Choosing Leaders

Whether it's a game of sports or a competition in the classroom, students often turn to J.C. for inspiration. When decisions are to be made, they look to him. When a leader must be chosen, they defer to him.

Maybe it's because he volunteers. Maybe it's because he's simply more vocal than the rest. Maybe it's because he has a greater sense of his own capacity for the task.

But, unfortunately for him and for the rest of us, at least at this point in his young life, he's just not a good choice. He's actually a loudmouthed, selfish, immature little boy with an inflated sense of self worth, and yet somehow he is a leader in the class and on the playground.

What does this say about people's ability to choose leaders?

The 2008 presidential race has begun and, with the notable exception of Barack Obama, a growing list of candidates has decided to run (I count Obama as an exception because he alone of the candidates, as far as I can tell, is running because he was actually compelled to by a popular groundswell of support; he's not running simply because he can or wants to). They are very much like J.C. - they want to be the leader, they speak first and loudest, and so the general populace is stuck with an uninspiring group of presidential wannabes who really are just not good choices.

I got to thinking about this last week when I was on the verge of jury duty. I've never had to serve on a jury before, but I wondered what it would be like when the time came to select a jury foreperson. Should I volunteer? Should I defer to someone with more life experience? Should I keep quiet and let the group naturally come to a consensus? And it occurred to me that it probably didn't matter what I did. Somebody on that jury would speak up before me, someone like J.C., someone who would say, loudly enough and soon enough, that they wanted to be the foreperson and, like magic, it would happen.

Leadership positions get filled that way, whether it's on the playground or a school administrative position or American politics. A position is announced and people who think they're worthy come forward to fill it. Somewhere along the way these people get the idea that they are capable of leading, but the problem is that many of them (dare I say most?) are wrong. How else to explain the veritable dearth of capable, inspirational leaders, or the general political malaise in our country, or the total failure of so many public schools?

The ultimate question, then, is how to pick real leaders out of the crowd and get them to speak up before the J.C.'s of the world ride us into ruin.