Terry Newell is currently director of his own firm, Leadership for a Responsible Society. His work focuses on values-based leadership, ethics, and decision making. A former Air Force officer, Terry also previously served as Director of the Horace Mann Learning Center, the training arm of the U.S. Department of Education, and as Dean of Faculty at the Federal Executive Institute. Terry is co-editor and author of The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships That Make Government Work (CQ Press, 2011). He also wrote Statesmanship, Character and Leadership in America (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and To Serve with Honor: Doing the Right Thing in Government (Loftlands Press 2015).
All in Character
The desire to be in the inner circle of a powerful person or group, to be one of the “chosen,” can lead a person to be morally blind to what they are asked to do.
We want strong leaders but mistake humility for weakness. Strength is not opposed to humility, it is magnified by it.
Sam Newell sold appliances, retail. No government bailout would be there for him. He had to succeed on his own – and did - with five bedrock and ethical principles.
Texts, tweets, and emails are ubiquitous. But as technology, they are value-neutral. The values they reflect come from us.
The Senate confirmation process through which we recently passed was a test of our American experiment. In regard to the character of the nominee, the President, the Senate, and many of the people themselves, America failed the test.
When we twist morality to serve politics, we damage even more than individuals; we threaten the society upon which all our hopes for human betterment depend.
The survival of our nation depends on political leaders with the moral courage to do the popular if politically difficult thing. Until voters demand and reward that behavior, we will continue to get political cowardice.
Feeling shame results from failing to live up to one's own standards and/or those of society. Shamelessness is thus the result of a moral deficit and/or social indifference. Shame must be restored as a useful social tool against those who weaken the community.
When disrespect flourishes on the national stage it trickles down into daily life. Our leaders in politics, the media, business, associations, and religion should be exemplars of the behavior we need to foster in civic life. Disrespect teaches, and its lessons are hard to unlearn. Respect is the only antidote.
President Trump had the right to fire Sally Yates. She was a political appointee, serving at his pleasure. Yet when he told her she betrayed her agency, he was wrong. She used her best professional judgment about the law and her reading of the Constitution. Her action was honorable.
Delegitimizing American institutions appears to be a conscious strategy of the Trump campaign.
Those tempted to send nasty tweets or hurl hate at others, should think not just about how good it feels but about what good it does. Tearing us apart to save us is irresponsible. Freedom demands more.
A sense of humor today is essential for leaders, yet no one seems to think that politics and public life have a place for healing humor. By itself, it won't cure our ills, but it could be useful medicine.
The public health crisis due to high lead levels in the water supply of Flint, Michigan claimed many victims. This did not have to happen if those in government had been guided by their moral responsibility to those they serve.
Why do we think someone can be president with no training or experience in politics? Indeed, the lack of both seems to many voters a plus.
Government workers, business leaders, financial titans and everyday citizens increasingly shout to politicians to "get off my back." Yet those politicians are often there because responsibility is not.
Leaders want recognition for their successes but too often expect exoneration for organizational failures. They claim they were clueless about what was going on. Why might this be so? Does it excuse them from culpability?
Americans used to admire leaders with the humility to doubt themselves. Today, that is taken as a sign of weakness. We should rethink that.
Today, most Americans associate honor with military service but tend to view those who enter civil service as "feds" and "bureaucrats." They think "the best and the brightest" are or should be in the private sector. This is healthy neither for the nation nor the public service.
The Compilation of Federal Ethics Laws has 109 pages. Why then did staff at the Department of Veterans Affairs falsify patient appointment wait times? Why did the IRS single out conservative groups for special scrutiny? Laws are not enough.
