Losing trust in leadership: philosophical theological factors

In western democracies and business communities of the past, leadership was presumed to be trustworthy on the basis of accepted concepts, defined relationships, and a fixed understanding of reality and truth. However, leadership is no longer presumed to be trustworthy on the basis of an ideal. Rather, in the postmodern setting, leadership must be continually establishing its trustworthiness in the context of a progressive "dialogue" with its constituencies, taking into account the key indicators of the postmodern mindset. In this setting, leadership in the US, UK and Australia is increasingly finding itself in credibility and ethical calamities. Popular explanations for this growing cultural angst have ranged from the skeptical to a variety of rather pessimistic anthropologies. Some skeptics view leadership as always being corrupt. On the other hand, some philosophical and theological anthropologies have asserted the inherent self-centeredness of the human character and psyche. Trust is no longer an issue determined primarily by presumptions, standards and character. Trust is also molded by human interactions in the context of the postmodern mindset and expectations. This paper identifies and interacts with key indicators of the postmodern mindset that establish points of tension in relation to the leadership discourse that was associated with the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the continuing conflict in Iraq.