A New Perception of Our Democracy
By Karen Lutes 2/26/2021
Revisiting Karen’s paper (Then titled: Leadership and Emotional Intelligence) from the early Biden administration, written while we were recovering from 45. She references several questions that are again relevant for how we invest in our democracy.
The fundamental task of leadership, we argue, is to prime good feelings to those they lead. That occurs when a leader creates resonance—a reservoir of positivity that frees the best in people. At its root, then the primal job of leadership is emotional.1
Leader’s emotional states and actions do affect how the people they lead will feel and perform. How well leaders manage their own moods affects everyone else’s moods around them. That effect then is not just a private matter about the leader’s personal emotions but a factor in how well an organization, crowd,
or a government will do at any given time. When leaders speak authentically from their own values and tune in with the emotions of those around them while hitting the right cord with their messages, people feel uplifted, understood, and cared for.
On the other hand, autocrats are adept leaders who move followers to their own emotions of anger, hatred, and fear. Throughout history demagogues use an ability called dissonance to rally angry mobs using their disturbing messages. Demagogues spread a very different emotional message - one that enlists negative emotions of fear and anger. A message of the threat to “us” from “them”. A message that ”they” will take what ”we” have. Such leaders plan their actions on the fight or flight emotions that run through the brain when people feel threatened or engaged. Autocrats and demagogues become masters at inflaming fear and rage, use destructive emotions to cultivate the hatred of the “other” and to motivate a group towards a common goal. From a biological point of view these emotions were designed for short bursts of energy meant to prepare us to fight or run. If they last too long or are constantly expressed people become exhausted or burnt out.
From exhaustion and cynicism, we can take this time and breathe deeply. American journalists and political commentator Bill Moyers said on a recent (2021) PBS Amanpour and Company program, “Truth is the oxygen of democracy.” He asked the question: “Will Democracy die because there is not enough air?” Moyers explained on the show that in his view our democratic way of life has had narrow escapes in the past, and he thinks we could be running out of luck. Are we Americans ready to see the truth of what is happening in our civic society today? Can we reinvent our democracy and become civic leaders who take emotional responsibility in our daily lives for the core values of our democracy that guarantee basic human rights? Are we willing to look at the truth of both the successes and failures of these values?
In his book, "Mind into Matter", Fred Allan Wolf explains a basic law of quantum physics, "No new reality without a new perception of reality."2 He also stated: “The world depends on what you communicate to others. It also depends on what you believe.” A new perception of our democracy will require us to have a different vision of politics, a different life, and a different society that will materialize the promise of our ideals; dignity not power, equality not wealth and unity vs competition. These are just a few ways we can start a new perception of our democracy. The truth is we need each other to create anything worth believing in, much less investing our emotional life in.
1 Goleman, Daniel. Primal Leadership. Harvard Business Review Press, 2013. 2Wolf, Fred Allan. Mind into Matter. Moment Point Press. 2001.