadership, we owe it to those we serve and for whom we care – and to whom we’re accountable – to enhance and protect their well-being – in uniquely American terms, their life, liberty and pursuit of happiness – first, foremost and always. But this isn’t what POTUS and this Administration – along with too many other enablers at the state and local levels – have done, so too many of us have been infected and, we’re reminded daily, too many of us have succumbed. But it didn’t have to be.…

Now that the great conspiracy theorist and denier-in-chief has himself been infected, what happens? As his health is imperiled, does it change his leadership? Does he begin to take this scourge more seriously, especially in his public pronouncements? Does he command the members of his Administration to change course and be more open, honest and constructive in addressing this lethal and lasting public health crisis? And, after clearly abusing the public trust and lying to us for so long, will we be open to such a complete paradigm shift in leadership? Sadly, I doubt that many of our fellow citizens – on either side of the ideological chasm in our country, ironically – will. This is the cost of failing to lead as well as of sustained, purposeful misleading. But it didn’t have to be.…

In both public and private, throughout this pandemic, I’ve urged those whom I serve and for whom I care to be prudently paranoid in protecting themselves from this long-term debilitating and potentially lethal disease. I’ve been consistent – perhaps even to the point of nagging – and I’ve been reality-based – science is real, whether we want it to be or not (i.e., whether, at any given time, it serves our purposes and prerogatives or doesn’t) – and I’ve practiced what I’ve preached.

For example, to this very day, every morning as I prepare to begin my day, I engage in a cleaning ritual during which I disinfect all of the tools that I’ll use during the day, including my computer and keyboard, headsets, calculator, pens, cell phone, etc., and I wash my hands frequently and almost obsessively. This reflects both the age-old wisdom that was drummed into me as a child that it’s better to be safe than sorry and the realization that I’ve developed in my maturity about both the privileges and obligations of leadership, whether in a professional or personal context. This is what I owe to myself and to those whom I serve and love: it is the sacred trust of leadership, to do so by example always.

I can’t predict the future, but as with every victim of this modern plague, I hope that the President’s life isn’t imperiled … but I know that it could be. I further hope that this unfortunate development leads to a reckoning and a paradigm shift in his leadership … but, as our history with him has taught us sadly, I can’t count on this. So I’ll continue to do my part in helping those whom I serve and love to protect themselves from this most proximate threat (and all others) while supporting and guiding the enhancement of their well-being and contribution over time, which is both the privilege and purpose of leadership. And, unfortunately, though I would’ve preferred not to have this aid, I’ll have to cite POTUS’ example as a cautionary tale in helping us all to make prudent and wise choices to protect ourselves as we seek to live our best lives.

Because it didn’t have to be: POTUS didn’t have to become infected had he not engaged in such gleefully reckless behavior and failed to marshal the awesome resources of the United States Government to address this most lethal threat proactively and effectively. The United States didn’t have to be disproportionately affected by this pandemic, including because so many of its citizens have been so selfish in declaring their freedom to endanger ever more of their loved ones and neighbors. And my friend Peter Eisen didn’t have to die because so few of us actually understood the nature of this modern plague when it first began to afflict us. In this regard, I can’t help but wonder if we really learned anything from the AIDS epidemic several decades ago, because this didn’t have to be.…

In the spirit of hopefulness, then, I pray that we’ll learn this lesson this time and, in so doing, be profoundly and proactively leaderful with ourselves and those whom we serve and love.…

(Photo credits: https://www.keepinspiring.me/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Abraham-Lincoln-Quotes-Presidents-Day9.jpg; https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6652964932985868288/; https://quotefancy.com/quote/963892/James-Baldwin-It-is-certain-in-any-case-that-ignorance-allied-with-power-is-the-most; https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/370210031842231333/visual-search/?x=16&y=13&w=530&h=424&cropSource=6; https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/40-powerful-productivity-quotes-from-the-highly-successful-people.html; https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/40-powerful-productivity-quotes-from-the-highly-successful-people.html)