September Leadership Reflection: The Crisis of Purpose in Modern Leadership (019)

“The world is focused on not being human—when being humanis the only way to make a difference.”
— Ron Boire, Your Personal Leadership Strategy

This is still raw for me, and I’m sure many of you.

This month, we witnessed a shocking, senseless tragedy: themurder of Charlie Kirk. Regardless of politics, the loss of any human lifethrough violence, especially for their views, calls us to reflect on somethingdeeper than party lines: our shared humanity and theleadership vacuum that enabled such hate to flourish.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s comments in the aftermath ring loudand true: “This isn’t about politics. This is about decency.”

You can find a link to his powerful thoughts here.

And yet, here we are, again. Leaders across sectors areeither absent, complicit, or worse, weaponizing the moment. What’smissing is Purpose.

When Leaders AbandonPurpose, Chaos Fills the Void

As I wrote in How I Help LeadersBuild Their Purpose, Vision, and Principles (PVP),leadership without purpose is not neutral; it’s dangerous. When leaders fail toground themselves in core values, when they lead by outrage, optics, or fear, theylose their humanity. And so do the people who follow them.

The greatest threat to our democracy isn’t politicalextremism, it’s leaders who no longer lead with humanity; they fail toLead with Purpose™.

Crisis Is the LeadershipMoment

This moment is not hopeless; it’s a call to act.

As leaders, we must:

• Reclaim your     Purpose: Why do you lead? If your answer doesn’t include the concept of others,     you’re off course.
• Recenter on     Principles: What values guide you when emotions are high, your team is     watching, and your community needs you?
• Rebuild Trust: Lead with     your humanity.  Don’t be afraid to     say that you are afraid, but are willing to try.

In a world of noise, rage, and tribalism, the most radicalact of leadership is to be clear, grounded, and kind.

Many of the people I havespoken with over the past week or so are wondering, “Where do we go from here?”

Here’s what I ask of you this month:

Watch this short: ArnoldSchwarzenegger on Charlie Kirk

Reflect on this question:

Am I leading from my bestself, or just reacting to the lowest voices around me?

Revisit your PVP. If you don’t haveone, start here or send me a note, and let’s build it together.

Because when the world feels most broken, yourvoice of grounded leadership is more powerful than ever.

(c) 2025, Ron Boire, and The Upland Group LLC.
Lead with Purpose™ and The 51% Rule™ aretrademarks of Ron Boire.

#leadwithpurpose #Democracy #PoliticalViolence #FreeSpeech#Unity #Respect #CivicDuty #Polarization #Humanity #ImHuman

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