Billions are spent on candidate ads, most of which are negative. They impact the vote almost negligibly but they may well hurt society.
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).
Billions are spent on candidate ads, most of which are negative. They impact the vote almost negligibly but they may well hurt society.
Fact-based science and health care have saved countless lives during COVID-19, but they have not always been appreciated or robustly applied.
We become emotionally attached to the things in our lives. They enrich and shape us, even if they are just things.
Conspiracy theories are prevalent - and dangerous - in America.. It’s important to understand what drives them.
We’re often too reluctant to just say “I don’t know.” The result is uninformed opinions and ineffective public debate.
In two acts of statesmanship, Gerald Ford helped heal a nation. It cost him a lot, but he never regretted it.
Giving up the need for control and certainty in every aspect of our lives can open them to the surprises and joys that can enrich each day.
Americans’ faith in elections, the belief the next president will be a legitimate choice of the people, and that government can be trusted to manage the peaceful transition of power must not be corrupted.
It’s natural to apply labels to ideas and people. But this convenient shorthand can cause problems, damaging our need to respect and work with others.
Fake news is everywhere, but alertness and reason can defeat its intended impact.
She would die before the battle for suffrage was won, but she never doubted that it would be or that the fight for women’s equality would continue after her.
Unless we want to continually be surprised by crises, we need to institutionalize imaginative thinking and create incentives to prevent and prepare for disasters.
Tens of millions of Americans are in poverty, and millions more are one medical crisis or job loss away. We can - and must - do better.
Saying “I was wrong” opens the door to personal learning, healing, and better relationships - for individuals and leaders.
Experiencing positive awe enriches lives, but threat-induced awe generates fear and powerlessness. We are not helpless in producing more of one and less of the other.
Born into slavery, Fred Bailey was determined to learn. He used his hard-earned education and his voice to gain his freedom and campaign for abolition.
Stories can spread like a virus. When they do, they can complicate our ability to think clearly.
The decisions we make may not be as free as we think when they are primed by a subconscious process.
The tragic death of George Floyd highlights the injustice that still waits to be corrected for so many Americans.
Seventy years ago, Margaret Chase Smith’s moral courage reminded us how important it is to stand up for core American values.