Chapter 6
Leader vs. Politician
“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly
and for the same reasons." unknown
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more
and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams
My bright blossoms,
You are never too young to understand and spot the difference between a politician and a leader. This will help you avoid one and become the other.
When it comes to Shinola no one spreads it around more than politicians. They flap their jaws for a living and give street gangs real competition for the bravado award. (see the chapter Bravado Vs Courage). There is no shortage of politicians. But true leaders may be an endangered species.
You are also not too young to decide which you will become. Already, everyday, you have begun practicing the qualities to become either. Like a politician you can give me excuses why you haven’t brushed your teeth or done your homework or just tell me the straight truth…you got too distracted by something on TV or the computer. Becoming a leader starts now.
“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does
from day to day to lead himself.”
Thomas J. Watson Sr. CEO of IBM
Quite often when I drop you off at school in the morning what do I say? “Now get out there and lead someone!” Nope. Often I will say, “Be awesome. Be kind. You can’t be awesome if you can’t be kind.” (I never say “Be nice.” See the chapter Kind vs. Nice) Why? For several reasons. First, because God extends kindness to us. In fact, scripture says that His kindness leads us back to him. (Rom 2:4) God deals with us out of the “kind intention of his will.” (Eph 1:5) God leads with kindness. That’s a relief, right?
Leaders are kind. Politicians try to be nice… even when they are calling another politician a liar without using the word ‘liar’. They use words like “misspoke,” “mistaken,” or “not forthcoming”. Here’s a five dollar word they learned in university, “disingenuous”. That’s an educated, ‘polite’ way of calling someone a ‘liar’.
So why be kind in particular? Because people matter. Because character matters. And because good and great leaders care and influence people not primarily thru ideas, promises, talent, vocabulary or intelligence but through genuine character made real through action. John Quincy Adams didn’t say, “If your ‘words’ inspire…”. He said, “If your ‘actions’ inspire.”
These days a lot of people are wowed by fancy talk, promises and talent. Knowing this, politicians become really good at speech making, public relations, marketing and disguising what they are really up to.
“The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have
to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.”
Ben Okri- Nigerian poet/author
So, being a leader, someone who is not easily swayed by peer pressure, begins with character in action, not by impressive jaw-flapping.
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer
Another way to tell a politician from a leader is this. Politicians are pleasers. They don’t want to upset people…at least 51 percent of the people…just enough to keep getting elected. So politicians tend to take their direction from polls, from what people think of them. On the other hand, leaders are servers. They take their main direction from principles to determine what will best serve and represent the people. Politicians sometimes even adjust their clothes or accent to the people they are with at the moment, seeking to relate and be accepted. (see the chapter Admiration vs. Popularity). Leaders remain true to themselves in very different situations and are willing to take the heat for speaking the hard truth.
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you
the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.
Herbert B. Swope - Winner of three Pulitzer Prizes in journalism
Let me give you a real world example of great leadership.
As kids, so far I have never seen you take much interest in the yearly State of the Union address by our Presidents. I don’t blame you. It’s pretty dry stuff. The speech is almost always a steady stream of jaw-flapping by the President with pauses, mostly planned, for his supporters to stand and applaud and rah-rah while the opposing side remains seated to express their resistance and irritation that their guy is not the President…yet. The speeches are basically all the same: “Whatever is broken WE’RE going to fix it.” Whether it’s a broken economy, failing schools, unresolved wars, a hole in the ozone or whatever, ”WE have the power to fix it and WE will.” Most of the time there is more “I” will fix it than “We” will fix it. “I” intend. “I” will change. “I” did this. “I” will do that. “We (meaning “I”) will prevail...blah-blah-blah. The heavy use of the word “I” is a tip off.
"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that’s not
because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don’t think 'I.' They think
'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to be to make the team function.
They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit…This is
what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done. "
Peter Drucker – writer/economist
In these speeches there is generally a lot of verbal bravado masquerading as courage but no real courage on display. The words are carefully paced and packed with fervor and alibis but very little raw, holy passion and truth. Maybe that’s why so few people tune in to listen anymore. However, there was a State of the Union address that actually took real leadership to deliver.
Once upon a time on the other side of the globe, some years before you arrived on this beautiful, broken planet, part of the world was waking up and getting free from a long night of a tyranny called communism (an idea crafted in the dark halls of power by Godless control freaks who thought making the rules for everyone else was an appealing job, especially since you didn’t have to live by those rules yourself and it paid well because the rule makers lived large off the treasury supplied by labor of the rule keepers).
New Year’s Day 1990, Vaclav Havel, the newly elected president of free Czechoslovakia delivered an address to the Czech people and the world. He spoke calmly, with great conviction, humility, honesty and courage. There were still many people who wanted power and would take it by force if given the chance. Havel new this. Under the communist rulers he had spent some years in prison for his views. Certainly many of his former captors were listening to their former prisoner’s speech.
Now, on this great day, he spoke as the freed leader of a free people. Unlike most of our politicians, he spoke the naked truth. He basically said: Our country is broken and we are the reason. He began by listing the lies of the previous political rulers and said, “I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you.”
And then he told the hard truth. You can find and read his entire speech for yourself (and I urge you to someday soon) but let me include a little of it here so you can hear what a true leader sounds like. Use it like a measuring stick to spot the sacred, real thing or a mere Shinola peddling politician.
Early in his remarks Havel got right to the point:
“The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. “
I can’t imagine any of our current politicians saying that…in public, on camera. He went on:
“We fell morally ill...We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore one another,
to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion,
humility or forgiveness lost their depth and dimension…
When I talk about the contaminated moral atmosphere…I am talking about all of
us... we are all...responsible…We are all also its co-creators. We have to accept this
legacy as a sin we committed against ourselves. Freedom and democracy include
participation and therefore responsibility from us all...If we realize this hope will
return to our hearts."
Feel the awe in that? The honesty and humility? Our politicians never take the blame for anything. They always point the finger at someone else. There are less than a handful of our current politicians who risk being this honest or express their spiritual faith in public as Havel went on to do:
“Our first president wrote: ‘Jesus, not Caesar.’ I dare to say that we may
even have an opportunity to spread this idea further...Our country...can now
permanently radiate love, understanding, the power of the spirit and of ideas.”
Near the end of his speech Havel even had something to say about jaw-flapping:
“In conclusion, I would like to say that I want to be a president who will speak less
and work more. To be a president who…will always be present among his fellow
citizens and listen to them well.”
Extraordinary, right? Did you notice how he said “we” a whole lot more than “I”? He described and set a new course for his country that day, but he had been heading in that direction with his life for many years. Whenever you hear words like Havel’s, spoken fearlessly and backed up by a life of action, take a moment and pray to be such a person.
Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.
Chinese Proverb
Here’s another difference between politicians and leaders:
Politicians operate from a crafted and even crafty strategy driven from a distorted, self-serving view of the world. They take care to arrange everything for perception, how it looks and feels in order to impress and convince those easily swayed by dramatics or hooked by promises. (This applies to people in general, too, not just those in public office. They’re called “posers”. They have an aftertaste like most artificial sweeteners.)
Leaders speak and act from heartfelt conviction and a clear, realistic view of the world. They are more concerned about what is true, right and best than whether people and voters “like” them or what result it will have in the polls. (This is admirable in non-political people, too. They’re called “authentic”, “real”, or “true-blue” and they make the best friends, spouses and partners in business and ministry.)
“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
Max Lucado – author
Vaclav Havel’s speech was not delivered to a massive crowd for maximum dramatic effect. Politicians often stage events to produce cheers and photos. Even though he was a playwright and poet and knew how to move a crowd, Havel didn’t do that. Instead he delivered those potent words seated behind a desk through a camera into the homes of the people. Courage, a prime trait of great leaders, unlike bravado, produces honor, admiration and even tears. I am sure there were all three in homes all across Czechoslovakia that New Year’s day.
Now let me give you an example much closer to home, in fact from our own home.
Wyatt, I will never forget the evening you wrestled with the decision whether to move up to the A-team in soccer, or remain with the guys you had played with for two years. You were one of the captains of the B-team. You guys were really becoming a strong unit and had just come off a great victory at a tournament against teams in higher divisions. The next week, right after tryouts, remember, the A-team coach came to us and said he wanted you on his team. In his view you were ready. But the choice was up to you.
This was a tough decision. We had to call the coach that evening or lose the slot. You and your mom and I went over and over all the pros and cons. The A-team meant starting over, with new teammates, higher skill levels. It meant less playing time, not being captain and improving and proving yourself all over again. You were really anxious about taking that big a step. The A-team was actually up four division levels! There was the added pressure of letting both teams down, leaving one and possibly not measuring up sometimes on the other. The tension was very real.
Your mom lobbied hard for you to join the A-team. I leaned that way, too, but also saw the benefits of playing one more year with the B-team and your buddies, being a leader and one of the top players. I told you I would support either choice. We left the decision in your hands.
Just when I thought you were leaning toward the safer choice, the B-team, you grinned and said, “Ok, I want to join the A-team.”
I can’t describe the rush of admiration that went through me. I feel it again now as I write this and I remember the joy on your face once you had spoken your choice out loud. We got the coach on the phone. I told him you had made a decision and handed the phone to you.
Your face beamed as you told him, “Coach, I want to be on your team.”
I felt like you had just signed with a professional team for millions of dollars! Your mom and I were so proud of you. We still are, for a lot of reasons.
“…if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares
you, and do it. And you can make a difference, if you choose to do so.”
J. Michael Straczynski – TV producer
In that moment, in the heat of decision making, where two roads led into the future and you could only choose one of them, Wyatt, you took a pivotal step toward becoming a leader. You chose the difficult, more challenging path. And in our home your decision produced honor, admiration, tears…and cheers.
Now get out there, my lovely world changers, run, play ball, serve, live what you speak, fly high and true… and be awesome. Be kind. You can’t be awesome if you can’t be kind.
Leader vs. Politician
“Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly
and for the same reasons." unknown
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more
and become more, you are a leader. John Quincy Adams
My bright blossoms,
You are never too young to understand and spot the difference between a politician and a leader. This will help you avoid one and become the other.
When it comes to Shinola no one spreads it around more than politicians. They flap their jaws for a living and give street gangs real competition for the bravado award. (see the chapter Bravado Vs Courage). There is no shortage of politicians. But true leaders may be an endangered species.
You are also not too young to decide which you will become. Already, everyday, you have begun practicing the qualities to become either. Like a politician you can give me excuses why you haven’t brushed your teeth or done your homework or just tell me the straight truth…you got too distracted by something on TV or the computer. Becoming a leader starts now.
“Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does
from day to day to lead himself.”
Thomas J. Watson Sr. CEO of IBM
Quite often when I drop you off at school in the morning what do I say? “Now get out there and lead someone!” Nope. Often I will say, “Be awesome. Be kind. You can’t be awesome if you can’t be kind.” (I never say “Be nice.” See the chapter Kind vs. Nice) Why? For several reasons. First, because God extends kindness to us. In fact, scripture says that His kindness leads us back to him. (Rom 2:4) God deals with us out of the “kind intention of his will.” (Eph 1:5) God leads with kindness. That’s a relief, right?
Leaders are kind. Politicians try to be nice… even when they are calling another politician a liar without using the word ‘liar’. They use words like “misspoke,” “mistaken,” or “not forthcoming”. Here’s a five dollar word they learned in university, “disingenuous”. That’s an educated, ‘polite’ way of calling someone a ‘liar’.
So why be kind in particular? Because people matter. Because character matters. And because good and great leaders care and influence people not primarily thru ideas, promises, talent, vocabulary or intelligence but through genuine character made real through action. John Quincy Adams didn’t say, “If your ‘words’ inspire…”. He said, “If your ‘actions’ inspire.”
These days a lot of people are wowed by fancy talk, promises and talent. Knowing this, politicians become really good at speech making, public relations, marketing and disguising what they are really up to.
“The magician and the politician have much in common: they both have
to draw our attention away from what they are really doing.”
Ben Okri- Nigerian poet/author
So, being a leader, someone who is not easily swayed by peer pressure, begins with character in action, not by impressive jaw-flapping.
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”
Albert Schweitzer
Another way to tell a politician from a leader is this. Politicians are pleasers. They don’t want to upset people…at least 51 percent of the people…just enough to keep getting elected. So politicians tend to take their direction from polls, from what people think of them. On the other hand, leaders are servers. They take their main direction from principles to determine what will best serve and represent the people. Politicians sometimes even adjust their clothes or accent to the people they are with at the moment, seeking to relate and be accepted. (see the chapter Admiration vs. Popularity). Leaders remain true to themselves in very different situations and are willing to take the heat for speaking the hard truth.
I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you
the formula for failure, which is: Try to please everybody.
Herbert B. Swope - Winner of three Pulitzer Prizes in journalism
Let me give you a real world example of great leadership.
As kids, so far I have never seen you take much interest in the yearly State of the Union address by our Presidents. I don’t blame you. It’s pretty dry stuff. The speech is almost always a steady stream of jaw-flapping by the President with pauses, mostly planned, for his supporters to stand and applaud and rah-rah while the opposing side remains seated to express their resistance and irritation that their guy is not the President…yet. The speeches are basically all the same: “Whatever is broken WE’RE going to fix it.” Whether it’s a broken economy, failing schools, unresolved wars, a hole in the ozone or whatever, ”WE have the power to fix it and WE will.” Most of the time there is more “I” will fix it than “We” will fix it. “I” intend. “I” will change. “I” did this. “I” will do that. “We (meaning “I”) will prevail...blah-blah-blah. The heavy use of the word “I” is a tip off.
"The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say 'I.' And that’s not
because they have trained themselves not to say 'I.' They don’t think 'I.' They think
'we'; they think 'team.' They understand their job to be to make the team function.
They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but 'we' gets the credit…This is
what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done. "
Peter Drucker – writer/economist
In these speeches there is generally a lot of verbal bravado masquerading as courage but no real courage on display. The words are carefully paced and packed with fervor and alibis but very little raw, holy passion and truth. Maybe that’s why so few people tune in to listen anymore. However, there was a State of the Union address that actually took real leadership to deliver.
Once upon a time on the other side of the globe, some years before you arrived on this beautiful, broken planet, part of the world was waking up and getting free from a long night of a tyranny called communism (an idea crafted in the dark halls of power by Godless control freaks who thought making the rules for everyone else was an appealing job, especially since you didn’t have to live by those rules yourself and it paid well because the rule makers lived large off the treasury supplied by labor of the rule keepers).
New Year’s Day 1990, Vaclav Havel, the newly elected president of free Czechoslovakia delivered an address to the Czech people and the world. He spoke calmly, with great conviction, humility, honesty and courage. There were still many people who wanted power and would take it by force if given the chance. Havel new this. Under the communist rulers he had spent some years in prison for his views. Certainly many of his former captors were listening to their former prisoner’s speech.
Now, on this great day, he spoke as the freed leader of a free people. Unlike most of our politicians, he spoke the naked truth. He basically said: Our country is broken and we are the reason. He began by listing the lies of the previous political rulers and said, “I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you.”
And then he told the hard truth. You can find and read his entire speech for yourself (and I urge you to someday soon) but let me include a little of it here so you can hear what a true leader sounds like. Use it like a measuring stick to spot the sacred, real thing or a mere Shinola peddling politician.
Early in his remarks Havel got right to the point:
“The worst thing is that we live in a contaminated moral environment. “
I can’t imagine any of our current politicians saying that…in public, on camera. He went on:
“We fell morally ill...We learned not to believe in anything, to ignore one another,
to care only about ourselves. Concepts such as love, friendship, compassion,
humility or forgiveness lost their depth and dimension…
When I talk about the contaminated moral atmosphere…I am talking about all of
us... we are all...responsible…We are all also its co-creators. We have to accept this
legacy as a sin we committed against ourselves. Freedom and democracy include
participation and therefore responsibility from us all...If we realize this hope will
return to our hearts."
Feel the awe in that? The honesty and humility? Our politicians never take the blame for anything. They always point the finger at someone else. There are less than a handful of our current politicians who risk being this honest or express their spiritual faith in public as Havel went on to do:
“Our first president wrote: ‘Jesus, not Caesar.’ I dare to say that we may
even have an opportunity to spread this idea further...Our country...can now
permanently radiate love, understanding, the power of the spirit and of ideas.”
Near the end of his speech Havel even had something to say about jaw-flapping:
“In conclusion, I would like to say that I want to be a president who will speak less
and work more. To be a president who…will always be present among his fellow
citizens and listen to them well.”
Extraordinary, right? Did you notice how he said “we” a whole lot more than “I”? He described and set a new course for his country that day, but he had been heading in that direction with his life for many years. Whenever you hear words like Havel’s, spoken fearlessly and backed up by a life of action, take a moment and pray to be such a person.
Not the cry, but the flight of a wild duck, leads the flock to fly and follow.
Chinese Proverb
Here’s another difference between politicians and leaders:
Politicians operate from a crafted and even crafty strategy driven from a distorted, self-serving view of the world. They take care to arrange everything for perception, how it looks and feels in order to impress and convince those easily swayed by dramatics or hooked by promises. (This applies to people in general, too, not just those in public office. They’re called “posers”. They have an aftertaste like most artificial sweeteners.)
Leaders speak and act from heartfelt conviction and a clear, realistic view of the world. They are more concerned about what is true, right and best than whether people and voters “like” them or what result it will have in the polls. (This is admirable in non-political people, too. They’re called “authentic”, “real”, or “true-blue” and they make the best friends, spouses and partners in business and ministry.)
“A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
Max Lucado – author
Vaclav Havel’s speech was not delivered to a massive crowd for maximum dramatic effect. Politicians often stage events to produce cheers and photos. Even though he was a playwright and poet and knew how to move a crowd, Havel didn’t do that. Instead he delivered those potent words seated behind a desk through a camera into the homes of the people. Courage, a prime trait of great leaders, unlike bravado, produces honor, admiration and even tears. I am sure there were all three in homes all across Czechoslovakia that New Year’s day.
Now let me give you an example much closer to home, in fact from our own home.
Wyatt, I will never forget the evening you wrestled with the decision whether to move up to the A-team in soccer, or remain with the guys you had played with for two years. You were one of the captains of the B-team. You guys were really becoming a strong unit and had just come off a great victory at a tournament against teams in higher divisions. The next week, right after tryouts, remember, the A-team coach came to us and said he wanted you on his team. In his view you were ready. But the choice was up to you.
This was a tough decision. We had to call the coach that evening or lose the slot. You and your mom and I went over and over all the pros and cons. The A-team meant starting over, with new teammates, higher skill levels. It meant less playing time, not being captain and improving and proving yourself all over again. You were really anxious about taking that big a step. The A-team was actually up four division levels! There was the added pressure of letting both teams down, leaving one and possibly not measuring up sometimes on the other. The tension was very real.
Your mom lobbied hard for you to join the A-team. I leaned that way, too, but also saw the benefits of playing one more year with the B-team and your buddies, being a leader and one of the top players. I told you I would support either choice. We left the decision in your hands.
Just when I thought you were leaning toward the safer choice, the B-team, you grinned and said, “Ok, I want to join the A-team.”
I can’t describe the rush of admiration that went through me. I feel it again now as I write this and I remember the joy on your face once you had spoken your choice out loud. We got the coach on the phone. I told him you had made a decision and handed the phone to you.
Your face beamed as you told him, “Coach, I want to be on your team.”
I felt like you had just signed with a professional team for millions of dollars! Your mom and I were so proud of you. We still are, for a lot of reasons.
“…if you do not choose to lead, you will forever be led by others. Find what scares
you, and do it. And you can make a difference, if you choose to do so.”
J. Michael Straczynski – TV producer
In that moment, in the heat of decision making, where two roads led into the future and you could only choose one of them, Wyatt, you took a pivotal step toward becoming a leader. You chose the difficult, more challenging path. And in our home your decision produced honor, admiration, tears…and cheers.
Now get out there, my lovely world changers, run, play ball, serve, live what you speak, fly high and true… and be awesome. Be kind. You can’t be awesome if you can’t be kind.