Leadership By Benedict T. Palen, Jr.

There are common traits to being a true leader, whether it involves leading a Boy Scout group, or a nation. At the core of leadership is having a moral code, e.g., understanding the difference between right and wrong, and applying that guideline to everything that we do.  

Doing the right thing means, for example, treating people equally regardless of race, color, or religion, and it means contributing a fair share of one’s wealth for societal good.  It means keeping in mind that we take nothing with us when we leave this earth, and that how we are truly remembered is by the legacy that we leave behind.

  

There is a leadership vacuum in this country now.  Hurling insults, tweeting falsehoods, and demonizing certain groups, is NOT leadership. It is reminiscent of tactics used during Hitler’s reign of terror in the 1930s and 40s.  Have we forgotten the lessons that that historical period taught us?  Have we left behind the democratic principles upon which the United States was founded?

The social fabric of this country has been torn by some who want to lead us down a path of nationalistic, racist policies.   The vast majority of Americans know that that is wrong on all counts.  It is time for the sometime “silent majority” to exercise its democratic right to create change, and that begins with electing leaders who have the best interests of the country, not themselves, in mind, when they run for office. 

Leaders are not born into it.  Principles of leadership can be read in many books. Real leadership comes from living by a set of principles every day, and in every situation, and never selling out for the appeal of the moment.  It means doing the right thing for all those who look to you, and inspiring them, by your words and deeds, to do the right things in their daily interactions with their fellow citizens.