Judging the Past, Present, Future, and Interesting Leadership

Jesse Segers, Ginkgo Consulting

Judging the Past, Present, Future, and Interesting Leadership

Dear Friend,

Every time, I find the differences and similarities between us enriching. I would likely have also chosen the path of trust regarding the termination of your tenant that you mentioned in your last letter (i.e. that he would just give your keys back). After all, trust is hard to build and easy to lose. Especially as a leader, an act of distrust can cause significant damage quickly.

Judging the Past in the Present

Ultimately, it turned out to be the 'right' choice. The realization that everything often seems logical and clear in hindsight, but rarely upfront, is usually reassuring to me in the moment. And later on, it helps me feel more at peace when I realize in hindsight that I made the 'wrong' choice. This is because the criteria used to judge leaders retrospectively are not necessarily the same ones they had to consider at the time of their decision. Thus, the governor of the province of Luxembourg in your last letter to me can now be perfectly 'unmasked' as a tyrant from the past, while through the eyes of that time, it might have been seen as very normal leadership according to prevailing standards. For me, it's often a matter of both/and, not either/or. This also means that I believe there's something to be said for the idea that human leadership was or is possible in all times.

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