Parshat Shoftim 5767: Leadership is Midah, not a Skill

Devarim, 17:14-15
Kelei Yakar

Leadership of cowardice vs. leadership of courage

The recent and increasingly frequent breakdown of American infrastructure, from the power blackout in the northeast a few years ago to the recent bridge collapse in Minneapolis, bears testimony to the unwillingness of successive administrations to spend money on investments that will not buy votes in the short term. Is that leadership or servitude? Clearly leadership by the people and of the people is not always leadership for the people. Leaders by the people and of the people often need to pander to the people rather than truly serve them. Leaders for the people, on the other hand, should be so secure within themselves, that they have no need for public popularity.

Is leadership about virtue, courage, vision and inspiration, or is it about manipulation and control? Interestingly, leadership training almost always teaches the same kind of effectiveness skills that Hitler used so effectively to control an entire Nation and normalize mass murder. This training seldom teaches leaders how to be great how to move from “high ego”-leadership, the leadership of cowardice, to “high self-esteem”-leadership, the leadership of courage. Ego is the way people compensate for their insecurities with intimidating tools of power and control or guilt-inducing tools of manipulation. Self-esteem is the innate power of a person who can influence others by the quiet force of his or her authenticity and integrity. Ego-based leadership is a skill. Self-esteem based leadership is a midah (a virtue), it is not a profession.

Every person is born with the potential to lead a group of people: sometimes a nation or a community, sometimes a business or a classroom, sometimes a partner, friend or family. But perhaps we ourselves are the most challenging and complex people we need to lead.

Parshat Shoftim holds within it not only some of the most important lessons of leadership, but also those of what I will term followship. It is about this, our relationship to our leaders and to the leader within us, that I address my thoughts in this essay.

The Paradox of Leadership

When we make our leaders subservient to us we encourage weak leadership, leaders who pander to public opinion. We encourage despotic leadership when we grant them powers over us that are free from accountability. That is the inherent paradox of leadership. This paradox manifests even in the leadership of children by parents. Often parents see themselves as subservient to their children, afraid to enforce discipline and courtesy. Others are controlling despots who gain a sense of power from their authority over their children.

In my Essay for last Rosh Hashanahhttp://iawaken.org/shiurim/view.asp?id=6392 I referred to paradox as the reality of the human condition. I explained how paradox occurs when we consider a three dimensional situation using only two, and that there is no solution to that paradox until we introduce the third dimension into the equation. The paradox of leadership functions in the same way. If we consider only two dimensions, those of 1) Leaders appointed by and responsible to the people, and 2) Kings and Queens with unlimited power accountable to no one, then we are confronted with the paradox of the despot versus the wimp.

In the United States we have come closest to resolving the paradox by the balance of power between the different branches of government and a very responsive democracy. However, with leaders still being judged by their popularity (often based on superficialities like photogenic appearances and charisma) rather than their effectiveness in long-term strategy and accomplishment, we sell ourselves short.

Leadership and G-dliness

The resolution of the leadership paradox therefore requires a third dimension, another form of accountability: an accountability to Hashem by a leader who fears Hashem. It is difficult for authentic leaders to thrive in a State that is both G-dless and secular[1].

Based on that principle, the Kelei Yakar explains some fascinating nuances in the Parshat Hamelech (the sections dealing with the appointment of a King) both in Shoftim (Devarim 17:14-15) and in the Book of Shemuel I (8:6).

In Shoftim the Torah is uncharacteristically ambiguous about whether appointing a King is a Mitzvah advocated and required by Hashem, or a political reality that He tolerates under the right conditions[2]? The Kelei Yakar reads the verses[3] in this way: “When you come to the Land …and request the appointment of a King over you like the best of the other nations….You shall indeed appoint such a King who (unlike the other nations) I will choose”. In other words a King who is accountable to no one but Me, not one who is accountable to you and will therefore carefully avoid becoming unpopular with you. The King who is accountable to Me alone, will do what is right rather than what is personally expedient.

Why then was Shemuel so angry when the Nation asked for a King[4]. The Kelei Yakar explains that the nation said “give a King tous” rather than “place a King over us”. The effectiveness of a leader depends on his ability to make unpopular decisions when they are the right decisions. “So Shemuel was angry at their saying give a King to us”. And Hashem comforts Shemuel saying they are not rejecting you, on the contrary it is because of your greatness that they want a King. They want a King they can control unlike you who they cannot, because of your uncompromising integrity. Therefore says Hashem grant them a King but explain to them the implications of a King who will rule over them.

The key factor for leadership success then is the trust of the followers in the leader’s integrity, his Yirat Shamayim, his fearlessness and ability to act from a high place of security within himself and trust in G-d, rather than from a place of ego, control and abuse of his power.

Leaders who bully, control and bribe with ego, do not inspire trust. Leaders who inspire trust do not need to bully and bribe. People follow them because they trust them, not because they are paid or threatened. When a leader has stature and integrity, people willingly submit to him.

As individuals we too submit to the leadership of our inner beings, when we detect the authenticity of the voice inside us and trust its integrity. It is authentic when it speaks to us not from the fear of society but from a place of care for our good. It is authentic when it is separated from our ego and aligned to Hashem’s will and to our own inner souls. It has integrity when we have checked our inner voices with the word of G-d expressed in Torah and Halachah. So next time you experience a dilemma, ask your own inner leader by checking in with your innermost intuition. But challenge it: Is it ego or is it your higher self? Is it speaking on behalf of others or on your behalf? Is it seeking approbation from man or from G-d? If you are fortunate enough to have access to a Rav or leader who knows you well and cares about you, who is free from ego and the need to control, who in himself seeks approbation only from Hashem and not from his peers, then check in with him too, to ensure the alignment of your own inner voice with the will of the Torah. Make your soul a trueMelech, a King, not one given to you to manipulate, but one that you place over you to guide you and to lead you.