Who Is the Best Choice for Our Future Leader?

Is there anyone out there worth listening to? We search for strong, non-hypocritical men who didn't cut corners to lead us into a complicated future

By Your Bro · Fri Sep 03 2021 · Guy Stuff

You check the news and feel like you are watching a slow-motion car crash involving people who can't decide which way to turn the wheel. It makes you wonder if there is anyone out there worth listening to anymore.

The Search for the Non-Hypocrite

It is a simple question with a difficult answer: are there any strong, non-hypocritical, morally sound men who didn't cut corners to get where they are? Most of what we see on the screen is a curated performance. You see guys who preach discipline while their own lives are a mess, or men who talk about the common good while lining their pockets. It gets exhausting.

Finding a man who says what he means and does what he says shouldn't feel like finding a needle in a haystack. But Gallup research has shown a steady, decades-long decline in the public's trust of major institutions and the people who run them. When trust is at an all-time low, we start looking for outsiders. We look for guys who have actually done something besides move paper around a desk or wait for their next term to start.

The Contenders for the Mantle

Jocko Willink is one name that keeps coming up. He is a former Navy SEAL. He is tough, well-spoken, and works as a leadership coach to executives while hosting a massive podcast. He doesn't sugarcoat the fact that your problems are usually your own fault. That brand of extreme ownership is a far cry from the finger-pointing we see in the capital every day. If you want to become the leader you were created to be, starting with his philosophy isn't a bad move.

Then you have Elon Musk. He is a brilliant entrepreneur, the CEO of Tesla, and the mind behind SpaceX. He has a dry sense of humor and a habit of making things move that everyone else says are stuck. Whether you like his tweets or not, the man builds rockets. That is a level of tangible competence that is hard to ignore. He represents the idea that our future leader might not be a politician at all, but a builder.

Joe Rogan runs the most popular podcast on Earth. He is likable, logical, and surprisingly down to earth for a guy who could probably buy a small country. He is funny but can be tough when he needs to be. People listen to him because he doesn't seem to have a script. He just asks questions. In a world of teleprompters, that feels like a superpower.

The Brutal Honesty of Results

We also have to look at guys like Dana White and Gary Vaynerchuk. Dana White, the UFC President, is a great businessman who tells it like it is and is worth over $500 million. He doesn't care about your feelings; he cares about the fight and the bottom line. Gary Vaynerchuk is an accomplished entrepreneur and a massive social media influencer because he is a logical thinker who understands where the world is going before it gets there.

I remember a guy I worked for back in my twenties. He wasn't famous. He ran a small construction crew. One morning, the crane operator didn't show up, and we were losing thousands of dollars an hour. Most bosses would have spent the morning on the phone yelling at a recruiter. This guy just climbed into the cab and did the job himself. He didn't ask for a pat on the back. He just didn't like losing. That is the kind of man you follow. We are looking for that on a national scale.

The Importance of the Life Code

The problem is that we often promote people based on their charisma rather than their character. We get distracted by the show. But a leader without a code is just a guy with a loud microphone. You have to stop floating and define your life code before you can judge someone else's ability to lead yours. If a man hasn't mastered his own house, he has no business trying to master yours.

The current data on social health is grim. According to the Pew Research Center, the structure of the American family and the way we interact as a community has shifted drastically, often leaving a vacuum where strong male leadership used to sit. When there is a lack of leadership at the top, the cracks show up at the bottom first. We see it in our schools, our streets, and our homes.

Who Are We Missing?

There are lots of worthy people we are missing. Maybe it is a governor who actually kept his state open when the world went sideways. Maybe it is a retired general who refuses to do the talk show circuit because he finds it undignified. We need to decide what we actually value. Do we value the guy who makes us feel good, or the guy who tells us the truth even when it hurts?

We are essentially looking for a mentor on a grand scale. I have said before that you owe the debt of mentorship to those coming up behind you. If we can't find a leader worth following, the next generation is going to be even more lost than we are. We need to promote men who act as a source of knowledge and inspiration, not just another face on a campaign poster.

The search for a future leader isn't just about a ballot box. It is about deciding what kind of men we want our sons to become. It is about finding the ones who don't cut corners. If you know someone we missed, let us know in the comments. We are all looking for a way out of the woods.

—Your Bro