Why don't politicians get on buses and ride to shelters with arriving refugees?
We didn't bookmark the article, so we cannot quote the source. The question didn't go away, instead it led to another look at one famous leadership motto: leading by example.
One of the great sounding concepts of leadership, it is described in uplifting prose in books and on web sites such as MindTools. There is a photo at the top of the Mindtools page showing these two mountain climbers, one on top reaching out to his mate just below.
It's a great photo, there's danger, there's the we are in this together, romantic and uplifting.
The examples of people who lead by example in normal life are much more mundane, reflecting the reality of everyday existence: Very few of us are mountain climbers.
We don't face high cliffs or dizzying drops like the guys in the photo, we face office incidents, like the boss who tells everyone to stay late and then leaves at 5 PM sharp to play golf.
Two more things the photo tells us and what real life tells us:
1. We are looking at an activity commonly thought of as very egalitarian.
The boss who leaves for golf is unlikely to see you as his equal.
2. The men are performing the same activity.
Your boss does not perform the same activities as you.
These facts make "leading by example" a bit less straight forward than we are led to think.
The MindTools page gives Jack Welch of General Electric (GE) and Ghandi as examples of great leaders who led by example. To be fair to the site, it states that we are, of course, neither Welch nor Ghandi.
"Leading by example" got Ghandi killed and made Welch rich. For us average folks neither of these outcomes is likely.
We don't know the security arrangements of Jack Welch but they were certainly more sophisticated than those of the average boss who splits for golf at 5 PM.
There is a big question, though, and that is why is 'leading by example' such a revered concept?
Our partial answer is leading by example does not come easily in today's world.
Until not all that long ago, give or take a hundred years, the big prize of leadership, ruling, required leading by example in many sectors of Western society. Kings went and fought with their armies, great captains of industry were not yet shielded from worker contact by small armies of armed guards. Queens were slightly better off in the battlefield presence department, but they still had face more challenges than their modern counterparts.
Also, lower ranking citizens, such as shop floor supervisors or foremen were not considered 'leaders', they did what they were told to. More recently, they were told to be leaders. So, continuing to do what they were told, they became leaders - only to realize they had greater responsibility for the same pay.
In the military, leadership is next to godliness, and the equivalent of the foreman, the squad leader, is reminded from day one to lead by example, which makes sense because running towards bullets needs convincing and you are more likely to do it when someone else does it. The problem these days is that the ranking officers value physical distance to bombs and bullets and try to make up for this by ostentatious bravado and well publicized mess hall mingling.
You are forgiven if you wish old style style leading by example, if enforced, could solve a few crises in the world. For example, the frequently mentioned "if you want to fight a war, dear head of state, put on some boots, grab a gun and do it". Or, for the modern surveillance state: "You want to read my emails, sure, be an example and let me read yours first".
But if history is a guide, that's unlikely too happen, which means, expect even more calls to lead by example.
So, for most of us, leading by example means nothing more than "don't be a dick".
Why don't politicians get on buses and ride to shelters with arriving refugees?
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