Ruscio talks about the importance of humility in leaders, particularly in a democracy where their power is constrained. I really like the example that he gave about JFK and the Bay of Pigs invasion. Kennedy understood that he had made a mistake and was able to address the nation immediately and directly. He presented the facts and explained where he went wrong without trying to make excuses for his mistakes. He also recognized that he needed help, so he asked Eisenhower for advice, and he used this advice to change his decision-making strategies.
The beginning of the article talks about how even though humility is so important, it goes against the way that we think about leadership today. We expect leaders to be “firm, decisive, authoritative, strong, assertive, steadfast, visionary, and powerful. Humble usually doesn’t make the list.” While these traits are good for leaders to have, I think that neglecting to consider a leader’s humility is a big mistake, particularly in a government like ours where we have such a long tradition of democratic institutions. Ruscio later talks about the contrast between Trump and JFK/Washington/Lincoln. He seems less concerned about Trump being arrogant and more concerned about his disrespect for the institutions that are the foundation of our democracy.
This article also made me think about how our politics have become so polarized. If leaders don’t have humility, then it will be very hard for them to debate and make decisions with people who don’t agree with them. In order to come to decisions, there needs to be compromise, which will not happen if no one is willing to admit that they are wrong.
I agree, the example Rucio made about JFK really resonated with me. JFK admitted, and apologized, for his wrong doing and then he learned from his mistake. I think that what Rucio was saying about there being a fuzzy line between how much humility a leader should have can be seen here. JFK still led confidently and assertively, and he was confident within himself to admit that he was wrong.
I also think that being humble is a very important characteristic to have in our democracy but the people these days seem to tear apart any flaw that any person of power may make and that’s not to say that Trump should be excused for being a total butthead but I think because people tend to be so quick to judge that maybe he just thinks if he pretends to be all high and mighty he won’t get so much backlash (even though everything he does tends to be dumb or annoying for someone). I personally like to follow someone who knows their limits and can admit when they have done something wrong because nobody is perfect and not seeing that is a major red flag to me in leadership.