Letting this one go where it goes
Is it just me or is everyone some version of tired and recuperating from something right now? My organization just threw it’s biggest yearly fundraiser, so there’s been a lot of that energy at work, but beyond that, in other circles of life, I’m reading the room and getting the sense that we’re all just catching up on sleep and everything we’ve been putting off.
I’m definitely in that arena myself, so I decided to not overthink, and to record a freestyle, stream-of-consciousness vlog… not something I do too often! But I managed to mostly share something quirky I learned about Mickey and something sincere about the voting process.
Elections are weird. They invite all sorts of bold predictions, polls, and prognostication, and people with very strong feelings around their predictions. It’s not enough to get your candidate in office, people need to be right about how it will all go down.
If anything, these cycles could be reminders of how we don’t know the future, and how we need to learn to live in the uncertainty. We don’t really like that, though.
I do find elections and campaigns to be pretty humbling, if I’m being honest. For example, I’ve always thought things like mailers, lawn signs, and commercials were a waste of money. Never have I once seen a bunch of signs on somebody’s lawn and thought, well, their garden looks good so I’m going straight ticket with whoever their voting for.
But oddly, there is data on how much this stuff can sway decision making, and in a tight race that can be enough.
I honestly don’t like writing about politics especially during an election. It’s not that I don’t recognize the importance of it, but there's simply a lot of noise out there I would rather not add to. This year’s has been dramatic, but I guess I’m pretty glad it’s kind of been abbreviated.
There is one way of thinking about an election that I wish were more common that I think would turn down the noise and lead to more measured decision making, rather than drama.
Casting a vote for someone is simply hiring them.
Voting for a candidate is saying, I would like that person to work for me. And that’s it.
It’s a similar thought to a post I see every now and then that a vote isn’t a Valentine. You aren’t waiting for your soul mate of a candidate to come along in a meet cute. You’re simply hiring the best player to help you advance your goals.
What would happen if we actually approached voting with this mentality?
1) There would be a lot less celebrity attached to leadership roles
In my mind this is a good thing. Relative to a lot of other Western democracies, the US has a lot of allure around its Head-of-State. People hold them up against the shadow of romanticized leaders of the past, and political newcomers are given a TMZ-esque treatment on the come up. In other places, this is less pronounced by a parliamentary structure, having a figurehead monarchy, or other means.
The celebrity approach to political personalities is really unhealthy. People zealously back their candidates, look past all their wrongs, and build their identities as if it were a football fandom. Candidates and parties feed off this appetite for belonging in manipulative ways.
When I hire people, it’s not because I’m obligated to as their fan. It’s because I think they can get the job done.
2) Experience would matter a whole lot more
Rather than being won by a slogan or a yard sign (data says it happens even though I don’t get it!) you’d look for more telling indicators of someone’s ability to do the job. Namely, past performance in analogous roles. Leadership roles would be more earned, and less awarded to sleek marketing.
While this might give a slight edge to experienced candidates, it doesn’t mean whoever quantitatively holds the most years under their belt is the default winner. That’s not really how you hire. I’ve often valued the fresh perspective of a total newcomer. But both experience and novelty would be seen in proper context.
3) We’d have higher expectations and more accountability for leaders
When you hire somebody, you don’t then only look at their wins and constantly remind the rest of your team that you made such a good decision! You evaluate their performance, look for ways to help, and expect a learning curve and progress over time.
Our atmosphere of political fandoms makes it so we’ve attached our identity to a candidate’s success. People who voted for a candidate should in theory be the most demanding of that leader’s accountability, but instead they’re often turned into defenders of that leader, no matter what.
I do think this mentality, of voting being an act of hiring, can help reduce a lot of the unhealthy aspects of our political culture. It would reduce the misaligned expectations we have of leaders in the political arena and replace them with more appropriate standards of accountability.
Don’t forget to vote! Just try and do it as a member of the hiring committee instead of the fan club.