I know – I’m repeating myself. In fact, I’m repeating a point about which I wrote an entire book. But I can’t help it. Every day confirms the importance of my message – leadership that is bad inevitably gets worse. It inevitably, inexorably, gets worse unless it is stopped or at least slowed by someone(s) or something(s).
Bad leaders – leaders who, for example, are corrupt or callous, intemperate or dictatorial – never ever wake one fine morning and say, “Golly, gee, I’ve been bad. I’m going to change my ways. I’m going to be good.” On the contrary. They refuse to acknowledge their wrongdoing, even to themselves, and then double down.
Once bad has burrowed in, it digs in deep and then deeper, making it finally very difficult to extract or excise. In other words, once the system is close to being completely corrupted, it’s late, maybe even too late. By then bad leaders and their followers are so entrenched that they control the system itself, which is why at this point the only way to totally get rid of bad is to totally get rid of everyone involved.*
- During his quarter century in office Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has gone from bad to worse. His greed has known no bounds and his lust for power has grown more voracious with every passing year. Since his attack on Ukraine (2022) he has outlawed whatever the opposition and crushed whoever dissented. Elections ended yesterday in Russia – they were of course an unmitigated sham. Surprise! surprise! Putin’s party won!
- During his fourteen years in office China’s President Xi Jinping has gone from bad to worse. Like Putin, Xi has concluded that to remain in control he must gain in control. He has continued to tighten the screws on his people – to the point where he now rules with an iron fist. Just last week Xi imposed sweeping controls on overseas travel. Controls so onerous that they resemble those in effect during the reign of Mao Zedung. Mao was, of course, one of the most dictatorial, tyrannical leaders of the 20th century.
- During his second term in office America’s President Donald Trump has gone from bad to worse. Suffice here to say that his personal shamelessness – his proclivity to coarseness and corruption – seems increasingly to know no bounds. And that his political avariciousness – his appetite for control and zeal for revenge – seems increasingly to know no bounds. Over the weekend Trump announced on Truth Social that he was banning reporters from three mainstream media from covering the White House. Their sin? “FAKE NEWS.” Litigation will of course immediately ensue – but the fire hose will continue to spew more aggressively, outrageously, and outlandishly with each passing day.
Left unchecked bad leadership gets worse. No exceptions. Case closed.
—————————————————
*Leadership from Bad to Worse: What Happens When Bad Festers (Oxford University Press, 2024), p. 4.