]\PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon, as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

If there is one salient fact about political leadership, it is this: You know leadership when you see it as opposed to when someone says they have it.

It is easy to talk about leadership. It takes effort, commitment and ingenuity to display it.

During my 40 years of involvement in politics, I have seen what I would label credible political leadership. In that time, I developed a few perceptions about leadership credentials, which I will share in this blog.

I was motivated to do so, frankly, by what I see in the current occupant of Oval Office in Washington, D.C., one Donald Trump who demonstrates exactly none of qualities I list below.

I also think the traits I list below apply in general, but assume even greater importance during a challenging time, such as we are in now in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

And, of course, they apply as we face another presidential election. In that sense, it is important to look forward to what we hope occurs in the next administration, not to look back at the failures of the current regime.

So, here is my list of key political leadership traits:

INTEGRITY: Without honesty and a sense of ethical behavior, there can be no qualified leader.

The dictionary defines integrity as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.”

As an aside, I have served for more than a year on an Ethics Committee formed by Oregon Common Cause to propose ways to strengthen ethical behavior as an important credential for those seeking public office.

Since Watergate, now more than 50 years ago, ethics has receded as an important credential in public life, both on the part of some of those who hold public office, as well as on the part of some voters.

Here’s the way retired federal Ethics Director Walter Shaub put it:

“We now find ourselves in an ethical crisis that jeopardizes not only public trust in government, but also national security. This crisis has exposed the fragility of the current framework for Executive Branch ethics, a framework put in place in response to the Watergate scandal that has relied on voluntary adherence to ethical norms due to limitations on investigation and enforcement of this requirement. While the trigger for this crisis is the current administration’s departure from ethical norms, the issue is ultimately bigger than any one president or scandal.”

ACCOUNTABILITY: Without accountability, there can be no qualified leader.

A lot of politicians who suggest they are leaders are adept at pointing the finger at everyone else rather than taking responsibility for their own actions.

COMPROMISE: Ability to find middle ground should be one goal of a political leader who understands that anything good in politics is a tribute to people working together, not to any one person.

But beyond talk, a leader must be able to provide concrete examples of when he or she was able to bring disparate parties together to produce solutions.

COMMUNICATION: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to communicate his or her thoughts in a way that generates understanding, and perhaps even support.

A leader must be able to speak in complete sentences that convey coherent messages, as well as to invite conversations and exchanges that prompt him or her to expand their horizons beyond what they may know themselves.

EMPATHY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to share the feelings of those he or she represents.

A leader must have the courage to show emotion and feeling in the midst of tragedy and be able to console in response to pain and suffering.

HUMILITY: Any good leader demonstrates the ability to accept responsibility for mistakes, admit political failures, and acknowledge their own contributions to a problem.

A leader must be able to say, “I am not perfect. I’ve made decisions that, with the benefit of hindsight, may not have been the best. But I have learned through these situations, which will influence how I interact with others and make decisions in the future.”

A leader also must be smart enough and savvy enough to know what he or she does NOT know and decisive enough to surround themselves with others who can fill in the gaps.

Such self-effacing ability does not risk leadership; instead, it supports it.

Permit me to reflect on my past to cite an individual in Oregon, who, by his demeanor, behavior and actions, demonstrated solid leadership credentials.

He was Governor Vic Atiyeh for whom I worked in Salem, Oregon, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He demonstrated the qualities listed above, not perfectly, of course, but genuinely.

He had one other key credential, which I remember playing out often, both in public and behind the scenes.

He never cared who got credit for good things that happened in state government, even if he had played a major role in the achievement. He was simply pleased with the result – and this had the effect of burnishing, not blurring, his leadership.

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Footnote: Guess what?   A person from New Hampshire wrote a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal last week and the letter agrees with me:

“I suspect that many voters aren’t looking for a candidate with new ideas. They are looking for the return of old idea — integrity, honesty, dignity, leadership, competence, courtesy, decency, respect, thoughtfulness, compassion, humility.”