I have been troubled each time I have heard Donald Trump give his examples of strong leaders. He extols President Putin, President Xi, or Supreme Leader Un as “strong leaders,” and he gives them lavish admiration while simultaneously intimating that they respect him as a strong leader in return.
I have recently processed why those strong leader lists trouble me. I don’t believe any of those people are strong leaders. I now include moral strength as a prerequisite characteristic in my definition of a strong leader. Was Joseph Stalin both a strong leader and a despot? Not by my current definition. He was simply a despot.
This definition also excludes Putin, Xi, and Un from my list of strong leaders. They are despots, not leaders. And if not leaders, not strong leaders. This clarifies why I shudder each time they are listed.
Who then in the modern world are strong leaders? Mother Teresa was a strong leader. The Dalai Lama. Gandhi. Strong leaders need not be perfect to qualify. Churchill was a flawed but strong leader. Eisenhower. Colin Powell. Susan B. Anthony.
Strong leaders only sometimes exude charisma. They have a noble and moral purpose, articulate that purpose and live true to it, drawing others along with them. The purpose provides the charisma. That is true leadership. I leave it to the reader to decide whether Pope Francis or President Russell M. Nelson are strong leaders. To me, both are.
With those considerations in mind, who are our authentic strong leaders today in 2024? Not Putin, Xi or Un. What about those who clearly admire them as strong leaders with nary a shudder or second thought?
Kerry V. Soelberg, West Jordan
