by Jimmy Flatbush

Created on: January 10, 2011   Last Updated: January 11, 2011

Ivy League institutions conduct studies that attempt to validate elitist agendas. All of the brilliant minds that make up the eastern seaboard coalesce to inform the rest of America what is good for them. From health studies to social equality surveys, the eggheads who line the halls of schools such as Princeton and Harvard spend their entire academic careers wistfully forming public policy. Most of which is best suited for the nearest trash dumpster. Take for instance, the myriad studies conducted on the topic of leadership. For all the seminars, for all the research, leadership in America has regressed over the past fifty years.

If you conducted a poll that asked people to name someone who personifies leadership, the names most likely to appear on the list would be military heroes such as George Patton and Norman Schwarzkopf. The leadership traits we associate with are unbridled courage, steely resolve, and a take-charge attitude. Our quintessential leader rallies the troops and fearlessly storms up a hill in order to plant an American flag. We have plenty of those types of leaders, but we are bereft of leaders who exude integrity .A close examination of American Presidents over the past fifty years reveals leaders who were grossly devoid of honesty, genuineness, and sincerity, the hallmark traits of integrity.

Jimmy Carter blames everyone from Richard Nixon to the milkman for double digit interest rates and inflation; he was not accountable for anything he did. Ronald Reagan pretended to possess integrity, at least through the eyes of the media’s propaganda machine, but his administration was involved in perhaps the worst breach of faith since Woodrow Wilson shoved the Federal Reserve System down the throats of Americans. George H.W. Bush promised “No more taxes,” and then abruptly changed course by raising nominal rates. Bill Clinton’s version of integrity was lying under oath after groping a White House intern. The supposedly devout Christian, George W. Bush, lied about weapons of mass destruction. It is no wonder that America has experienced a steep decline wince the administration of John F. Kennedy.

Great leaders compel people to follow them as they reach for lofty goals or march into battle. People will not follow anyone, however, whom they cannot trust. Truthfulness builds trust, on the premise that a leader says what he means, and means what he says. Political correctness has dulled the leadership mantle by expunging from

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>