It's Time To Set The Bar Higher For Our Leaders

Last week my Blog was about silence.  I threw out the idea that so many people walk around all day with ear buds in their ears and it casts a pall over areas of our lives where spirited conversation used to stimulate creative thinking, negotiation, and decision making.  Now when people come together with diverse opinions there seems to be that same absence of creative thinking and decision making, along with an absence of respect for the negotiation process necessary to arrive at a common goal.    When did those backbones of healthy communication disappear?  When did we slip into useless, lackluster communication styles of gossip, selfishness, impatience, anger, bigotry, indiscretion, power hungry control, and manipulation?  When did civilized conversations disappear?  When did unacceptable social behaviors become so acceptable…everywhere? 

Incidents during the past few weeks have provoked me to think about the strange jockeying for position and power that goes on in our neighborhoods, communities, city councils, county boards, schools, state and federal government.  Even our churches play the “power game” as they sort out leadership roles.  Schools face financial challenges and sort issues in the midst of angry meetings filled with shouting and protesting, and the crowd assembled outside is armed with angry signs.  Our elected officials at state and federal levels have forgotten who elected them to serve.  High school student council representatives adhere to codes of behavior and campaign priorities to which they are accountable or they are removed from office.  Public shenanigans of our adult state legislatures and congressional chambers should warrant the same penalties.  Lately they have behaved like…I don’t even want to go there. 

Okay, now you know how I feel.  I have barely regained my good humor since the last presidential election and we are now looking down the jaws of another one.  Since first registering to vote, I have been a strong supporter of term limits in every area where we elect representation.  The way presidential campaigns are managed today (or not managed at all because they start too soon and drag on forever) the term of office needs to be about fifty years so voters have time to recover from the impossible promises shouted out to the public and the ridiculous accusations candidates launch at each other.  (Just kidding about the fifty years, of course)

The way we throw our Constitutional rights at each other to excuse questionable behavior, I regret the Constitution doesn’t contain social and personal “rules of the road” for all elected leaders.  I suspect that’s because many of our forefathers, like Benjamin Franklin and others, were carousers and not exactly squeaky clean.  No one had the courage to speak up and pen personal conduct rules into the Constitution.  Even the Bible outlines strict rules for Elders and Deacons (1 Timothy 3:1-13), but we still can’t keep our behaviors on a “straight and narrow” path.  So, why should we think Constitutional “guidelines of behavior” for public figures would deter elected officials from pursuit of personal pleasures and indiscretions? 

   

Those guidelines have to come from our leaders, themselves.  I believe holding any office, from the neighborhood to the White House, demands a person, who has what I call “an internal compass” --  a statesmanlike quality of dignity and direction, a clear definition of appropriate social and personal behavior, and respect for those represented and the office held.   I’m exhausted by irresponsible conduct of public officials (elected and appointed) and the voting public that excuses and patronizes it.  We practice zero tolerance for issues in our homes and marriages, and as disciplines for our children.  Where are the zero tolerance guidelines for holding public office?  When did candidates cast aside the rules of decent behavior before entering the ring?   And when someone in the media says that defining “appropriate personal and social behavior” for our leaders is a subjective call…  Oh please.  Don’t even start that conversation.  Have we become so tolerant that we don’t even recognize unacceptable behavior of our leaders?  Have inappropriate, power-grabbing leaders become the norm?  Are elected leaders defining their own lists of “right and wrong?”  Are we, as voters, afraid to set non-negotiable, zero tolerance rules that must never to be broken by those we elect?  When did consequences for inappropriate behavior go out of style?

This is my hope and dream for my grandchildren and their future.  Local leaders in neighborhoods, schools, churches, city councils and boards will become more respectful, responsible, and accountable on a grass roots level.  Next, voters will become more selective and demanding when choosing candidates for offices beyond the local community.  We will demand personally and socially appropriate behavior during campaigns and while holding office.  And, when elected leaders violate our trust, they will be removed from office -- immediately. 

It’s time to set the bar higher for our leaders.  For all of us.  But how do we do this?  Where do we start? 

What do you think?

Terri Clamons, author
Corporate Prince, ebook at amazon.com and The Kindle Store

The Toy Room, ebook and paperback at amazon.com, ebook at The Kindle Store

Visit my website at http://www.terriclamons.com and

My blog at http://blogbyterri.blogspot.com