A major cornerstone of the philosophy behind THE QUIET LEADER is the notion that there is real and mounting public discontent in the United States — a so-called “Leadership Problem” in modern America.
The American public’s discontent appears to be increasing by the year, and contrary to popular notion is not caused by one particular political party or to one political leader. Truly, growing discontent with America’s elected leaders is subsequently spilling over to cause an overwhelming sense of disenfranchisement to “leadership” in general.
But is the Leadership Problem real, or merely an overwhelming misconception?
Usually, one’s perception of whether America is headed in the right or wrong direction is a matter of which political party is in power — for Democrats, they perceive a leadership problem with Republicans in power; for Republicans, the opposite.
Yet in the span of only a few short years (from 2002 to 2009) have both major American political parties controlled the White House and the Congress. And during this time, bipartisan opinion of both party’s Presidents, several Congresses, and the perceived direction of the United States of America continues to plummet to historic lows.
There is a real and mounting problem with the way we perceive our leaders and the way we perceive leadership in modern America. First, consider some recent poll numbers that indisputably indicate that an overwhelming majority (pushing 100% of respondents) don’t wish for the children to grow up to be politicians, and don’t believe that campaigning politicians keep their campaign promises when elected:
- Seventeen percent (17%) say they’d like their children to grow up to be politicians.
For one’s child to become a politician used to be a great and respectable honor in the United States. Based upon the results of this poll, to be a politician would seem to reflect as more of a black mark upon one’s family than a great honor. But why do parents feel this way? One indicating factor would be the way we all tend to perceive “politicians.”
When we think of our modern elected leaders, we automatically think things like “liar,” “selfish,” “conceited,” and so on:
The perception of what most Americans think of politicians is fairly evident, if not by this poll number alone than by general sentiment that can be picked up every day on the news and in newspapers.
But how much of The Leadership Problem can we blame on leaders that, in a democracy, we Americans are responsible for electing?
The Leadership Problem goes beyond a perceived deficit in modern American leadership. The problem is much deeper: we are electing the very men and women we would choose to not have lead us. Truly, the issues that the American people are suffering from is deeply rooted in our collective psyche that America is on a downward spiral:
- “Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters feel that America’s best days are in the past… This marks the highest level of voter pessimism in two years and is up 13 points from a year ago when Barack Obama was elected president.”
And most expect partisanship and division in the political sphere to only get worse:
- “Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters expect politics in Washington, D.C. to become more partisan over the next year.”
If a majority of Americans are pessimistic about the country’s future, will overwhelmingly negative sentiment cloud voters’ collective judgment of who the best leaders are to represent us?
While the outlook is bleak, a majority of Americans agree that the problem is not America itself:
- “Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters view U.S. society as generally fair and decent, up seven points from the previous survey in early October.”
The so-called Leadership Problem is not one of partisanship — general discontent with modern elected leaders is not a reflection upon a particular president, group of politicians, or either political party. The leadership problem goes much deeper than what we see everyday on CNN and in the New York Times.
The Leadership Problem is deeply rooted in the American psyche. The major question is, what has caused it… and how can it be remedied?
In addressing modern discontent with elected leaders and helping men and women reclaim their understanding of real leadership with a simple philosophy that can be undertaken simply and in everyday life, THE QUIET LEADER is the antidote.
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