To Stop a Tyrant: a review of Ira Chaleff's latest book

The power of political followers to make or brake a toxic leader

I was born in the 1970s and as a child, very quickly absorbed the Cold War message that we were living in a fragile situation where devastating nuclear war could break out at any minute. The good side of this is that I never have taken our peace and relative prosperity for granted. It’s rather invigorating to realize that you are living on borrowed time and that it could easily all be taken away. The end of that Cold War in the late 1980s and the gradual realization of a life that was a bit more stable did not dawn on me until adulthood. When you are living in the whirls of history, it’s very hard to recognize it. For this reason I can sympathize with those in the past who did not realize that they had achieved victory until many years afterwards.

Yet the sense that something was still amiss also grew along with my recognition of those realities. As a child, I was an early and avid reader and frequently read material that I was probably not ready to handle, but who is ever ready for some of these horrors of reality? I still remember the day that I picked up a pro-life magazine and read about what happens to a child during an abortion. The brutality of the suffering of the unborn child being ripped or burned to death made me run crying to my mother to ask for an explanation. When she told me that this evil was allowed in our country, that was legal and that some upheld as a good, I understood. No wonder our way of life was so fragile if our laws permitted something like this. I had read about crimes—around the same time, I had read a book on the Manson murders—but at least murder was outlawed. It was known to be wrong. But abortion was an evil on another scale: a legal and sanctioned horror, like slavery. I also read several different biographies of Harriet Tubman as well as Uncle Tom’s Cabin, so I quickly grasped that just as in those days Americans loudly and violently demanded that this human horror was a good, an economic necessity, the whole key to their way of life and without it they could not pursue the happiness guaranteed by the Constitution… so it was today. Fallen humanity seldom ever truly progresses, without the grace of God. All we can keep doing is plugging the dam before the Flood. Just as a teenager Abraham Lincoln watched the grown men he respected ogling a naked black girl on the auction block and realized that no country could remain free which allowed such evil to flourish, I understood then that no country can remain free that allows the slaughter of innocents—currently the equivalent of 6000 a day!—for the sake of present convenience and prosperity.

It is one thing to acknowledge that your father is dying: it is another thing entirely to hasten his death. In fact, you usually do all you can to save and prolong his life. I realized then that, outside of the action of God, during my lifespan I was witnessing the decay and death of America. But that hasn’t meant for a moment that I wish for this end, or try to bring it about more swiftly. In the name of saving my country, I’ve tried to live the life of a good citizen, without for a minute consenting to enabling the cancer killing it. Also, as I’ve said earlier, I have come to realize that the name of the cancer is not abortion: it’s the toxic triad of the acceptance and de facto blessing given to divorce, contraception, and pornography. Abortion, like every other ill on the list of conservative social evils, is just the symptom, and there is no real legal remedy for any of the three. Outlawing divorce, for instance, would be passing an unenforceable and ridiculous law in a country where fewer and fewer marriages are contracted. Only a miracle—a miraculous change of heart—could save our land at this point.

And yet, doing the good that we can do it necessary and required, and to act hopefully, strategically, and with the long game in mind is very much a good thing. This is one reason why I highly recommend my friend Ira Chaleff’s latest book: To Stop a Tyrant: the Power of Political Followers to Make or Brake a Tyrant. There are significant differences in the ways in which Ira and I view the world: while we don’t often discuss politics, I would hazard that he would identify as a liberal and it’s probably easiest for my readers if I adopt the label of conservative—yet our agreement on the vital necessity of sound ethics in each complex situation invariably unites us, and I have personally learned much from him. As a devout Catholic, I sometimes struggle to explain ethics to those who don’t share my religious outlook on life: but Ira is a master of such skill, and has a confidence in the inherent goodness of doing good and acting as if goodness is central that allows him to disentangle skeins of thought with alacrity. His specialty is business ethics and followership: his book The Courageous Follower is becoming a classic, and I also recommend it.

When faced with many toxic situations in which a leader uses their power for unethical means, many people—including myself—would say, “Walk away! Quit! Find a new boss!” Chaleff understands that for many reasons, including the ethical imperative, that is not always an option—and it many cases, it’s not even the wisest option. His solution is for followers of such a leader to think strategically about how they can exercise their influence to show the leader or at least give the leader the option to do an about-face, to rethink, to act with better information. His books and teaching have made Chaleff a valued consultant not only for businesses and corporations but also for the military and international government bodies. What I admire about Ira is his clear sense of right and wrong and how they operate to make a business, a bureaucracy, a government freedom-enabling and life-giving.

I met Ira shortly before he published his previous invaluable followership book, Intelligent Disobedience, which used the model of how seeing eye dogs are trained to show how a person who is committed to a relationship, a business, a government, or a cause can nevertheless use judicious disobedience when given a damaging or unethical order. When I got a copy, I ended up reading almost the entire book aloud to my teenagers and having in-depth discussions on it, and I have used it as a tool ever since when teaching. It’s a short but fascinating read. One real life example he gave was from a nurse friend who was ordered to give the wrong medication to a patient during a stressful frantic time at the hospital. She refused, and the doctor insisted. Instead of walking away—in which case she knew another nurse would be dispatched to give the wrong medication—she set up the machine so that the medicine could be given with the push of a button, but she then told him that he would have to be the one to push the button. This caused him to pause and rethink his actions, consult the chart, and realize he had indeed made a mistake, and rescind the order. I think of that as a key illustration to how a courageous follower operates.

In this extremely timely book, Chaleff tackles what few people even want to look at: the political divide in the United States, especially with the upcoming elections. His book has a provocative title, but he manages dexterously to not identify which current political figure is most likely to be a tyrant. Instead he encourages us to take a step back and look at the situations we face ethically and with courageous followership. How can we do good and influence our leaders to do good within whatever situation we find ourselves? Also he recognizes that a strong leader, even a dictator, is not necessarily a tyrant. However, the lessons of humanity is that anyone given massive powers is certainly tempted to become a tyrant: Cincinnatus and George Washington are miraculous outliers: very few competent and experienced leaders can walk away from power offered. So followers should be constantly vigilant lest their leaders become tyrants, and this vigilance is even more key in perilous situations like our own times demand strong leadership. This is a great reason to read this book today. (Or as soon as it’s released: I got an ARC.)

Chaleff traces and examines five circles of influence around a political leader: populace, activists, elite influencers, bureaucrats, and confidants. Each circle has its strengths and its blind spots, and Chaleff offers strategies to leverage strengths and avoid the pitfalls. His realism about human nature and historical reality: “oddly enough, when we feel somewhat tepid about our political leaders, it generally means they are doing a reasonably good job” make this an enjoyable read, and his stories from his work as a consultant and recent history add color and specificity to his examples.

The essence of politics is providing nonviolent means
to manage or resolve conflicting interests between groups of people.

Ira Chaleff

The two chapters on activists was particularly fascinating to me, since I married into a family of activists and count several among our oldest friends. I gather that Ira has the same experience—though on the other side of the aisle. And of course, the actions of activists on the side of whatever cause du jour have been annoying and troubling to us ordinary folk in our media age.

The Temptation of Violence

The section on “The Temptation of Violence” was particularly impactful to me. Here I’ll quote:

It is with regret, yet also with a sense of moral urgency, that I must include a brief discussion of physical violence when discussing activists.

The essence of politics is providing nonviolent means to manage or resolve conflicting interests between groups of people.

Therefore the use of violence to impose the will of one group on another is inherently a rejection of the political process. …

It is a grave error to use it to install a regime when political avenues, though complex and frustrating, remain open.

If a political leader is encouraging violence as a type of “support” it is another red flag, as the violence becomes self-perpetuating. If you believe in the leader, demand that they and your fellow believers find political means of elevating them and their platform. Regardless of the sincerity of your passion or the intensity of social pressure, you are accountable for how you pursue the agenda. Be the courageous follower who holds the leader equally accountable.

Even better is the section on bureaucrats, which Chaleff treats deftness and in a way that helped me understand the incredible complexity that daily faces a person who has many people under them as well as many others above them that need to be moved along in an orderly fashion.

Often such people can feel they are a “cog in a machine” which can do little to avoid participating in tyranny. But here Chaleff draws upon examples of intelligent disobedience, and even ways in which courageous followership has been able to put in codes of conduct that require disobeying illegal orders. For example, the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst states that “a follower who judges an order to be immoral, unethical, or unlawful…has an obligation to challenge such an order.” Similarly, the US Military Code of Conduct requires personnel to obey all legal orders, which at least gives a framework to support principled action.

In each section and with each circle of influence, Chaleff notes that historically there is a window during which a strong, dictatorial but not immoral leadership might start amassing power but is still open to persuasion or at least can be checked or held back. He warns that history shows that these windows close, but those who are sensitive to the situation will act while they still have freedom to act to put the brakes on a problematic leader. Tactics will vary, depending on whether the courageous follower is a voter, activist, bureaucrat, power wielder, or the leader’s mentor, spouse, or confidant. I found the earlier chapters more relevant to my situation, but found all of it worthwhile reading.

When Ira and I discussed his book, we found we were absolutely united in our agreement that at this juncture, good people must do all they can to preserve civility and ethical acting in our political discourse and action. Faced with strong emotions on both sides, with some foolishly yearning for the open conflict of a civil war, I believe that a book that outlines the way of behavior here and now is valuable and useful to both sides. In the end, followership means refusing to throw up your hands and say, “What can I do? Our leaders are determined to do X” but instead see what can be done. Leaders alone do not make history. Followers are also shapers and also hence, responsible.

The perspective my faith gives me on the decline of my country is a broader one. I am grateful that my nation may be my earthly father, but it’s not identical with my Father God. That Catholics, like Jews, have always felt a bit alien in the USA has helped me have a longer view. (That the Catholic Church is in crisis is a different problem! But being part of that Church also gives me a view into history to know that it’s kind of always been in some kind of crisis.)

Just because you know your father is dying does not mean you know how much longer you have. You’re a fool if you don’t make the most of the time you have with him, and to act as courageously and ethically as you can to extend that time. Otherwise, the regrets will chase you and your descendants for the rest of your lives. My friend Ira has given us an action map, and I for one am grateful. Definitely check it out and pre-order it.