Leadership

 Johnny B. Goode

His mama told him "someday you will be a man
And you will be the leader of a big old band
Many people coming from miles around
To hear your playing music when the sun goes down
Maybe someday you name will be in lights
Saying "Johnny B. Goode tonight"

What does it take to be a leader?

“I wanted to always play it (the coronavirus) down. I still like playing it down because I don't want to create a panic,"  Donald Trump in a March 19, 2020 phone call with Bob Woodward.

“You can’t handle the truth”, Colonel Nathan R. Jessup testifies in court on "Code Red" in  the movie “A Few Good Men”

“I have nothing to offer but Blood, Sweat, Toil, and Tears”, Winston Churchill in a speech to parliament on  May 13, 1940.

All of the statements above are concerned with leadership and the truth.  Society needs truth from our leaders, no matter how unpleasant that truth may be.  The people CAN handle the truth, and expect the truth from its leaders.  We will not panic, if we are told the truth. 

We also expect the truth in promises from our leaders.  Churchill also did not promise victory, which he knew he could not assure, but he did promise that he would never surrender.   “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”.

There is a reason that Churchill is celebrated as a leader.  He told the truth, and he did not make promises that he could not keep. If leaders tell us the truth, and do make promises that they can not keep, the people will do their part and not panic. We place our trust in leaders, who place their trust in us.