Leadership look

In these times fraught with uncertainty, a leader who can inspire and provide hope and direction is key to surviving. And I mean not just surviving in pockets or fragments, but a collective survival, where most of us get out alive, with health, sanity, family, and even careers, intact.

Observing America at distances greater than dictated by medical necessity, it seems clear that New York is lucky to be led by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Other states and the federal government seem to be less blessed.

That was clear watching Cuomo’s performance in several interviews, where he made it clear he knows what to do and why he’s doing it. It was also clear his priorities weren’t skewed towards vested interests or the entrenched elite.

In response, for example, to a reporter who seemed to be persistently painting a picture of economic hardships suffered by New York’s residents as a result of the lockdown, Cuomo taught the reporter the basics of weighing options, of tipping the scale in favor of less deaths, of clarifying that death is irrevocable --while hunger isn’t.

Compare that performance to Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman who, in an interview by Anderson Cooper, seemed to be doing all but kowtowing to gambling lords by pushing for the reopening of casinos despite the many challenges this poses. Try catching that interview on CNN --Cooper seems ready to tear out his hair and scream. At one point, he comes right out and labels Goodman “ignorant” three times!

And she deserved it, as she was unable to offer solutions to a health epidemic and suggest measures to protect the health and safety of her constituents. Even in the hypothetical scenario where workers and tourist gamblers would enter crowded casinos, all she blithely says was that those social distancing measures should be left to be decided by the “suffering” casino owners themselves.

No, it wasn’t up to her to tell casinos what to do. She doesn’t own the casinos, they were privately-owned. Therefore, she wouldn’t deign to impose measures on them, even if they were needed to protect her voters or visitors. Talk about being deep in the pockets of businessmen.

Goodman was thinking of and speaking for the interests of gambling lords - which might be “natural” because she’s in a gambling city which provides employment to a vast majority of its residents. But she’s supposed to make decisions for the common good, not just for the good of the billionaire casino owners. The fact that she was advocating for lifting the lockdown and yet, didn’t have a clue as to how her constituents would be protected after that, was a clear abdication of her leadership role, if you ask me.

Contrast that with Cuomo, and the differences couldn’t be starker. Cuomo’s decisions are driven by compassion and the interest to serve his citizens, so who cares if big businesses aren’t able to earn as much as they are used to? While fighting for hospital resources and protective equipment, building hospital beds, and procuring testing kits, Cuomo has been able to focus on the task at hand - and yet have time to notice small gestures made by ordinary citizens, like that Kansas farmer that sent one N-95 mask out of the only five he had to help doctors. What a total package.

Here in our isles, which leader has stepped up, and which hasn’t?

The nation is swooning over Mayor Vico Sotto and his totally in-tune efforts to serve his voters. Other cities haven’t been as lucky, with political leaders getting soundly criticized for electioneering while distributing relief goods, or making kooky decisions like locking up teens in animal cages just for breaking curfew.

When all this is over, if we know what’s good for us, there should be accountability. Otherwise, we will be left with quasi-leaders who will know how to work the system, but not how to serve it.