Here we are in the final stretch, just days away from the 2024 presidential election. Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris are head-to-head in the polls. In a matter of days, America will decide who will govern this country as president of the United States of America.

Since the election is so close, it’s essential to recognize the one key element that will be the tiebreaker of this election, and that element is leadership. It’s critical to define what authentic leadership is and what it looks like, and who better to have this conversation with than Author and Speaker John Maxwell. In a podcast interview, John Maxwell was interviewed by Entrepreneur Ed Mylett.

One of the first things that Ed talked about was how there’s not much authentic leadership these days, especially in the political field. John responded by saying how heartbroken he feels about the lack of leadership in this country, and he even feels ‘leadership sad’ when it comes to how the nature of America has changed over time through the changing of politics. “We’re not the United States of America; we’re the divided states of America now,” John stated. “We’re described as red or blue, and democracy doesn’t work well in that kind of environment. It never has.

Democracy isn’t built for that kind of environment.”

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are aware of the division that’s happened in America, and during this election both candidates have provided speeches that project unity for the country. When Joe Biden recently made and offensive comments about Trump supporters by referring to them as ‘garbage’, Donald Trump took the opportunity to unify his supporters by telling them that he will be a candidate that will have good intentions on unifying the country.

“We’re welcoming historic numbers of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian-Americans, and Arab-Americans,” Trump stated in a Newsweek article. “And we’re uniting Christians and Jews, Catholics and evangelicals, Muslims and Mormons, and everyone who simply wants to do one thing: make America great again.”

When it came to the Donald Trump, Kamala Harris has made many attempts to unify the country by reminding them that we’re all fighting for something greater than ourselves, and that’s the democracy of our country. “We are all here because we are fighting for a democracy and for the right of people to be heard and seen,” Kamala stated in a Newsweek article. “We are not about the ‘enemy within.’ We are all in this together, and that is what we are fighting for.”

According to John Maxwell, no leader is perfect, and people don’t want an ideal leader. They just want a leader who is genuine, honest, and willing to show their humanity. “People don’t want a perfect leader, but they do want an authentic one,” John stated. “They want a real leader; they want somebody that does acknowledge their humanness.” In this case, the American people have found authentic leadership in both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, even with their flaws.

Kamala Harris has her flaws of being too evasive and doesn’t fully answer questions to very important issues, but that doesn’t change the minds of her supporters who will still vote for Kamala anyway. “I wasn’t going to vote this year — I wasn’t,” she said. “But Kamala Harris joining the race, she changed my mind completely.” Rapper Carli B stated in a Rolling Stone article. Donald Trump has his share of flaws such as dishonesty and offending people, but his supports view him as an authentic leader due to the connection they feel with him. “His supporters view him as someone who speaks for them, breaking the norms of political correctness and challenging the elites, which strengthens their emotional attachment to him.” Writer Howard Baltus stated in an article for Democrats Abroad. The next topic of the interview was a leader’s ability to add value to the lives of people. John Maxwell explains how leaders today rarely express how much they need people to help them become better leaders.

John describes how important it is to credit the power and support of people for the success you make as a leader. “I think leaders don’t often say enough Ed to the people, ‘I need you,’” John states. “I love telling my people how much I need them. I love telling my people that if I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t be here, and this wouldn’t have happened.” When it comes to Kamala Harris, she believes in winning the presidency with the help of her supporters and voters.

Donald Trump is also the same way, when it comes to telling his supporters that they’re in this together and that they will win this election together in November. John Maxwell also stated about the priorities of a good leader, in which a good leader keeps in mind that their priorities are giving good service to the people, not themselves. “Am I in this for me, or am I in this for people?” John asks. “If I’m in this for the people, I want the best product for the people.

So, when I give you something I have done, Ed, you’re going to make it better…” Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have displayed through their actions that their intentions for becoming president, is for the betterment of improving American lives. Kamala Harris displayed this by participating in interviews with conservatives, and not allowing the tough questions intimidate her. Donald Trump displayed this as well by surviving two assassination attempts, and not allowing near-death experiences intimidate him into dropping out of the race.

The last topic of the interview was a leader’s legacy and values, in which John explained the importance of a leader’s legacy being about people. “Don’t put your legacy in an organization. Put it in people,” John stated. In this case, America will decide on election day which candidate’s policies reflect the legacy of the people and for the people. Who do you think she’ll choose?