On January 20, 2021, President Joe Biden delivered a powerful message of unity in his inaugural address.
Today, on this January day, my whole soul is in this: Bringing America together. Uniting our people. And uniting our nation. I ask every American to join me in this cause. Uniting to fight the common foes we face: Anger, resentment, hatred. Extremism, lawlessness, violence. Disease, joblessness, hopelessness. With unity we can do great things.
Everyone who heard that speech, including those who voted against him, was hopeful that this new leader could unite the country.
Unfortunately, Biden didn’t deliver on his promises.
He failed to follow the simple motto, “Acta non Verba” – actions, not words.
His actions over the past ten months have not united Americans but only served to further divide the country.
Consider the battles going on inside our nation right now.
- Masked versus unmasked
- Vaccinated versus unvaccinated
- Woke versus traditional values
- Immigrant rights versus citizen rights
- School boards versus parents
- Defund police versus support the police
- Massive government spending versus fiscal responsibility
- Cancel culture versus free speech
- Climate action versus status quo
Regardless of your position on these topics, it is clear we are more divided than ever.
America is more divided than ever. Click To TweetIn all these debates, Biden hasn’t worked to bring about peace and unity. He hasn’t brought both sides together for a beer or a fireside chat. Instead, he has added fuel to the fire by bringing the full weight of the government to one side of the argument.
Instead of bringing America together, his actions have pulled us further apart.
Abraham Lincoln reminded us that “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
The founding fathers of this nation embraced a similar motto, “United we stand, divided we fall.” These leaders knew that, only through unity, could the United States become and remain a great country.
In the face of ever-increasing competition with China, America seems to be crumbling from within.
I say these things not to be political but to put them in the context of your own leadership story.
As I talked about in my new book, it’s the leader’s job to build a stable, smooth-running business focused on achieving its mission and goals.
It’s the leader’s job to build a stable, smooth-running business focused on achieving its mission and goals. Click To TweetWhen there is chaos, infighting, figure-pointing, and blame culture, progress comes to a halt.
Everyone thinks the enemy is inside the four walls.
Employees are actively engaged in internal battles while the real adversary, your competition, moves further ahead.
If you are the leader of an organization like this, you will fail to achieve your goals if you don’t get a hold of it quickly.
You need to bring peace amongst the factions and direct the energy of your employees toward defeating your real enemy – the competition.
Will Joe Biden deliver on his powerful promise of unity? Probably not.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.
Take a hard look at your organization. Is it stable and smooth? Or is there internal conflict?
It’s your job to figure it out. Great leaders unite, not divide.
[Photo by The News & Observer]