Imagine you were evaluating Congress the same way you would evaluate the executive leadership team of a company.
What would their annual performance review look like? See the video for our take, and a transcript that follows.
Let’s use five common leadership categories:
- Financial Management
- Strategy
- Oversight & Program Management
- Legislative Effectiveness
- Accountability
And we’ll use a familiar rating scale:
Exceeds Expectations. Meets Expectations. Needs Improvement. Unsatisfactory.
Here’s how I would evaluate Congress. See if you agree….
Financial Management
A leadership team’s first responsibility is financial stewardship.
The federal government is running roughly $2 trillion annual deficits. The national debt is approaching $40 trillion, and it continues to grow. Both parties have had opportunities over many years to improve our long-term fiscal outlook, yet the debt has continued to rise.
My rating: Unsatisfactory. In fact, this category alone would be grounds for termination in most organizations.
Strategy
Strong leaders think beyond the next quarter—or, in government, beyond the next election.
They identify long-term challenges, make difficult decisions early, and invest in the future.
Too often, Washington appears focused on today’s headlines and the next election cycle instead of the next generation. Commissions are formed, reports are written, but major long-term problems like Social Security, healthcare costs, and the national debt remain largely unresolved.
My rating: Unsatisfactory.
Oversight & Program Management
Congress isn’t supposed to run federal agencies, but it is responsible for overseeing them and making sure taxpayer dollars are being spent effectively.
Many government programs provide real value. But good oversight also means asking tough questions. Are programs still achieving their goals? Are there duplicative programs? Are ineffective programs being reformed or eliminated?
Too often, programs continue year after year with little meaningful reform. Often Congress passes a bill to create a program and they assume they have solved the problem, when really the program does nothing or creates new problems. Government watchdogs repeatedly report billions of dollars in improper payments, waste, fraud, and abuse. Significant reforms are relatively rare.
My rating: Needs Improvement, and that’s being kind.
Legislative Effectiveness
The purpose of legislation is to solve problems.
Good laws should be clear, focused, and effective. They should address the issue they were written to solve without creating unnecessary new problems.
Instead, Congress passes enormous bills that combine unrelated issues into a single package, often hiding pork spending or laws that have nothing to do with the title of the bill. Important legislation is often voted on before lawmakers—and certainly the public—have had adequate time to review it. Or, Congress takes the easy way out with short-term bandaids. And on many of America’s biggest long-term challenges, lasting bipartisan solutions have repeatedly failed to materialize.
My rating: Unsatisfactory.
Accountability
Great leaders own their results.
They explain trade-offs honestly. They admit mistakes. They focus more on solving problems than assigning blame.
Too often, Washington rewards blaming the other party more than fixing the underlying problem. That’s not the kind of accountability most organizations expect from their leaders.
My rating: Unsatisfactory.
What were your ratings? What’s the overall performance score?
If this were the shareholders…
Would you give this group a bonus?
Would you put them on a performance improvement plan?
Or would you replace them?
I’m guessing you are not giving them a bonus, and here’s the point:
America’s biggest long-term challenges won’t be solved unless more citizens—not just politicians—become informed, engaged, and willing to think beyond the next election.
That’s our mission at Long Term America.
We’re building a community of Americans who want to better understand our country’s long-term challenges, discuss solutions respectfully, and encourage leadership that thinks in decades—not election cycles.
If that sounds like something you’d like to be part of, visit LongTermAmerica.com and join us. There’s no cost and you’ll be glad you did.