What is the role of a leader when the nation and the world is in a crisis? During times of upheaval, people look toward someone to provide answers, solutions, and comfort. Currently, none of those things are coming from anyone in Washington. The administration is proving itself ineptly incompetent and worse.

As the legislative branch, Congress can pass laws but cannot instill confidence. The limited trust that the American people did have in their representatives has become even less with the purported antics like Senators Burr, Feinstein, Inhofe, and Loeffler using confidential government briefings held in January and February to determine what stocks to buy and sell rather than proposing legislation to address what they knew was coming to our shores.

Governors have shown some strong leadership skills. For example, Andrew Cuomo has handled the situation well. I have not agreed or been a fan of his policies but in this instance, he has shown what real leadership is supposed to be. Other examples are Governors DeWine of Ohio, Newsom in California and to a lesser extent DeSantis in Florida have taken appropriate action in their states to protect citizens.

In many parts of the country, local government is led by an elected mayor or county executive. They have authority to act decisively. We don’t have that here. There is no one individual for us to rally around. A commission or council are legislative. Even during press conferences with the mayor or chair speaking, he/she can only state an agreed upon policy.

That doesn’t mean the figurehead can’t provide solace to an anxious public. Real leadership is expressed in gestures and deeds. With this pandemic, the wartime analogy being used is a flawed one. There is not an enemy to defeat but rather a situation to endure and survive while creating solutions to immediate problems along the way. This threat is existential rather than responding to aggression by a nation or a race.

Leaders make us believe in ourselves. They do not lie and sugarcoat the difficulties that we face. Leaders demonstrate a path to follow usually by example. People want to be led inspirationally. The use of fears, lies and innuendo will not do during moments of uncertainty. Leaders inspire the best in us and never the worst.

Leadership demands accountability and responsibility. To be a leader means you make decisions. FDR led this nation through the turmoil of the Depression and World War II. A quote of his that epitomizes those tenets is this: “Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something.”

Leaders fail sometimes. Their continuing success is measured by the people still trusting in their ultimate ability to inspire hope and give us confidence to endure. You cannot be a leader and do nothing. The one common trait of all great leaders is being an inspiration to those being led. Leaders show up when others do not.

As we, the American people, look to the future, we do so with dread. Many Americans will be out of work for months. Others will lose their businesses. Some of us will die. This will be no short-term crisis but one that will last for weeks and probably months.

When we are confronted with a crisis like this, it is so important that we pick our leaders wisely. We cannot afford the luxury any longer of having slogans substitute for competence. By the time this pandemic is over, the United States and the rest of the world will have fundamentally changed in many ways.  Hopefully, our leadership will have learned from the mistakes made and will be better prepared to deal with the next crisis.

As they fled from bondage in Egypt, the ancient Israelites followed Moses and his brother, Aaron. While Moses was on Mount Sinai, it was Aaron who told his people to worship the golden calf. If the Israelites had rejected the truth of Moses for the sophistry of Aaron, history would have been different. Ultimately, Moses with the Law from God led the people to the promised land.  Perhaps our national leaders will soon embrace a more Moses-like attitude in their approach to COVID 19.