Let’s look at three recent incidents.

• A woman at a Phillies-Marlins game demanded a boy and his father give her a home run ball she claimed should be hers.
• A CEO grabbed an autographed cap from a kid at the US Open. He initially said about the incident, “Yes, I took it. Yes, I did it quickly. But as I’ve always said, life is first come, first served.”
• TikTok streamer Tamo had his live interrupted by someone who hurled racial slurs at him.

Are these just isolated incidents or signs of something more?

Here’s something to consider: One of a leader’s roles is to form the culture of an organization. While they can set rules and standards, they mainly do it through their example. If they model professional, respectful conduct, the rest of the organization will follow.

Now consider the example set by the President of the United States.

If you have a leader who is vulgar and disrespectful, can get away with the most heinous acts without consequence, and wants to inflict cruelty on anyone he doesn’t like, how do you expect people to act? If a leader takes away programs the vulnerable in our society need to survive, why wouldn’t an entitled adult snatch a souvenir from a child? If a leader expressed racist views his whole life, why wouldn’t someone spew slurs at streamer online?

Donald Trump has given America a license to be cruel. But it also gives us a responsibility to push back against the cruelty.

This is already happening. The kid at the Phillies game got a gift pack from the Marlins. After the game, he met the Phillies player who hit the home run, Harrison Bader, and got an autographed bat. The woman who took his ball got booed out of the stadium. Public pressure forced the CEO to issue an apology for taking the kid’s cap. Tamo tracked down the man who interrupted his livestream (because the Internet isn’t as anonymous as people think) and caused him to be discharged from the Navy.

We don’t have to accept the viciousness coming from the top. We shouldn’t allow injustice when it happens right in front of us. And we shouldn’t permit cruelty to be tolerated and normalized.

We must continue to fight for a just and humane world. We can do that by modeling kindness, respect, and protection of the vulnerable. By staying true to our values, we can assert our own leadership so others can follow our example.