With his recent midnight tweet, President Trump all but broke the Internet. It’s not only that the tweet was incoherent, but also, that it was alarming. Speculation as to its meaning ran rampant: Did he have a stroke? Was he signaling the Russians with a secret code? Or maybe it was just a typo?

Six hours passed, and no correction or explanation was made. As happens in a vacuum, others attempted to make meaning of the tweet, some worriedly and others hilariously.

The following day, the President followed up with “Who can figure out the true meaning of ‘covfefe’ ??? Enjoy!” His Press Secretary did nothing to clear up the confusion, stating, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”

However you feel about Trump, this tweet is an example of bigly bad leadership. Here’s why:

-As a leader, people have every right to expect (and get) your best. Putting out a confusing message with made-up words is obviously not anyone’s best.

-We don’t know what the tweet means. People expect leaders to set tone and direction with their words, which serve as a North Star or at least a guidepost for action. This did neither.

-Good leaders help us to think about context and rationale for their messaging. They help us to see what they see, and hope to inform and galvanize us with what they say about it. “Covfefe” neither informed nor inspired–it caused concern.

-This tweet appears to have been a mistake. Most of us have hit “send” before we meant to, so this was an opportunity for Trump to be more relatable. Had he been humble and said, “Oops,” his readership could have reacted with “oh, been there myself” rather than, “WTF?!”  Instead, he pretended this wasn’t a mistake and that we should “enjoy” trying to figure him out.

-He left his Press Secretary holding the bag. Staff should never be left with weak or nonsensical explanations for what the leader does. Rational talking points are critical.

For those of us aspiring to be strong leaders, Trump’s “covfefe” debacle is a cautionary tweet.