I recently wrote a blog post about my history with San Francisco politicians, so I felt some fatherly pride seeing two of my mentees – Gavin Newsom and Lateefah Simon (who was on stage Wednesday night) – plus Nancy and Kamala all celebrating what’s been a dizzying past month.
And, as I listened to Kamala thread the needle on so many complex issues (Israel and Gaza, legal vs illegal immigration, right to choose vs. right to life, etc…), I was struck by something that Donald Trump said in front of the Black Journalists weeks earlier when he insinuated that she could either be Indian (South Asian) or Black, but not both. This got me wondering: which kind of leadership thinking is better: Either/Or or Both/And?
Our western minds are highly trained in dualistic, either/or thinking, a lineage that traces itself all the way back to the ancient Greeks. Dualistic thinking views the world as either this or that and has been foundational to modern science. But, ancient wisdom traditions like Buddhism and Taoism understand and teach the paradoxical nature of reality. They help us develop an alchemical, non-dual mind: curiosity and wisdom, hard work and rest, masculine and feminine, self-discipline and self-compassion, gravitas and levity, South Asian and Black.
Using an either/or lens tends to over-simplify things while a both/and lens can complicate things. But, I do believe that one hallmark of wisdom is being able to hold two seemingly opposite concepts at the same time. It may create cognitive dissonance, but it also can open up more possibilities. This non-dual thinking also can create more options for Win/Win solutions while an either/or thinker is more likely to have a Zero-Sum mindset (and when it comes to Donald Trump, life’s a zero-sum game, but when you’re wealthy, there are more zeroes involved….for a thorough review of this mindset, you might read this Vox article, Zero-Sum Trump).
When it comes to politics, even the non-dual, both/and thinkers can fall into the trap of seeing their enemy as having no positive qualities. While I’m no Trump fan, I will say that another form of wisdom is decisiveness (academic Dilip Jeste says it’s one of the seven common qualities of wise people). Either/or leaders are often perceived as being more decisive because they believe they know the difference between right and wrong, can make quick decisions and can take complex issues and distill them down to something that the rest of us can grok. Trump does that over and over, but he also lacks the six other qualities of wisdom that Jeste cites.
So, Americans, as you consider your options this November, it’s not just the difference between Trump and Harris. It’s also the difference between Either/Or and Both/And leadership.
-Chip
P.S. Tomorrow at 1 pm ET, I will be doing an online fireside chat with the CEO of Mansueto Ventures (the company that owns INC and Fast Company magazines) Stephanie Mehta. We’ll talk about how to innovate in a business world constantly full of disruption. Free registration is HERE. I’m honored to be involved with INC as a columnist and we’ve created an INC “Entrepreneurship at any Age” workshop at our Santa Fe campus Sept 24-29 with a free Mastermind Group forming out of this cohort of 16-24 people. Hope you can join us as it’s the most beautiful time of the year to be on our ranch.