I Could Do Better Than That ... Or Not.

This past Saturday I had breakfast with a friend. We began talking politics, economy, Bernie Madoff, and more. Out of these conversations we began talking about being president. And we found some things to be critical about for both the most recent former presidents (Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush) and for our current president (Mr. Obama).

It is easy to be critical, isn't it? By the end of the conversation which included lots of critical comments, we both looked at one another and said, "I wouldn't want the job." After all the job is thankless too often, it requires meetings all over the world and at all days and hours, and there is likely less in your control as a president - even in the U.S. - than we would like to think. Yet somehow for a moment in time I was talking as if I could have done better than these leaders have done. It was a humbling moment for me. I realized that, in fact, I could not do better than any of these have done. In fact, if I were president things would probably be worse.

I was thinking that perhaps instead of being critical I could find ways to be supportive of the president, even when I disagree with policy. After all, he is the president and that should be enough to warrant my support, regardless of whether I voted for him.

Perhaps it is time for all of us - me included - to move beyond our belief that somehow we could do better than our leaders, and begin instead to support them. Maybe, just maybe, our leaders would do better at what they do if they received our support instead of our criticism. Sharing ideas even though they may be different than our leaders is good as this may also help them. But criticizing them just because they differ with us and refusing them our support does little but perhaps make things worse than they are.

As a church leader I know how much help I find in ideas shared from people who think differently than I do. Yet it is the critical comments that shut things down. Are you negative or positive in the feedback you give to your leaders?

Think on these things.