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Reverend James Squire

The Power and the Problem With Working Behind the Scenes




President Biden is being criticized for his lack of response to the tragedy on Maui. There were 120 hours between his first public response and a follow up. The reality was that he was in immediate contact with officials on the island and had daily conversations with them. Biden has always been seen as having great empathy and because of his own family tragedies, he has the role of our griever in chief. When reporters asked for comments about Maui when he was on vacation, he responded with “no comment.” Biden came across as having a dispassionate response.


Biden does a lot behind the scenes including helping individuals and groups. We find out after the fact that he has helped many in this way. There is power in this realization, but right now his approval rating sits at 36%.


Life is a two-edged sword. What works for you can work against you. Southern California always needs rain, but they didn’t need the storm and ensuing flooding that occurred over the weekend. President Biden’s 36% approval rating is due directly to two things. One is that various legislators whose districts received credit for his legislation took credit for the largesse that came their way even though they voted against it. Some people have no shame.


But there is another reason that has shaped our culture that “if you cant’s see it, you can’t be it.” Trump changed not only the Republican Party but our culture has well. Trump’s approach of taking credit for anything that is positive even though he had nothing to do with it has permeated the culture. He is the symbol that you know everything that he did that would boost his rating. The irony is that his behind- the- scenes approach created a conspiracy to overturn our democracy.


This symbol of taking credit for everything in a public fashion is seen graphically in how he handled aid to Puerto Rico. He made a big deal when he visited the island where photographers took that iconic footage of him throwing the paper towels out to an audience with that smug smile on his face. How demeaning! The thrown towels were his response following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. He held hostage 20 billion dollars of aid to the island because he wanted the aid to go to Texas and Florida where there were more votes. Congress finally had to intervene.


There is a saying that points to the dilemma of helping others publicly and helping them privately. “There is no limit on the good that you can do if you don’t need to take credit for it.” It is a large part of my approach to helping others. In fact, do more than that. Try to put the spotlight on others. I found that in the long run helping faculty help students and families was empowered by this approach. Some faculty found their most rewarding moments in our advisory system as much as teaching.


I discovered that Malcolm Gladwell was right in his philosophy of “the tipping point.” He indicated that most approaches in any community whether it be helping others or what fashion is in vogue is determined more by “word of mouth.” I am aware that one of the highest grossing movies in Hollywood had the lowest PR budget due to spreading the word by “word of mouth.”


In my business so to speak, I got the biggest kick out of seeing the sheer volume of people who were helped by behind the scenes intervention. Working behind the scenes requires three things, trust, confidentiality and the knowledge that you can get the job done. In essence you know what you are doing! One of the central points of my setting up the advisory system interfacing with school psychologists was found in the phrase “on a need- to- know basis.” That is the only information that should be shared. It had an important by product as well. It cut down on the rumor mill.


In the case of President Biden, he needs to focus more on the “need to know” basis where the need is more public because of the very nature of his position. Like it or not, he and others need to celebrate his many accomplishments. Heather Cox Richardson, blogger and professor of history at Boston College has indicated she was not excited about Biden’s election. She thought that it would be business as usual and put our nation in a holding pattern. Now it is unusual if her daily blog doesn’t celebrate his many accomplishments. Everyone should know that he is our griever in chief and when he isn’t that, after all he is human, it is noticed much more because it is his core value. It was great to see Joe and Jill Biden make their visit to Maui. The press reported today that the President said, “We will be with you as long as it takes.”


One cannot estimate the power of an approach when someone asks you about someone else’s actions or motives. My standard response to inquiries about someone that didn’t fit the “on a need to know” basis was, “I will listen to your concern, but I won’t comment! Would you really want me to share that kind of information if you had shared it with me?” People got it! People always need to get into someone else’s shoes to understand someone else’s responses.

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