A huge and important topic of debate and concern lately has been related to President Joe Biden’s leadership – specifically, around his bid for reelection in 2024.
It’s generally agreed, even by people who support President Biden, that his performance in the June 27th, 2024 debate was lackluster and poor. This bad performance, combined with other questionable behavior from Biden, has left a lot of people in a state of frustration.
The purpose of this post is to look at Biden’s behavior from a leadership perspective. I’m not a doctor and while it’s clear that his cognitive abilities have declined, I’m not here to speculate on what type of condition or disease he may or may not have. This is not a politically oriented post in the sense that it has nothing to do with Biden’s political affiliation. Rather, it’s about Biden as an actual person.
My intention behind this post is not only to hold Biden accountable, but also for all of us to look in the mirror and examine where we may have our own blind spots.
Joe Biden Is Missing the Mark
While I don’t associate with either party (I’m not a republican or a democrat), I’ve resonated with some of Biden’s policies. He seems to be a decent man who has character and empathy, something that Donald Trump severely lacks. I’m consciously not mentioning some of Biden’s policies on controversial topics here as I don’t want to distract us from the theme of this post.
He acted as a great transitional candidate in 2020, defeating Trump. While Biden made some big mistakes, like how he handled the Americans leaving Afghanistan in 2021, Biden did a lot of good too. In my opinion, he has a lot to be proud of.
With that said, he is really missing the mark right now. He lacks self-awareness to a certain degree, unable to see just how much his cognitive abilities have deteriorated. He’s unwilling to admit how low his current approval rating is, and he has made it clear that he’s going to continue running for President.
I’m not talking about a one-time incident here. Yes, we all have bad nights like Biden did during the June 27th debate, but it’s deeper and much more of a pattern than one night. He continued stumbling over his words and seemed incoherent in his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. A couple of days ago, Biden literally introduced President Zelensky as “President Putin”. And he referred to his Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump”.
This is flat-out absurd.
This is not a joke. The man simply looks lost (that’s an observation, not a judgment). Biden’s candidacy in the 2024 Presidential election affects countless people around America and the world. The Presidency is an extremely demanding job and it requires someone to have their full cognition and wits about them. At 81 years old, Biden is simply no longer capable of being the President that America deserves.
The Leadership Opportunity Joe Biden Fails to See
One of the biggest pitfalls and trappings of leadership is ego. Biden is falling into this trap.
Before I go further, let me say that this can happen to the best of us. Remember, this post is to simultaneously hold Biden accountable while also encouraging each of us to reflect on our shortcomings.
Here it is, in a nutshell. The single-most powerful thing Joe Biden could say and do right now is this:
After much reflection and careful consideration, I’ve decided to step down from the 2024 Presidential race. While this is incredibly painful and not what I prefer, I see that our democracy is at stake. Donald Trump is not only a convicted felon, but he incited violence and an insurrection against our Capitol because he refused to accept the facts. We need someone else from my political party to represent the Democrats, so that we have a better chance of defeating Trump.
If he did this, he would be an absolute fucking legend. His actions would then demonstrate that the lives of the American people are more important than his ego.
Instead of saying and doing this, Biden is putting out energy more along the lines of, I’m the President of the United States. No one can tell me what to do.
And he’s right – if he doesn’t want to step down, no one can make him. But his decision is going to affect the lives of so many people.
“When I get knocked down, I get back up,” Biden is proclaiming loudly at events. While that’s a genuinely inspiring statement, this is not about getting knocked down and then getting backed up. This is about not having the cognitive capacity and mental acuity to do one of the most demanding jobs on the planet.
I Have Empathy For Joe Biden
Joe Biden has spent fifty years striving to become the President of the United States. He’s a career politician, and I say that with respect and empathy. Sadly, many people don’t even make it to be fifty years old – Biden has been in politics longer than many even get to be alive. He’s been around the block.
With that said, I’d like to observe that it seems like he ties his self-worth to the presidency and to politics. I’m not only talking about ego here, which we touched on above – I’m referring here to his actual identity as a person. This is part of why it’s so hard for him to step down. He’s in a position he’s spent most of his life working towards, and he’s not ready to give it up. His self-worth is directed connected to his role.
In my blog posts, books, speeches, and social media posts, I talk a lot about the importance of empathy in leadership. Let’s have some empathy for Biden here. We all get caught up in tying our self-worth to things such as money, career, and power. For example, when I was in high school and college I tied all of my self-worth to sports – this was my identity, and looking back on it I would have been better off realizing that my worth and identity was so much more than being about sports (this is something I learned that I share with schools when I go and speak to them).
To some extent, I feel bad for Biden. If it wasn’t for his clear cognitive decline, he would probably still be a great presidential candidate.
Being Empathetic Without Being Too Empathetic
While we acknowledge the crucial need for empathy in our leadership toolkit, it’s important to remember that we have other tools in the box as well. Let’s be honest here, as the time for beating around the bush is over: someone who frequently sounds lost and incoherent when they speak should not be the leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. There’s simply too much at stake for someone like Trump to be back at the helm, being aware of things like Project 2025, Trump’s utter disregard of the ongoing and worsening climate crisis, and Trump’s blatant lack of integrity – not to mention that many psychologists and psychiatrists have pointed out with certainty that Trump has Narcissistic personality disorder.
Biden is not fit to lead America, and Trump isn’t either. America deserves better.
If you have a different perspective, or if I missed something here, please let me know. My purpose with this post is not to say I’m right and you’re wrong. I simply shared some observations I’ve made on Biden as a person and leader based on facts and real examples. I’d love to spark some further conversation and hear your thoughts.
Keep leading by example and being the best authentic leader you can possibly be.
Jeff Davis is an award-winning author, most recently publishing The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity. Connect with him on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter. For three free books (The Power of Authentic Leadership, Reach Your Mountaintop, and Traveling Triumphs) in exchange for being added to his email list, email his Executive Assistant at meg@jeffdspeaks.com. Learn more about his story on his About page and feel free to check out his author page on Amazon. Also feel free to contact Jeff directly via jeff@jeffdspeaks.com. What Jeff does best is sharing his work experiences in a way that adds real value to others. Consider bringing him to speak as a mental health, authentic leadership, and/or resiliency expert at your next event. He’s also available as an Executive Coach.
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