As I wrote in Part I of this post, the idea that leaders should be role models goes back thousands of years. Moreover, it lives still – at least in theory.
Of course, some of the instructions that we used to get are dead and gone. For example, we used to be told that at the age of six George Washington was given a small ax, with which he swung at his father’s cherry tree. When he was asked what happened, George replied, “I cannot tell a lie. I cut it with my hatchet.” But instead of being punished by his father, his father embraced him. He valued George’s honesty more than his cherry tree.
This small story once taught two lessons. First, that virtue is its own reward. Second, that virtue is rewarded. Both apply to leaders as role models. Leaders are virtuous because being virtuous makes them feel good. And leaders are virtuous because it’s likely their followers will follow suit.
Virtue is variably defined. It can mean being honest or kind; it can also mean being diligent or abstinent or all the above. But whatever the nuances and differences, healthy groups and organizations have a common understanding of what virtue is. What good character and behavior look like and consists of.
It’s peculiar then that the chief executive of the United States of America is a man who by every conceivable conception or definition is the antithesis of a role model. The character of the President Donald Trump is bad and he behaves badly – he is not a man of virtue as this word is conventionally and commonly understood.
It is not political but demonstrable to say that Trump is, for instance, each of the following:
- A chronic liar.
- A vengeful adversary.
- A coarse vulgarian.
- A nasty bully.
- A rapacious money-grubber.
He is moreover shameless. Trump does not pretend to be what he is not. Not only does he not aspire to be a role model of any sort, but he also seems to pride himself on being singular, on getting away with what no president ever did or would ever have dared attempt.
All of this says more about us, the American people in the 21st century, than it ever did about him. Even when we elected Trump president the first time, we knew what we were getting. We knew we were getting a leader who lacked all relevant experience and expertise – and who was instead a showman and charlatan.
Which raises two possibilities. Either the idea of a role model is dead and gone. Or the ideal of a role model has been turned on its head.