Four Boxes That Need Checked to Be an American Leader

1. Vision: Effective leaders have a clear vision of where they want their team or organization to go and can communicate it to others.

I don't think Joe Biden or Donald Trump knows where their team or organization (Democrats/Republicans) are heading. And neither of the two primary candidates can clearly articulate their plans. For example, Donald Trump needs to be more explicit about his plans for the future. During the Coronavirus, Trump failed to provide workplace guidance, making safety harder for workers. He declined to implement a so-called "emergency temporary standard." This decision not to do anything led to America's confusion and arguably one of the most significant divisions in our nation's history.

Biden is not immune to failure of articulation; one of his biggest failures is the withdrawal from Afghanistan. He pulled out troops before getting the civilians and green card holders; because of his failure, he had to send troops back in to help them get out.

Plenty of examples of each person failing to communicate what they are planning, leading to massive failures and loss of life. Both Biden and Trump need more communication skills to be successful leaders.

2. Integrity:

Leaders with integrity inspire trust and loyalty in their followers. They are honest, transparent, and consistent in their actions.

Holy shit, where do I begin. There hasn't been any transparency in government since, well, ever. Every president has been caught lying at some time or another, but none as much as Donald Trump. What can you deny? Almost everything that came out of his mouth was a lie or deception. Biden, not so much, but his being consistent is little to be desired. For example, Biden made false claims about being arrested multiple times in the context of the civil rights movement. It is a classic Biden false claim that could have been easily avoided, but he chose to speak these lies and give the Republicans ammunition to cast disbelief upon him.

However, Biden's checks in his first year are in the dozens, while Trump, on the other hand, had well over 1,000 false claims in his first year and over 3,000 the following year. The fact checkers could not keep up with the next two years of Trump's lies.

Again, Trump and Biden must have the second rule of being a true leader. Neither Trump nor Biden have the integrity to become leaders of America. Their lack of integrity is why we need a new, younger leader.

3. Communication Skills: Good leaders are excellent communicators. They can convey information and expectations, listen actively, and foster open dialogue.

In July 2016, Donald Trump claimed he would "fight for you" and argued that Hilary Clinton would be a disaster for LGBT rights. Medicaid services rolled back a rule recognizing same-sex marriage for visitation rights in care facilities. He also signed an executive order that forbids transgender from serving in the military. Also, during his campaign in 2016, Trump promised to eliminate the federal debt. Instead, during his time in office, the deficit skyrocketed because of Trump's 1.9 trillion tax cuts to the wealthy corporation. Someone had to pay for this.

Biden could be a better communicator. Again, referring to COVID, his team backtracked about the vaccine at least thrice and insulted millions of Americans by saying that if you don't get the vaccine, you're not as smart as I thought. The argument about the vaccinations and their effectiveness went back and forth because the Biden team lacked honest communication.

4. Empathy: Great leaders understand and have feelings for their team members. They value the team's input and understand their needs.

Not to pick on Trump, but I'll always take the easy target first. Trump lacks any empathy, and the proof is all over the internet from the time he made fun of a disabled person because the person opposed him to the time when he claimed during a White Supremist act of violence and said there are good people on both sides, also the time when he held a bible (upside down) in front of a church for pictures. He has caused damage to people we thought he cared about but found out he doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself. Trump is in for one person, and that person is named Donald Trump, and the sooner you realize Supremist doesn't care about America, the better off you will be.

Biden is not much better. He had a huge party a day after Hamas brutally bombed the Israelis. Also, during his recent visit to the devastated island of Maui, Biden tried to resonate with the survivors by telling his own story when his home caught fire and he almost lost his wife. Seriously, this is uncompassionate and downright sickening.

Conclusion:

Several boxes need to be checked to become an effective leader, and neither candidate has checked any of the boxes. It's pathetic that the people of America are allowing these two to keep running for America's most powerful position. Both candidates keep pushing us backward. It will be soon that we have separate bathrooms and drinking fountains again. We need young blood in the white house. Someone who doesn't space out in the middle of the speech, someone younger than 70. I say terms for Congress and the House; let's keep moving forward, America.