Some time ago, I visited the Masai Mara, an enormous reserve in Kenya. During the safari, I had an opportunity to observe two lions who were stalking a herd of wildebeests.

The herd was aware of the lions. They were standing on top of a hill. They would periodically look down at the lions who were sneaking, up from below, from bush to bush. One lion came from the left. The other came from the right.

Eventually, one of the more oblivious wildebeests grazed its way down the hill. It separated from the group.

The lions attacked.

The herd just stared.

At least it wasn’t them.

I always wondered why the wildebeests didn’t just charge the lions. Reject their presence. Overrun their positions. Or at least run away.

I’m a leadership consultant today because of my past experiences with leaders.

I worked with leaders who were very visionary and mission minded. Good people. Great vision. But either due to insufficient skill, personal discipline and habits or personal hang-ups couldn’t or wouldn’t effectively lead.

I worked with people who were in leadership roles but didn’t understand that noun leader implies the verb to lead. Reasons differed—fear, apathy, lack of personal vision, other priorities. Their results (or lack thereof) were the same.

I’ve worked with some (not enough…this is why I consult!) leaders who developed the necessary combination of vision, skills, personal health and so on – to be effective and inspiring.

I worked with a few (thankfully only a few) leaders who primarily, and sometimes exclusively, cared very deeply about being The Leader. They wanted power. The wanted recognition. They wanted that particular kind of achievement. Without exception, it was miserable to work with these leaders. Without exception, they hurt people. Without exception, they used people.

I might like or be frustrated by the first three types of leaders. However, I flat out reject this last kind of leadership. It’s harmful.

Which is why I won’t be voting for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in this election.

Three Reasons I Won’t Vote for Clinton or Trump

 1. The Question of Credibility & Principles: Some months ago, I wrote an article called How to Pick a President (Or Any Other Leader.)

This article emerged from frequent work with executive succession, board development or overall leadership development in organizations. I’m frequently asked, “How do we choose our next leader(s)?”

I use a five-part algorithm for choosing leaders based off of questions that explore their: Credibility, Servant-Heartedness, Capacity, Principles and Preferences (style, policy, etc.).

Both of our leading candidates score too low on the test to even consider.

If they were applying for a CEO position of any company, I couldn’t recommend either for consideration. They both have capacity. They effectively run their own organizations and brands. They are both smart, driven and accomplished people.

That is their one strength. They have capacity.

That’s it. It’s not enough.

Past performance is the best indicator of future performance. Either candidate will lead us into years of unending drama, subterfuge, insults and disregard for the country they’ve been elected to steward.

There is no good reason to make a bad choice.

2. The Question About Motivation

I’ve watched poorly skilled and temperamental leaders accomplish far more than you’d think possible. They were passionate about serving those they led.

Robert Greenleaf, who coined the term “Servant Leader” wrote the following words. They transformed my life:

“The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions…

“The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?”

Neither Clinton or Trump are servant-first leaders. Neither has a track record of it, neither persuasively speaks as if they were. It just isn’t who they are.

Both want to Be Leaders. Whatever it takes. Assuaging their unusual drives for power.

Neither candidate is passionate about the American people. Clinton’s campaign has a fabricated vision built out of polls and focus groups designed to yield the most “electable vision” for our country. Essentially, her vision is about her becoming president. She just needs this country so she has something to be president of. At least, according to her campaign e-mails in Wiki-leaks.

Trump’s vision can only be determined through a scatter plot of his statements – which lean towards offending a gross majority of Americans. At least, you can’t look at his book or website or listen to his running-mate and pick up on any level of consistency or focus. His vision is Trump will be president. It’ll be “Yuge.”

I reject them both. Their interest in America is solely what we can do for them.

3. Social Enabling

I get the arguments about Supreme Court nominees. They make sense to me.

I understand that, “We can’t let X win!”

But I’m not persuaded.

In my recollection, every presidential elections cycle has created the same narrative, “It’s the end of the world if you don’t vote for our candidate!” “The other side is the most corrupt, inept, least competent person imaginable!”

To me, the histrionics, the hyperbole, it’s all a part of enabling behavior. It’s the same behavior demonstrated by children of alcoholics. Never about trying to get somewhere meaningful in the family. All about trying to stop the loss, avoiding problems, the lessor of two evils.

It’s the same kind of thinking that allows many of the third world countries, that I’ve worked in, to stay stuck in corrupt despotic rule.  Run by leaders whose primary source of power is derived from a public that has lost hope that they can do better for themselves.

They only hope it won’t get worse.

I won’t vote for either Clinton or Trump because I refuse to give them a mandate. Either will win, either will produce one series of scandals and frustrations after the other.

I refuse to allow either to rest easy, believing they were wanted.

I believe in voting. I will vote. I will find the most palatable third party option I can.

I encourage you to vote. Vote your conscience. You may come to a different conclusion than I. That’s fine.

But don’t vote against someone. Don’t vote for a “lessor evil.”

Vote for something of value. Even if you aren’t sure if your vote will win. Vote for leadership with principles. Leadership who demonstrates that they care about this country and the people in it. Leadership who genuinely empowers others. Not leadership that requires enabling.

In this election cycle, America has already lost. It doesn’t matter which candidate wins. Let’s stop the cycle of accepting less when we should be building more.