Don't Look Up

We are in the season where political leadership is being decided - from Brazil to Great Britain, from the Chinese Communist Party Congress to American congressional midterms. And no matter the continent involved or the system of government, as human beings, we seem to succumb to the same temptation over and over. Let’s just hand it off to the guy who promises to take care of everything for us.

We have plenty of examples here in the United States. One mayor introduced a bill to change the rules, and got the votes to pass it, allowing himself to run for an unprecedented third term. One president claimed to be able to solve all of our problems?unilaterally with his pen and phone after having said as a candidate that his nomination would slow the rise of the world’s oceans. A later candidate asked for control of solving the nation’s?problems saying, “I alone can fix it.” And “I am the only one that matters.”

Throughout history and around the world, (mostly) men who have viewed themselves as saviors and strongmen have risen to power by claiming that they can solve all the problems and deliver all the benefits. And throughout history, while things might have gotten better in the short term, over the long haul, they have all been wrong, have failed to deliver what they’ve promised, but have amassed more power in the process.

As human beings, we seem tempted by the cult of personality from those who promise much, in return for power and control. We also realize that concentrated power can lead - almost always does lead - to abuse of that power. And so both corporate systems and many political systems are designed to check and balance power. In the United States, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government are co-equal, expressly to prevent the concentration of power. In the corporate world, a fiduciary board serves to represent the interests of the shareholder, to prevent the concentration of power in a management team. Labor unions originally arose as a counter-balance to the power of the employer.

Despite these structural safeguards, there is usually a drift toward concentrated power. Too many board rooms serve as rubber stamps to a CEO. Too many politicians spend time in office seeking to bolster their power rather than serve their constituents. And labor unions have become power centers of their own.

Here’s the truth: too many of us would rather sit back, point up, and hope someone else will take care of things, fix things, and solve things - so we can just keep doing what we like doing, or what we’ve always done. We hope for the heroic leader so that we don’t have to lead ourselves. Whether in our role as voters or employees, we are still lured to the easy route of just handing it all over to someone else to fix.

People hope it can be that simple. Unfortunately, it never works that way. Inevitably, when decision-making becomes too concentrated, when individuals become too passive, when differing viewpoints and perspectives are no longer considered, when position and power become an end in themselves, bad outcomes result. It is true the world over and in business as well as politics.

Real leaders know their purpose is not to collect power but to change the order of things for the better. Actual problem solving always requires collaboration with others who might actually understand the problem better than a single individual who hasn’t experienced the problem ever could. Actual problem-solving requires collaboration with others who may not agree with you on everything but will work with you to build support for a solution that’s sustainable. And most of us think far more clearly and therefore make better decisions when we are pressed to explain our logic and defend our point of view.

Remember what real leadership actually looks like. There are plenty of problems close by that you can help solve. Don’t look up for salvation. Look at yourself in the mirror and then look at those around you. And when someone promises you they know it all and can do it all, remember that when something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.