“Politicians, patriots and statesmen

“The politician used to be what we called a bureaucratic operative, someone who carefully chose his words and actions so he would offend no one. (Today, it’s more likely to be someone who intentionally slows things down, who works hard to point fingers at the other side and is constantly on the hunt for money).

“The patriot used to be someone who put aside his own interests in exchange for the organization he represents. (Today, it’s more likely to be someone who’s merely jingoistic, with a bit of short-term thinking thrown in for good measure). Plenty of blustering tech company CEOs could be put into this category.

“And the statesman? The statesman is the person who will speak the truth, take the long-term view and do what’s right, even if it hurts his position in the short-run. Fortunately, this definition hasn’t changed much over the years. This is the leader who doesn’t want to know which side someone is on before he can tell you if the decisions made were good ones or not. He’s the one who works hard to see the world as it is, as opposed to insisting it must only be the way he expects. And mostly, he’s the one you should work with, vote for or follow as often as you can.” — Seth Godin

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/05/politicians-patriots-and-statesmen.html