From: Pam Clark
Columbus
Our country, state and county desperately need well-qualified, service-minded political representatives — people who run for office because they truly wish to serve, who will do their homework before making a decision on an issue, who will act not based on party or personal interests but on what is in the best interest of the communities they represent.
What we need are individuals guided by servant leadership, defined by the Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership as “a philosophy and set of practices that enriches the lives of individuals, builds better organizations and ultimately creates a more just and caring world.”
While I am an active member of the Bartholomew County Democratic Party, I will always vote for the candidate who is guided by the principles of servant leadership. Principles such as focusing “primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong,” who “share power, put the needs of others first and help people develop and perform as highly as possible” — principles that seem not to be held by some of our current elected officials. Please, anyone who does not truly wish to serve, do not run for public office.
It is less important to me what a person’s party affiliation is than for them to be able to tell me what it is they stand for. Sadly, we voters do not often enough ask political candidates the important questions:
- “Why are you running for office?”
- “As a candidate, what are your most critical areas of concern?”
- “What is your position on …?”
If someone runs for office and has not considered how they would answer these kinds of questions, no one should vote for them.
Recently, I watched news footage of thousands of young people all over the country standing up for what they believe. It was amazing and inspiring. Young people may not always express themselves as articulately or maturely as we adults would like, but they most certainly know what it is they stand for, particularly right now. I believe they will hold us all accountable, and they should.
So upcoming political candidates had better be prepared to share with them those things for which they stand. The future is in the hands of these young people, and we should be listening to them. If we do not, it will most certainly be at our peril.
