Unqualified Government Leaders: A Taxpayer's Burden

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Harroll_Ingram]Harroll Ingram
Taxpayers have a right to adequate leadership. Government leaders, especially those who have direct influence over how taxpayers' money is spent, should be selected by properly credentialed teams/individuals using properly developed selection procedures. Many federal, state, and local governments empower teams to select leaders. Selecting inadequate/unqualified leaders can prove to be a major burden on taxpayers. To ensure taxpayers receive adequate leadership, selecting officials should develop and closely follow selection criteria representing the requirements of the position being filled. Inadequate leaders tend to make poor decisions that often lead to lawsuits that are eventually settled using taxpayers' dollars.
A school board President in a city in Michigan was selected as President by his peers, but was viewed by many taxpayers as unqualified for the position. One citizen stated the school board President "can't write". The President, himself, admitted his writings were sub-par; his history supported accusations that he was educationally challenged. The school board leader progressed from being a fourth grade special-education student to graduating from high school with a 1.8 GPA. The leader was not able to pass an English exam in college which delayed his graduation until the requirement to pass the exam was lifted a decade later. The leader was elected as President of the school board by his colleagues because they liked him. Within five months, the leader had exposed the city to a lawsuit and resigned from his post. He cited "poor judgment" as the reason for his resignation. Although some might fault the former leader, much of the blame could be placed on the city and the board members who elected the former leader to be President of the school board. Taxpayers' burdens stemming from unqualified leadership extends from cities to nations. Many countries facilitate taxpayer burdens by selecting unqualified military and civilian leaders.
The United States Government reports that it uses selection criteria to choose its leaders. In some cases, having military experience influences those leader selections. Although formally serving as a military leader can be beneficial for a new civilian leader, leading civilians requires more patience and consideration of opposing views than leading military units. If former military leaders show impatience when leading civilians and ignore the views of civilian government employees, productivity losses and costly lawsuits that burden taxpayers can result. Perhaps former military leaders should be required to wait a year before being considered for civilian government leadership positions. A year would allow time for the former military leader to acclimate to the civilian world and accept that civilians respond to orders differently than military units. Burdens to taxpayers might improve if military leaders are not rushed into civilian leadership positions. Many military leaders are promised civilian government leadership positions before they retire from the military. Like General/Mr. Petraeus, many simply remove the military uniform and put on a suit--all in a week's time.
Civilian government leaders (sometimes referred to as public leaders) should be prepared to utilize proven leadership skills in an effort to meet the openly stated mission of the organization. In order to use proven leadership skills, civilian leaders should have knowledge of those skills obtained via leadership education. Leadership education prepares public leaders to use leadership styles such as Situational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, and Transformational Leadership in an effort to reduce taxpayer burdens. Civilian government leaders who are not knowledgeable concerning proven leadership styles (i.e., who are unqualified to lead government civilians) are usually forced to follow the lead of one of their military associates (e.g. a military Commander). Because military commanders are trained in the art and science of warfare, leadership practices gleaned from military commanders often result in the misuse of force/power. Power misuse increases taxpayer burdens due to subordinate disloyalty, productivity issues, and lawsuits.
The majority of taxpayers are unaware of the qualifications of government leaders. Taxpayers assume their leaders are qualified to carry out duties effectively and in a way that shows concern for taxpayer burdens. Unfortunately, many civilian government leaders are not qualified to lead. Some leaders lack basic leadership skills while others are ethically challenged. One Army procurement official was found to have improperly steered contracts to a defense industry contractor and arranged jobs for her daughter with the same contractor. There are many other civilian leaders who misuse the system and likely increase taxpayer burdens. The decision makers in government organizations, in the interest of the taxpayers they serve, should make sure they hire and promote leaders who are qualified to lead. Taxpayers have a right to adequate leadership-especially when those leaders have influence over how taxpayers' money is spent.
Harroll Ingram is a Computer Engineer for the Federal Government and holds a Doctorate degree in Organizational Leadership. Dr Ingram also runs a proofreading and editing company called H.I. Enterprises http://hienterprises.biz
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Unqualified-Government-Leaders:-A-Taxpayers-Burden&id=6556304] Unqualified Government Leaders: A Taxpayer's Burden