1-6-25

I’m just finishing a great book…..it’s a classic that I don’t know how I’ve missed all

these years…..the book is called, Once An Eagle, by Anton Myrer……it’s a story of

two men who entered the military service at the same time….one was a leader of

men, who developed others, who acted without thought for his own self, who

changed lives and saved lives and was decorated for valor in combat…..and the

other man was a self-serving opinionated elitist who got his rank and

achievements by playing backroom politics……both were leaders…..both knew

their jobs…..but their approaches were vastly different and only one of them had

honor…….

There’s an old saying……”heavy is the head that wears the crown”…..it speaks to

the fact that leadership bears the burden of responsibility…..and that it can be

lonely at the top….in my personal experiences, whether running a business,

standing for public office, or commanding a military unit……those can be truisms.

…but they’re also just part of it…..leadership can bring great joy as well –

especially if it is both a calling and a gifting……but there’s another old saying as

well……”As goes the King so goes the Country”…..it basically refers to the fact that

the man or woman at the top can set the tone…..can steer the ship…..and can

help stoke the fears or quiet the discontent….all by the way that he or she leads

and addresses situations…..especially in times of crisis….people will look to their

leaders to see what to do, to find an example, to get direction……real leadership is

sometimes defined as the ability to exhort or encourage people to do something

that they might not otherwise have done on their own…..Leadership comes with

authority, sure….but leadership also provides authority by empowering other

people to feel like they can do something, achieve something, gain

something…..leadership matters….and for the past four years we haven’t had a

leader at the helm of our country……and it shows…..

There is a great movie that outlines a people needing to hear from their

leader……you may have seen it….a true story made into film back in 2010 called

“The King’s Speech”……the title was a double entendre…..it referred to a speech

given by the King of England at the onset of WWII and the fact that the King had a

little known speech impediment…..something he had been able to hide from the

general public for much of his life……but at a time when the world was unstable,

and unsure, and Nazi Germany was threatening to take over all of Europe the

people needed to know that they had the steady hand of a strong leader at the

helm……

If you know any of English history you may know that in the late 1930’s….just

prior to the second world war that the then King of England abdicated his throne

due to the laws surrounding his desire to marry a woman who was not approved

by the laws of royalty……As a result Prince Albert took the throne as next in line

and very unexpectedly…..Albert had a serious speech impediment that had

haunted him for years but because of the times in which they lived most of

England had no idea……but soon after Albert took the throne England entered

into war with Nazi Germany….it was a dark time….a very scary time with Hitler

marching across the continent and the United States not yet involved…..England

was very much alone, Europe was reeling, Italy was aligned with Germany, France

was under duress, the US was not yet in the fight, and the British people needed

to hear from their King…..the King who had trouble speaking in public…..a speech

impediment for which there was no shame….but yet for the many who might hear

his first true public address by radio the sound of his stammer could have been

mistaken for fear and caused a total loss of national morale…..But the young King

had been working with a speech therapist who’s methods were new, different

and seeing results…..it was a truly heroic story as this man…..who’s head was

heavy with the crown during a time of war and international crisis……worked and

labored, and died everything he could to overcome an inability to speak clearly

and succinctly……he did it because he understood that the times he was in did not

afford him the luxury of staying silent…….his people needed him, he was their

leader……so he walked in the authority God had given him and he struggled to

overcome his speech impediment so that he could convey a message that

resonated with an embattled nation…….when it came time, he swallowed his

pride and prepared a great speech……it was decided that it would be broadcast

far and wide…..so the King stood in a dimly lit soundproof studio with a prepared

speech, he focused and he concentrated and without a hitch….without a trace of

his speech shaking…..he delivered a speech for the ages, he rallied the nation and

faced Hitler with resolve……

The thing is…..he could’ve just said “someone else give the speech”……or he

could’ve also not labored to be what his people needed and just botched the

whole thing……but he was determined to be what his people needed because he

knew that As Goes the King So Goes the Country is more than just a cliché…..

I can think of some other examples like this……in the Bible….in Joshua

24…..Joshua who followed Moses and led the nation of Israel into the promised

land was dealing with a worn out beat-up people…..but he didn’t threaten, cajole

or mandate…..he just told them all “you decide who you will serve….but as for me

and my house we will serve the Lord”…..and the people followed him…..Charlene

and I have that verse embedded in a marble stone on the front steps of our

house…….in another biblical example King Josiah took the throne of Judah and

soon after was shocked to find a copy of the holy scriptures…..the nation of Israel

had forgotten its roots…..can you imagine an Israel that had strayed so far that

even the King himself had never read Moses words in the Bible?…..but when the

new young King read them for the first time he knew what he had to do…..he

rallied the nation and personally read the words of the Bible to the people…..his

story ends in 2 Kings 23 by saying that no king before him and no king after him

turned to the Lord with all his soul and with all his strength…….and he led the

people there as well…..

My point is this…..leadership matters…..not just leadership by virtue of ones

position….but leadership by deep care and concern for the well being of ones

people, the history and viability of the nation, and a real and concerted effort to

preserve them for future generations……it is not enough to simply say “I’m in

charge”….to some degree you have to earn it….a part of the fabric of this nation

of ours is the freedom of expression, self-determination, and the ability to express

ourselves….as such there is rarely going to be a leader who escapes

criticism…..which means that a truly effective leader will have to prove

themselves….and in the process of doing so it will naturally come to be that

people will look to see how that leader expresses/speaks/acts in crisis…..we can

all have the luxury of fussing and debating when times are good…..but when

times are dark or tough the troops look to the commander for confidence and

direction……I have worked for some great leaders…..folks I would storm the gates

of Hell with ……and I’ve worked for some self-serving sycophants who’s authority

came more from their mere position or rank, than from their personal posture of

leadership…….

Right now our State and Nation need more than just platitudes, threats and

mandates……none of us want hollow rhetoric or empty executive orders…..none

of us want mandates…..we want to know that tomorrow the sun is going to rise

and we’re going to be here to see it and here is the plan to get us through to that

sunrise…..state governors and national presidents are vital…..they are required by

our constitutionally mandated form of governance….we’re always going to have

both…..and as we’ve seen for the past 4 years it is possible for someone to be

thrust into those positions who has not a clue what it means to inspire, to be

selfless, to sacrifice greatly so that others may rise…….we have had four years of

anything goes because nothing was off limits and no one was in charge…..as goes

the King, so goes the country……the Biden Administration set a tone and the

nation felt it……..but there is a change coming……my hope is that the new Trump

administration will rally the people to their best moments in their worst times not

because they say so, but because they lead so……

As Goes the King So Goes the Country……

And that’s a wrap for the Rightside Way!