No, not the Obama administration. Not “We” as in the United States. “We” as in us! You. Me. By now everyone knows that President Obama famously claimed to be “leading from behind” with respect to the situation in Libya. (Of course, Obama never actually uttered those words publicly. Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker attributed the comment to an anonymous Obama advisor. But this post has nothing to do with foreign policy. I really just used that line to get your attention!)
When I was a kid, we had a dog named Missy. A poodle. Horribly un-manly. Not nearly as cool as the dog in the picture. When we would take Missy for a walk, she would pull on her leash with all of her sissified strength. She always seemed to be on the scent of…something. As hard as she pulled, though, I always eventually made her go where I wanted her to go. If she resisted too much, I’d just reel her in, pick her up, and put her on a new path. Her 3 pound body just wasn’t big enough to resist the brute strength of my towering 10 year old frame.
Missy was out in front, but I was leading.
What about our political arena? Are politicians leading us? Or are we leading them? We often get aggravated with our politicians, but have they lead us into a mess, or have we lead them into a mess? The politicians are leading in the sense that they are “out in front,” at least figuratively. But politicians are elected by us, so they can’t lead us where we don’t want to go. At least not for long. We’ll just pick them up and set them on a new path (unfortunately, that new path is often called “lobbying”).
“Thou shalt get reelected.” It’s the first commandment of politics. The best way to violate this commandment is to try to lead us where we don’t want to go. Lead us where we don’t want to go, and we’ll find a leader who will lead us where we do want to go.
Ultimately, we lead the politicians. The follow us. They look at how we live to discern where we want to go, and then they “lead” us there. What are we showing them about where we want to go?
Here are a few ideas for leading our politicians from behind:
- Create and follow a written budget that balances (including investment) every month.
- Conduct your life with openness, honesty, and accountability.
- Put up safeguards around your marriage so that you remain true to your spouse in word, deed, and thought.
- Help a single parent.
- Turn off mind-numbing TV shows. Invest that time in important relationships, creative hobbies, or turning your great idea into a new business.
To be sure, I can’t hold myself out as the perfect example for our politicians. But I can do better today than I did yesterday. And better still the next day.
The more we do the sorts of things we want to see from our elected officials, the more they will see where we really want to go. For better or worse, over time, the government will live up to the standards and values that we live up to. So we must live to the standards and values we want to see in our government.
Who is leading whom? What can you do today to start leading from behind?
Talk to me (in the comments).
