Well, I think we found our Supreme Court Justice today. This should be very good news for Republicans, who seem to be in an awful hurry to get this done quickly. It doesn’t look like we have to wait any longer.

Let’s all take a deep breath and step back for a moment. All crazy partisan politics aside, let’s consider the qualities a good justice should have.

A good justice should be objective and fair-minded, not guided by strong preconceived opinions.

A good justice should be empathetic, not focused on oneself.

A good justice should be calm, not angry.

A good justice should show grace under pressure, not be easily rattled.

A good justice should be even-tempered, not short-tempered.

A good justice should be thoughtful, not strident.

A good justice should in the face of adversity show courage, not petulance.

Good leadership is all about making good decisions.

There are classic lines from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice about mercy and justice:

The quality of mercy is not strained.

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath.

At the end of the day good leadership is about temperament. Having the kind of calm demeanor and even temperament that enables one to make sound thoughtful decisions under pressure. Not decisions that are reflexive, impulsive, angry or politically driven.

When one thinks of the sea of strident bitter recriminations that have engulfed this whole Supreme Court nomination process, and the partisan political football the Supreme Court has become, it feels like we’ve completely lost sight of what a Supreme Court ought to be.

It feels, sadly, like we as a nation are losing our way.

Well, cheer up, the good news at least is I think we found someone today with the right temperament to make a fine Supreme Court Justice.

Her name is Christine Blasey Ford.

* * *

I retired in 2012 from the corporate world with over two decades of Fortune 500 front-line and executive management experience, most of it in Communications and… MORE

My current focus is on coaching and developing new managers. My book is The Type B Manager.