Michael Cohen is a cautionary tale about blind loyalty

“If they all jumped off a cliff, would you follow?”

I am not sure how old I was when I first heard an adult say this, but as a kid, I probably couldn’t put it all into the right perspective for it to make sense.

Now, as an adult with kids, I find myself encouraging them to be leaders, and be the ones who set or raise the bar.

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As I flip through the news channels, the name Michael Cohen jumps off the screen on every channel and I cannot help but wonder: What went horribly wrong in this man’s life that now this  is his legacy?

Here we have a man, so blindly obsessed with being loyal, that the fruit of his hard labors is now a three-year federal prison sentence.

“We can’t all be leaders. But we can choose who we follow.”

Is everyone a leader? Absolutely not. But at some point, we have to have a serious conversation about the dire consequences of following a person or group of people that will ultimately do you harm.

For example, a young, poor kid sees the fast life of money, popularity, girls, and the attention a drug dealer or otherwise criminal character from the neighborhood gets. They don’t want to hear about books, working hard, or setting examples, so they gravitate toward this seemingly “good life” with little regard to any of the consequences.

All the while, they end up as disposable pawns in someone else’s chess game.

Now back to Cohen. I will spare you his life story, but around 2006, he started working for the Trump organization. In the years to come – instead of being a licensed attorney that offered sage advice and wisdom to the leadership of the Trump team, Cohen instead chose to play the role of “fixer.” Some called him “Trump’s pitbull.”

Basically, he was the guy who did the dirty work for the Trump organization’s leadership.

“If our followers gathered for a team photo, would we be proud to hang it in our living room?”

I almost feel sorry for the guy. Growing up, we always hear about how we are supposed to be loyal and faithful to those who are good to us, but at what cost? When did this individual decide that the lifestyle and benefits of following someone else mattered more than losing every bit of freedom he had?

I know I have been in situations in my life where I have looked around at the people who were following the same thing I was, and realized these people share very little in common with me. Thankfully, I was blessed with a pretty strong sense of right and wrong from a combination of trying to do things the wrong way  — and failing — and a father who wasn’t afraid to tell me when I was making a mistake.

We can’t all be leaders. But we can choose who we follow. Some choose to be blind sheep who follow the flashiest shepherd cane they see into whatever fate they are led to. Others, while not leaders, challenge those they follow to be better people, to follow the path of truth, and to be stronger leaders.

At the very least, they raise their hand and ask, “Hey, is this a good idea?” when their leader may be taking them in the wrong direction.

On the flip side of the coin, those of us who choose to be leaders, we need to know that one day we will be judged by a snapshot of the people who follow us. When we are dead and in the ground, who are the followers that will define our legacy? If our followers all gathered for a team picture, would we be proud to hang that picture in our living room?

But I’m not aware of any great works that celebrate sidekicks, followers, fixers, or “right hand men.” “Great Followers in History” is never a category on Jeopardy. Few statues were ever erected to honor men for their faithful servitude.

If Michael Cohen, at some point, took stock and felt his values aligned with his leader, then I don’t feel sorry for the guy.

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