I Don't Need Help »

14Feb 2017 by Brad

I don’t mean me personally. I need all the help I can get. But cowardly leaders too often say, “I don’t need help!” And they too often don’t say Happy Valentines Day.

Happy Valentines Day!

This will be Part I of two parts with Part II coming up Friday.

Simon Sinek, author of Leaders Eat Last, stated this in a recent post:

“Success always takes help. Failure stands alone.” Let that sink in.

Success. Always. ALWAYS. Takes. Help.

In one of John F. Kennedy’s campaign speeches in 1960, he says, “Give me your help, and your hand, and your voice…” President Kennedy was asking for help.

I’m a big fan of The West Wing. It’s my favorite television series of all time. I realize it’s fictional and idealistic but I still wish- I think we all wish- our leaders made ethical and altruistic decisions like President Bartlett. His character is written to be brilliant- a Nobel Prize winner in economics.

Yet, even President Bartlett knew enough to ask for advice when necessary.

Success always takes help. There are some common themes I have discovered as I’ve researched and written these Cowardly Leadership blogs. One that is recurring is: Fear vs. confidence. The more confident a leader is, the more likely and comfortable he/she is in asking questions, asking for help, realizing there is a lot of knowledge out there he needs to know. The cowardly leader operates from a position of fear. Fear of the unknown, but more unsettling, and sad, fear that people might discover he/she doesn’t know everything and isn’t as smart as he/she implied during the election.

I Don’t Need Help

Contrast President Kennedy, fictional President Bartlett, even Simon Sinek, with a cowardly leader. There are hundreds of examples. I bet you probably know dozens of times when cowardly leaders have said, “I don’t need help.” The following example is pretty indicative:

Four weeks after being elected to office for the first time ever, our newly elected official takes on a new project. Here is a guy who has never worked in government, never worked for government, never held elected office before.

And this just occurred to me. Seriously. I’m not talking about Donald Trump. Seriously. Although I suppose the hubris and false confidence of anyone who pretends he “knows” is the same, regardless of whether it’s the President or a local official. But this is about local government officials, so that’s where it will remain.

Seriously- You Do Need Help

Anyway, our newly elected official can answer in the following ways:

“I’m sorry but I’ve only been in office four weeks. I just don’t know enough about it to lead that kind of project.”
“I’m an elected official, I’m not part of the city/county/school board staff, I’m going to let staff do what they are supposed to do and then we as elected officials will hold them accountable for the process and procedure and recommendation.”
“I would cross some lines and violate some ethics if I do that.”
“OK, but I’m going to need some assistance from an expert or experts who have worked in government and know how the specific process of how it should work. Do we have someone on staff who can do this? If not, let’s find someone who might volunteer their expertise, or even hire someone short-term to make sure we do this the right way.”

Or the fifth option: “I don’t need help. I’ve been at this for four long weeks. What more could I possibly need to know?”