When choosing a president or any person in leadership capacity, watch how they act under pressure. How a person acts in the fire is who they really are. Good leadership has a quality that is indispensable. It must be able to handle criticism without immature responses and knee-jerk emotional outbursts. Leadership carries an expectancy – the person is mature, stable, and calm in troubled waters. National leadership should never be synonymous with political punditry or ideologue. When at the helm a person must be able to gather from multiple voices and educated opinions of trusted sources and then make a quality decision based on principle and truth. Never make decisions established on political pressures, financial accruement, or vengeance as a payback for wounded ego.

Sometimes we have to walk away from the pressures of decision making instead of caving and making rash premature decisions. Temporal satisfaction that we made a Johnny-on-the-spot executive move does not compare to the long-term failure and loss of legacy. It’s better to weather the criticism of not moving fast enough and later enjoying the quality of a decision well made than the other way around.

Just a little musing today concerning the search for quality leadership in the world today.

Dr. Reuben Egolf