WHAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICA PART ONE

A Gallup pollster called the other day to ask a bunch of questions. The first one was, what is wrong with this country? That caught me totally flat-footed.  I did not know where to start, and my list was so long I stalled. Finally, I blurted out an inadequate educational system and a lack of morality and moral standards. But before I get to those and others, let me start with the basics. Lack of governmental leadership.

I believe in a strong central government to lead our society. Within that structure, we need strong, wise, and empathetic leadership. We have been primarily bereft of that kind of leadership since FDR. The best school for leaders is the apolitical U.S. Marine Corps. We need to find the leaders there.

Honor, courage, commitment. Semper Fidelis. Ooh-rah. If you don’t recognize, relate to, or live by those values and traits, you are not a Marine, and you fail to understand you need to act like one. 

You’ve heard me refer to the Marines in my advice to CEOs. I’m here to say you are not worth your salt as a leader of human beings unless the Marine Corps values guide everything you do on and off the job. Nay, unless those values are you.

Ductus Exemplo? Lead by example. The official motto of Marine Corps officers. I’m proud to be one. And when I say the officers eat last, I genuinely mean it. CEO leadership is not about you but what you can do for the people and the organization you lead. If this is not the case, you are just feeding off others to satisfy your greed for power, recognition, and money.

What practical, timely application do these principles represent? Just take the work-from-home example for today. If you can’t figure out how to supervise the work remotely, you need to be replaced pronto. All it takes is empathy to realize what is best for your colleagues. A little scientific method exercise will tell you productivity increases. You would be astonished at how productivity increases when you act like a Marine Corps Officer.

The nation is in crisis. That is not hyperbole. Autocracy/theocracy is just around the corner. Demagogues are ready to take over as the stupid electorate blindly ushers them in. Sadly, we cannot change ridiculous. Nor can we ignore the younger generation that lacks a moral compass. Doomsday for democracy as we know it is likely. Where are the leaders, and from whence is their power? I have an answer, as radical as it may be.