I recently rediscovered John Perry Barlow’s Principles of Adult Behavior. The Silicon Valley visionary and founder of the EFF died in 2018. In 1977 he wrote this list of principles for himself and asked his friends to hold him to them:

1. Be patient. No matter what.
2. Don’t badmouth: assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to him.
3. Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you.
4. Expand your sense of the possible.
5. Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
6. Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself.
7. Tolerate ambiguity.
8. Laugh at yourself frequently.
9. Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right.
10. Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong.
11. Give up blood sports.
12. Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously.
13. Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.)
14. Learn the needs of those around you and respect them.
15. Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that.
16. Reduce your use of the first person singular.
17. Praise at least as often as you disparage.
18. Admit your errors freely and soon.
19. Become less suspicious of joy.
20. Understand humility.
21. Remember that love forgives everything.
22. Foster dignity.
23. Live memorably.
24. Love yourself.
25. Endure.

You can guess why returning attention to these principles, now, might seem important. (Especially 2, 8–10, 13, 14, 16–20, and 22.) Adult behavior is in short supply, especially among those who style themselves as leaders.