Leadership Matters

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's daily press conferences put Donald Trump to shame.  The governor is everything that Trump is not: intelligent, informative, and inspiring.  Watching Cuomo each day leads me to reflect on the traits of leadership, something I never questioned when Barack Obama was president:

Leadership is honest.  Someone who leads tells the truth.  All of Cuomo's press conferences begin with an overview of the facts.  We get the numbers, the projections, and the honest assessment of deaths, as hard as these are to hear.  What about Trump?  "I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.  I've always viewed it as very serious."

Leadership is responsible.  Cuomo told us one day last week that people were angry at him for closing businesses.  His response?  "I take full responsibility," he said.  Trump, on the other hand, blamed Obama for the slow testing rate in America and said, "No, I don't take responsibility at all."

Leadership acts decisively.  Governor Cuomo closed the schools and nonessential workforce, deployed the National Guard, selected new hospital sites, and secured volunteer services from retired medical professionals.  Each day he announces new measures and new ideas.  Trump?  Not so much.  His contradictory remarks sow confusion and fear.  On Friday he announced the possibility of a quarantine for New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and by Sunday he'd canceled it. 

Leadership is empathic.  When Andrew Cuomo talks about the loss of life, the bravery of healthcare workers and first responders, and the generosity of people all over the country, he shows that he understands the feelings of others.  Donald Trump, on the other hand, seems not to care.  He doesn't speak movingly about the sacrifices of Americans or about our dying citizens.  He speaks only in platitudes: "It's going to disappear," he says, "We're going to be hopefully a best case, not a worst case," scenario. 

Finally, leadership believes in something larger than self.  In today's press conference, Governor Cuomo talked about two paramount concepts: Excelsior and E pluribus unum.  In Latin these mean respectively "ever upward" and "out of many, one."  Cuomo believes in aspiration and unity, inspiring listeners to something higher than themselves.  President Trump?  He's made it clear that he cares more about financial markets and wealth than about American lives.  It wasn't until the stock market crashed repeatedly that he demanded action.  His personal interests are his highest calling.

Governor Cuomo has stepped into the leadership vacancy that exists at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and I couldn't be more grateful.