When you are looking for an excuse, any one will do.  This statement has almost universal application.  As your legal counsel will tell you, “Anyone can sue anyone else, any time for anything.”  That does not mean that the lawsuit has merit nor that it will end well, but it is a fact.

The same principle applies to leadership.  It could be said, “Anyone can justify any poor leadership decision at any time.”  This type of self-justification can destroy an organization if the leader is prone to making excuses.  As Mitt Romney said, “Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.”

A leader can talk the talk of leadership but if the leader doesn’t walk the talk, no one will follow.  If there is inconsistency in what a leader says versus what he/she does, psychologists call this cognitive dissonance.  Cognitive dissonance describes the anxiety that one feels when there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors.

No one likes the feeling of being anxious, so something has change to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.  The failing leader can chose to do only one of these three things:

1. Walk the talk of leadership.  This is, by far, the most difficult choice because it requires a change of attitude and performance. However, it is the only choice for someone who wants to be a successful persuasive leader. 
2. Stop talking the talk of good leadership and say what he/she really thinks.  This is an honest but dangerous approach.  All of the leader’s cards are on the table and employees will have to decide if they are willing to work for a tyrant or a crook or an incompetent or a narcissist.
3. Or, continue to make excuses – because any one will do.  The following are examples of leadership failures by making an excuse:   

1. I know that we should obey the rules but I am under incredible pressure to get this problem solved in any way I can.
2. I know that most leaders praise their employees for a job well done, but I shouldn’t need to praise people for doing their jobs.
3. I know that I should allow my employees to use their own initiative and creativity but my employees are dumber than a box of rocks.
4. I know that we need to work as a cohesive team but my employees work better when I let them fight it out.
5. I know that my goal should be to create a positive work environment but I have to micromanage to get what I want.
6. I know that I should train my employees and encourage learning but that’s not the way that I learned the business.
7. I know that I should help members of my team to succeed but if they get too much credit, I might look bad.
8. I know that I should reward my employees fairly but I am sure that would come back to bite me since “no good deed goes unpunished.”
9. I know that I need to create a safe workplace but these goals and policies were developed by someone who doesn’t have to implement them.
10. I know that it is more effective to discipline my employees in private and give them suggestions on how to improve but if I yell at them in front of their peers, everyone will know that I am in control.

These ten examples are just a beginning of the excuses that people in positions of leadership use.  Everyone is prone to make excuses for poor performance, but the successful leader will diligently work to eliminate excuses and show true leadership.

The “Four Way Test” established by Rotary International is an excellent way to question the virtue of our choices.  It will help to determine if a choice is a valid reason or an excuse.  This is the Four Way Test:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

“When you’re looking for an excuse, any one will do.”  Great leaders are those who stop looking.

The United States of America has always tried to lift the poor and care for the weak.  Billions of tax dollars have been spent on aid and assistance.  The citizens of the US also donate more to charity than any other people.  Almost all Americans support being charitable. It is part of our Judeo-Christian heritage. 

Our collective desire to help others has created fertile ground for the rise of so-called Social Justice Warriors (SJWs). These SJWs include some who are truly trying to help, even if some solutions are worse than the problems.  Sadly, many SJWs have been exploited by those who only want political power or to be part of a fashionable cause.

SJWs have always been around but, with the rise of social media in the 20^th century, they have been given a more powerful voice.  The typical methodology of these SJWs is to advocate for a more socialist government with increased government control over all aspects of our lives.  These solutions kill the goose that laid the golden egg, thus undermining the mechanism that allows the poor and needy to be helped, and robbing us all of the rights and freedoms we enjoy.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono penned the very popular song, Imagine, in 1971.  They were two of the SJWs of their day.  As SJWs in all ages, they thought they had the answers to all of the world’s problems.  They were wrong.

Lennon and Ono want us to “imagine” no heaven, no hell and above us only sky – a not so veiled attempt to reject God and his justice. They would have us believe that peace comes from ignoring God in favor of whimsical societal norms.  We are also to imagine no countries, no religion and no possessions.  We would have no allegiance, no rights, no anchors. 

We must not be deceived to believe in a world without evil and tyrants who would demand our all. In contrast, history has proven that the capitalist, Constitutional republic of the United States of America has been the most charitable, just and wealthy nation in the history of mankind.

Over three centuries before Lennon and Ono, Miguel de Cervantes clearly illustrated the folly of the SJW. In 1615, he wrote Don Quixote, which many consider to be one of the greatest works of fiction ever written. 

This is how Miguel de Cervantes described Don Quixote, the SJW of his novel – “It now appeared to him fitting and necessary, in order to win a greater amount of honor for himself and serve his country at the same time, to become a knight-errant and roam the world …he would right every manner of wrong.”

The similarities to the modern SJWs are obvious.  “To dream the impossible dream, that is my quest,” Don Quixote said.  And, Sancho Panza, a laborer, who was promised great wealth and power, was a devoted follower.  In every age, there are always a host of followers who anticipate a great, unearned, reward.

Just as Don Quixote tilted at windmills who he imagined to be evil giants and attacked sheep who he imagined were soldiers, modern SJWs are pursuing quixotic causes that are creating a schism that is unprecedented since the Civil War.  This is no longer a matter of how to best address societal issues.  Half of the country believes that the other half is undermining the very foundation of the USA.

These are just some of ideas that create divisiveness:

• Black Lives Matter – Accusing police of rampant abuse of minorities when statistics do not support these racist claims.
• Feminist Extremism – Claims that women are victims of pervasive discrimination, from which they have been specifically protected since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and before.
• Gender fluidity – This silly notion is perpetuated by those who derive satisfaction from appearing more enlightened than others.  
• Undocumented workers – A politically-motivated euphemism for illegal aliens, including non-workers and criminals.
• Killing viable unborn children in the name of women’s rights – As if human life is valueless if the rhetoric is properly framed.
• Diversity quotas – University tuitions have skyrocketed, in part, because of the bureaucracies created to monitor and promote diversity. Any rational person will choose competency over diversity. Diversity quotas are clearly discriminatory.

And the list goes on and on and on.  The citizens of the US are not getting dumber, which begs the question as to why these SJW causes get traction.

Richard Nisbett and two colleagues at the University of Michigan published “Insensitivity to Sample Bias” in October 1980.  In that study, Nisbett showed conclusively that emotion trumps facts.  The test subjects routinely ignored the facts given them in favor of a single story that illustrated the opposite of the facts.

When feelings trump facts, terrible things happen. When the media assists politicians in distorting facts and playing to the electorate’s emotions, nations become uncivilized, immoral and savage.

The bottom-line is this – SJWs use heart-wrenching stories, manipulated data and deceptive euphemisms to promote their causes, in spite of the facts.  In addition, they advocate banning so-called “hate speech” in favor of political correctness which is frighteningly similar to the “newspeak” defined by George Orwell in his book 1984.   This classic novel describes how a totalitarian state is controlled by the “thought police.”  In the 21^st century, the thought police have been replaced by social media, late night TV comedians, self-serving educators and power-hungry politicians.

SJWs have been given license by our society to “right the unrightable wrong,” as they imagine it to be.  As a result, SJWs breed mistrust and hatred among races, genders, religions, cultures and social classes.  The “social justice” of SJWs would reduce our free nation to a fractionalized populace under an unprincipled ruling elite.

Helping others means actually working to do something meaningful for the poor and needy.  It is not to fabricate, celebrate and exploit victimhood.  Our nation needs to rationally discuss the legitimate needs of our citizens without hyperbole and self-interest.  History has proven that our country can address the needs of our citizens without the hype and duplicity of most social justice warriors.  Instead, we need thoughtful, honorable and equitable patriots who will return us to “one nation under God.”

It is a wonderful blessing to be a citizen of the United States of America. The USA was founded by God-fearing men who were inspired to establish this nation. During his first inaugural address in 1789, President George Washington recognized the hand of God in founding our nation: “No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency” (First Inaugural Address, 30 Apr. 1789).

Children need to be taught how blessed they are and who has made this all possible, including God, the founding fathers, those in the military that have protected our freedoms, and good and honest statesmen today who work for the betterment of the country rather than their own personal gain.

We live in a society of political correctness which is highly influenced by the moral compass of Hollywood – not a dependable source. John Adams said, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” (The Works of John Adams, ed. C. F. Adams, Boston: Little, Brown Co., 1851, 4:31). Too many of our children and younger adults have been seduced by the sophistries of secularist professors. Many of the voters of today are good people who are being deceived by the appealing arguments of teachers and leaders who have more faith in their own intellect than in the hand of God. This is a dangerous trend for our country.

The USA is also the world’s most powerful economic nation. This was no accident and capitalism is the mechanism that has made it possible. We are blessed to live in a country with the best health care, delicious, nutritious and plentiful food, nice houses with heating and cooling, etc, thanks to capitalism. It would be wise to consider the words of Thomas Jefferson each time you consider supporting a candidate that believes that government would do a better job of taking care of everyone, “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.”

It disturbs me that so many young voters are willing to surrender more and more control to big government in exchange for promises of cradle to grave entitlements. Appropriately regulated capitalism will always be better for Americans than government controlled socialism. As Winston Churchill so eloquently said, “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.”

My kids make fun of me because I am always writing Letters to the Editor. I believe society is becoming increasingly corrupt and someone needs to say what others will not. Thomas Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free … it expects what never was and never will be” (Letter to Colonel Charles Yancey, 6 Jan. 1816).

Therefore, we must teach our children, and anyone else that will listen, that which many call good is really evil and vice versa. This includes the meaning of the word “tolerance” which has been distorted to be a disguise for acceptance of evil. We should be kind to everyone but we do not need to embrace their bad behavior. Be particularly careful of political platforms that teach this brand of tolerance.

Patriotism should be demonstrated at every opportunity. Fly the flag, vote in every election, pay attention to political issues, etc. The United States of America is one nation, under God. We must promote and defend that important truth.