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Our 43rd president has said on many occasions that he acts based on his firmly held beliefs, and not on the whims of public opinion polls. The vast majority of Americans want our troops out of Iraq, for example, but our president pushes for deeper involvement because he believes in that course of action. He's not much interested in compromise. He knows the right way, and you're either with him, or against him.
In many ways, George W. Bush is the definition of a "values centered leader." I suppose whether you like him or not pretty much has to do with whether you share his values. If you do, he's your guy. If you don't (like the 66% of Americans in the latest polls), you're not too happy with our Cowboy in Chief.
So, today, when I read that one in four Americans believes that George W. Bush is the worst president in our nation's history (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll), it made me think a bit about how busy we are advocating "values centered leadership" as the ideal for student leaders. If George W. Bush is a values-driven leader, and if his approval ratings are lower than Richard Nixon's during the Watergate scandal, it suggests that "values centered leadership" -- as a pure leadership ideal -- falls short of the silver bullet we've been telling our student leaders it is.
I want to admit – straight out and as honestly as possible – that I am not a fan of either George W. Bush or of the values-centered leadership cult currently dominating student affairs in this country. In fact, I can't really tell you which I dislike most (although I think the president might win that one). I try to avoid politics in this blog, but I'm using the president's dismal approval ratings to illustrate a point...
I think teaching "values centered leadership" as the simple answer to student leaders is flawed. It's not enough to make your decisions solely based on your personal understanding of the values of your organization or your founders. It's not as simple as reading your ritual, your Constitution or your mission statement and determining the one right option. The values of your organization should be a guide, and they should help differentiate between a good option and a bad one, but being a leader means making decisions and setting courses of action that respond to the complex situations that your group faces RIGHT NOW.
You have to think about your recent history, your budget and resources, the priorities of your members or campus, and the opportunities for compromise that move a negative reality closer to something positive. Leadership is very complex and somewhat fluid when it is done properly. There are days when you have to settle for a small step forward even when you wish, in your heart, that you could be in perfect congruence with the values of your organization. Some days you feel like a leader who acted righteously, and some days you feel a little filthy because you had to get dirty to get something done. That's reality, but it's very difficult to teach that to student leaders getting their first real shots at leadership.
Sometimes, the right thing to do is simply the right thing to do, and acting based on your values is prudent. But when you act entirely based on your interpretation of what is right, you run the risk of falling out of touch with the will of the people you govern.
Then, you face "W. Syndrome" -- everyone decides you are completely out of touch and can't wait until you go back home to your ranch.
