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).
A true, but too rare, act of statesmanship is the ability to forgive. It is essential to healing a divided nation, and Abraham Lincoln used it frequently.
We are genetically designed to care about others. A healthy society needs to find ways to foster such caring because culture can get in the way.
Much of the work the brain does is below the level of our conscious awareness. It’s important to understand when this is helpful and when it may cause trouble.
We casually toss off the comment “Have a wonderful day.” How enriched life can be if we actually live those four words.
Why do so many people, at the top of their chosen fields, fall prey to ethical failures? Sometimes good people just go bad and knowing why is the key to preventing it.
Public service is a calling, not just a job. The Oath of Office requires a moral commitment to the Constitution that is central to American government.
People who are quiet in social situations may not be seen as the life of the party, but they have a wonderful and engaging life just the same.
We owe much of the social safety net for workers and retirees to Frances Perkins, the first woman to hold a cabinet position and a savvy, visionary, and determined public servant.
Political lies are certainly not new, yet many believe them despite the evidence. Leaders good at using individual and group psychology make this dangerous for democracy.
People anchor political arguments in “public opinion.” Yet public opinion is often manufactured by those with a political axe to grind. Citizens must think for themselves and be wary of following “public opinion.”
Within dark and difficult days, we can often find sparkling rays of sunshine.
A healthy society balances individual freedom with personal responsibility.
There are many ways to exhibit moral courage. We need “quiet heroes” as well as whistleblowers to protect our Constitution and the nation.
We often stick with decisions for too long, often without realizing it. The “sunk cost” effect is psychologically understandable but can have damaging consequences.
In the midst of uncertainty and the possibility of failure, Martin Luther King, Jr. took a morally courageous step that helped redefine America.
The American experiment in self-government is based on the power of reason to restrain dangerous passions. The attack on the U.S. Capitol is a troubling sign that that restraint is failing.
Incoming President Biden faces the herculean task of restoring Americans’ trust in each other, our major institutions and our national government.
A year of profound tragedy and disruption, 2020 was also a time American moral heroes, doing their jobs and honoring their values, showed us the best of who we are and can be.
When politics weakens public institutions, it weakens the nation.
Leaders need to demonstrate empathy. With it, trust grows and society can improve. Without empathy, leadership is hollow. and often fruitless.
