Leadership Lacking Among People Today

Last week, now-NFL free agent Colin Kaepernick announced he would not be sitting during the national anthem. This was a significant announcement given the controversy he caused when he kneeled during the national anthem in 2016, which led to a number of other players either mirroring his actions or at least offering verbal support for his decision.

Kaepernick’s reason for taking this particular stance was due to his desire to bring awareness to an issue very important to him – the treatment of minorities. With a series of media reports coming out showing a trend of black men being killed by law enforcement officials, Kaepernick said he wanted to bring about a discussion of the issues surrounding these events and other similar problems facing our nation.

Whether or not you support Kaepernick’s decision to use the national anthem as his way to bring about awareness, he lost a lot of support in November when it was reported that he didn’t vote. Then, last week’s announcement that he would discontinue his actions to bring about awareness seemed to make his prior stance somewhat hollow. The announcement coincided with Kaepernick filing to become a free agent, and it left many people feeling as if all of it had been a publicity stunt.

For me personally, I respected what Kaepernick initially wanted to accomplish. There does need to be a discussion about why black men seem to be killed by cops at a greater rate than any other group. And it needs to be a part of a bigger discussion about equal rights in general. The fact that the presidential candidate who took the sides of the cops was the one who was elected should also be a part of that discussion.

What Kaepernick failed to show throughout this entire process was leadership. He took ownership of something that is a significant issue in the U.S. and opened the door for progress to be made on an issue that affects all of us. Yet, when it mattered the most, he took a step back and showed that greed and money meant more to him than social change. His excuse was that he achieved what he wanted, but we clearly have a bigger problem now than we did before.

Leadership is something that separates those with character from those who selfishly take the easy or at least easier path through life. Most people are followers and are only willing to follow. Leadership is taking a stance for what is right, sticking to it and swaying people to follow you down the right path.

There are people in my life who were in leadership positions who took the easy way out for their own selfish reasons (they know who they are). Every one of us have to make hard decisions. The leaders are the ones who don’t quit on those who count on them and make tough decisions that affect people in a positive manner.

Leadership isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Most people don’t have it. A lot of people are put into leadership positions and don’t lead. Or at least don’t lead effectively. I know a lot of people who are in leadership positions but are horrible leaders. And their decisions affect people negatively, usually through either blame or just general incompetence.

Unfortunately for Kaepernick, a significant number of people were counting on him to be a leader on the issue of social change. But he caved in and now he is just another sheep in the flock. Now it is time for another leader to emerge. Not just on this issue but for all of the issues. Not just for me. For all of us.