When a federal court ordered President Donald Trump’s name removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it did more than settle a legal dispute. 

It served as a reminder of something too many leaders forget: the things we lead do not belong to us. 

Whether it is a business, a church, a school, a nonprofit, or a public institution, leadership is temporary. Stewardship is the real assignment. 

I learned that lesson during my years of service on the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts. Appointed by President Barack Obama in 2011 and later asked to chair the committee, I had the privilege of working alongside artists, educators, philanthropists, and public servants who understood that institutions endure only when leaders respect the purpose for which they were created. 

The Kennedy Center was established by Congress as a living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. Its mission was never to advance the ambitions of a particular board, administration, or political figure. It was created to serve the American people. 

For more than fifty years, it has welcomed families, students, artists, and visitors from every corner of the nation. It has remained open through changing administrations, economic downturns, and periods of national division. Its purpose has endured because generations of leaders understood that they were caretakers of something larger than themselves. 

That understanding feels increasingly absent from our public life. 

Too often today, leadership is confused with ownership. People assume that because they have been entrusted with authority, they are entitled to reshape institutions in their own image. The focus shifts from mission to personality. From stewardship to control. 

The attempted renaming of the Kennedy Center reflected that mindset. So did the Board’s effort to close the institution for two years. In both cases, the question was not simply what leaders had the authority to do, but whether they were exercising the judgment and restraint their positions required. 

Strong leaders do not ask only what they have the power to do. They ask what responsibility requires of them. 

They understand that power is not permission, popularity is not wisdom, and institutions entrusted to their care are not personal possessions to be reshaped according to their preferences.

Institutions thrive when leaders serve the mission. They struggle when the mission begins serving the leader. 

That lesson extends far beyond the Kennedy Center. 

It applies to governors and legislators. To CEOs and nonprofit boards. To school systems, universities, and houses of worship. Every institution depends on leaders who recognize the difference between serving an institution and owning it. 

When that distinction disappears, public trust begins to erode. And once trust is lost, it is far harder to rebuild than any building ever could be. 

As workers continue removing the lettering from the Kennedy Center façade, they are carrying out a court order. 

But they are also delivering a reminder. 

Public institutions belong to the people they were created to serve, not to the ambitions of those temporarily entrusted with their care. 

The strongest leaders understand that their job is not to leave their name on an institution, but to leave the institution stronger than they found it.