[January 17, 2022] One of the many advantages of living outside the big city is a close connection to the local government. Early this month, those newly elected politicians are taking their rightful seats. They earned it.
Issues in their election were local and will now play a role at the beginning of their tenure. But, there is a fundamental position they should take, consistently so, to ensure their much-needed leadership will be successful.
Here are my thoughts – advice – on how to ensure their success going forward:
- Be brutally honest with us citizens. Tell us the truth! “Res ipsa loquitur,” Latin for “the facts [or things] speak for themselves.” Laser focus on giving us your thoughtful, studied position. This is why we elected you in the first place.
- Be courageous. Stand up for what you believe is proper and articulate clearly why. If you are wrong, have the guts to admit it, learn from it, and move on. We “don’t want no darn apology.” Show us what you’re made of. Be a real leader, not a follower.
- Come to work every day humbled by the opportunity you are given. Never forget that it is a privilege to contribute, in any way, to the governance of our community. It’s an honor to serve in a noble cause, so don’t squander this once-in-a-lifetime chance.
One day, back in my Basic Combat Training days during bayonet drills, the Army Drill Sergeant told me that a very important rule of combat is, “Don’t run out of bullets.” That means you always have to be thinking one step ahead.
Good luck. That’s my advice for newly elected politicians, all elected politicians. Well, I think all of us might gain from it.
NOTE: Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. His ideals, those that we have accepted so readily and properly over the past several decades, are now being rejected forthwith in the name of “equity.” We all will suffer for that national social trend.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” at Amazon (link here).
They will never know how right you are. Why? Simple! They think they are the best ever and need no advice or mentoring. Only the best think otherwise.
Be HUMBLE, good advice.
But, of course, politicians and being humble seem to be antithetical.
Gen. Satterfield, I’m sad to say that our politicians will pay no attention to this. Even if they are aware, they will not do so. That is why they are so out of touch and will out of touch for a long time into the future.
Don’t forget that today is Martin Luther King, jr. day and what we can learn from it goes well with the topic of discussion here on ‘newly elected politicians.’ They could learn a bit or two from MLK Jr. Start by reading his letters. They will make you cry at the passion and the plight of the black man of the time. Has their situation improved … yes. Have they taken advantage of this improvement? Mostly, I think no. Now there are too many race hustlers (used to be all black but now we have a race hustling president and vp).
Let’s also remember that MLK was a very flawed man. Very flawed.
“Tell us the truth.” Couldn’t have said it better. Just start there, and everything else will fall into place.
Yep, but that will not happen, sadly. Too many folks are interested in a handout or someone to put the finger on the scale of justice so they have an advantage.
Great job with this article. Too bad so many are not here to learn. Please read these forums for more. 👍
Yep, that is why Anya that I’m such a long-term fan of this leadership website. Gen. Satterfield should write a book on Leadership. My recommendation.
Gen. Satterfield is taking us on a tour of good character traits. Anyone else notice? I started seeing this about two months ago after his book ‘Our Longest Year in Iraq” came out on Amazon. Thank you sir for your continued push to allow us a forum to write and a place to pick up tidbits of information on leadership and being a better person.
Great article, Gen. Satterfield, my favorite is that we need humility. When you are humble, BTW, people are more likely to give you a wide birth for error.
Correct, and often overlooked. So why not adopt humility when there are so many advantages?
Just ask Slo Jo Biden. 😊
Honesty
Courageousness
Humility
’nuff said, thanks Gen. Satterfield for your continued insights. Alas, politicians will pay no attention to what you have written. And, they will not pay the price, we will for their ignorance and insolence.
Happy MLK Day!
Yes, Gen. Satterfield pinned a note at the end of this article that is prophetic. We will be sorry that we have gone on a “equity” bender just like the alcoholic will be sorry he went on a drinking binge. We suffer now and will continue to suffer as long as Pres Biden is president.
Biden is EVIL. He may have dementia and suffer in other physical ways, but remember he is EVIL and there is no other way to see what he is doing to tear down America.
Correct Tom, and why do so many people refuse to see this?
I fear the near-impossibility of honest dialogue among Americans, the insistence by too many to label any who disagree with them as racists and the upside-down insistence of some that “anti-racism” requires massive discrimination by race.