Just A Thought
For an Aussie to love American history some may well find that unusual to say the least! Yet I do – so it will come as no surprise to you that the latest book I read was David McCullough’s brilliant biography on John Adams the second President of the USA. It is a masterly work on a truly great human being.
John Adams was a great man by all definitions – a signatory and passionate advocate to the Declaration of Independence, deeply caring and compassionate man, excellent leader, diligent beyond measure and a committed Christ follower. His son John Quincy Adams became the sixth President of the USA.
Most of what we know about John Adams is from the thousands of letters he hand wrote and these letters have been preserved. He wrote to friends and foe alike articulating views, encouraging, putting forth ideas and telling his story.
It seemed as it Adams was able to think deeply about ideas through his writing. He would debate and reason with his correspondents about those ideas.
As I read this voluminous work – loving every single page it dawned on me that the ability to think through deeply about ideas and then be prepared to debate them is now a lost art. Do we think deeply any more? Are we capable of debating ideas as opposed to debating personalities?
Does the busyness of life produce a superficiality of ideas?
Does this produce a ‘herd mentality’ that we follow the loudest voice?
Does this lead to a cloning of ideas as opposed to an originality of thought?
John Adams thought deeply about issues then formed well thought through convictions, which he based his life on. Sometimes this placed him at odds with his friends yet his life was always a conviction based life.
I want to be able to think deeply, think wisely, think intelligently and think astutely. Then, from that depth of thought, be able to reason articulately based on conviction.
Sometimes magazines ask those people that they feature – ‘Who would you invite to dinner if you could?’ I think I would add John Adams to my list – I would welcome the conversation around that table. Just a thought!
The Real Test Of Leadership
Recently I read a thought provoking passage from an Essay written by former British PM Tony Blair in which he said – “The real test of leadership – amongst all the tests of policy, judgement, politics and ability – is whether, in the final analysis, you put the country first; that ultimately you are prepared to put what you perceive to be the common good of the nation before your own political self. It is the supreme test. Very few leaders pass it.”
Now I know that he is referring to political leadership but the principle he is espousing applies to all leadership situations. And to be honest I agree with him, that it is my experience, that ‘very few leaders pass it’.
Leaders in any situation are called to make decisions that are for the common good of the organization that they represent. Those decisions are often swayed by a number of factors. One of which is always self. How will this decision affect me? It takes an exceptional leader to ruthlessly go beyond self and purely concentrate on one factor – what is good for the organization as a whole.
This type of leadership takes raw courage. Usually even with the best communication possible to attempt to explain the decision one cannot get the true reason for the decision to everyone affected.
Hence leader’s popularity sways. The leader becomes unpopular – loses friends and makes ones enemies even more bold and vocal. The ability for people to make their opposition visible by ‘leaving’ the organization only makes the leader’s decision far more difficult.
It is interesting that former USA President George W Bush is not doing what all former Presidents have done and writing his memoirs but is writing a book explaining the key and somewhat controversial decisions of his term office.
I have discovered that leadership is often making decisions that, if right, will eventually be proven to be correct but at the time the pain of that decision can be almost too much to bear. Ultimately not everyone is happy with the decision – again, because people are so subjective about how the decision affects them personally.
Leadership is weighing up what is the common good for the organization and then in the loneliness of leadership itself, making the decision knowing encouragement and brickbats will come your way.
Yet one thing provides comfort – it is when you as a leader rests your head on the pillow that night, it is with a clear conscious. The common good has been meet and you as a leader have had the courage to evoke it.
Disposable Leadership
Some twenty-seven years later I can see and remember clearly, as if it was yesterday, the scene before me. It was the night of the 29th of August 1983 and it had been a memorable day and night. I was driving to my parent’s home to tell them the news that their first grandchild had been born. Nicholas Mark Edwards had arrived – I was excited to say the least, but the scene in front of me was somewhat unnerving.
My parents home was lit up – it seemed that every light in the home was now on. There were cars everywhere – each bearing a news or radio network insignia on the car door. There were people everywhere. Surely the birth of my first child was not that newsworthy.
I walked into the home past strangers, television lights and microphones all in abundance. My mother came racing towards me holding a tray load of food and wanting to know the gender and associated details of her grandchild. ‘By the way’, she said, ‘Your father has resigned tonight’. Dad had been the Deputy Premier and Treasurer of the State of Queensland until being replaced by someone else in a back-room coup. He had resigned. So Nicholas was not the news? How clearly I still remember! That night forged an opinion in me that still resides.
Why do we seem to dispose of our leaders so quickly? Men and women who place themselves in a position of leadership in many areas of society from church to politics to sport can find themselves replaced and disposed of. Our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd must surely know what I mean. Is our society so used to disposability that at the first sign of trouble our thoughts turn to getting rid of the leader?
Backroom coups, instant dismissals and not thought though sackings seem to be acceptable if the end result justifies the means. Talk to any coach of a professional football team about disposability!
What has happened to hanging in there through the valleys, perseverance during hard times, loyalty when things are not going that well or faithfulness and allegiance without blame when popular opinion is talking disposability?
Good leaders with character and competence are just too few on the ground to be getting rid of them when the ‘polls are against them’ or the populace wakes up in the mood for a change.
I know what it is like to lead in good, bad and indifferent times. I have seen disposability up close and personal more times than I wanted to.
Call me old-fashioned but I believe the gift of leadership is too rare to be disposed of quickly. I am not saying leaders should stay forever but to dispose of them on the basis of hard or difficult times seems to me to be part of a disposable culture that for me is troubling.
Let’s value the virtues of loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity, allegiance and commitment especially towards those too few individuals who have the courage to get out the front and lead. Yes – I still remember that night all too well!
The Loneliest Job
I am a great fan of Nancy Gibb’s writing – she writes the back page essays for Time Magazine and I don’t think there has ever been an occasion where she has not captured my attention and said something seriously good and challenging.
In Time (25 January 2010) she writes about the loneliest job in the world – now what is it you may be thinking? Well – Gibbs then goes on to outline the loneliness of being the President of the USA. It is a very interesting essay but what I love about it was the fact that she then talks about the loneliness of any leader.
It is the ‘nature of the job’ as Gibbs refers to it. Gibbs speaks about the decisions that no one else has to make but you as a leader. According to Gibbs on the day before D-Day General Dwight D. Eisenhower (later President of USA) had to make a decision whether to send two paratroop divisions into a sector where 9 out of 10 would be killed. Eisenhower speaks of hearing all the arguments, weighting all the advice and seeking all the counsel but in the end he was ‘all alone’ in making the decision.
Now I doubt that I will ever have the pressure of that type of decision but I do know the loneliness of decision making. I do know what it is like to sit in ‘the chair’ where the buck stops hoping and praying that the decision I am making will be right. However knowing that there will be some that I get wrong.
Being aware that upon making that decision people will be affected. E-Mails, letters and other communications will follow – not all of them will be nice. Sometimes wishing I had magical powers that made every decision absolutely correct and agreeable to everyone. Alas – that is what it is – wishful thinking.
No leader sets out to make a wrong decision. Eisenhower speaks of ‘conscientiously, deliberately, prayerfully scrutiniz(ing) every argument, every proposal, every prediction, every alternative, every probable outcome’ yet still being all alone in making the right decision.
So why tell you this? Quite simply to ask you to realize the loneliness of a leader’s life when it comes to making decisions AND having grace towards them when decisions are made that you just don’t agree with or perhaps are adversely affected by. Perhaps that is why all of us are encouraged to pray for our leaders. Make no mistake, as Gibbs says – ‘Lonely does not begin to describe’ how leaders live. Yes they choose it but that does not mean it is not lonely. Hopefully this has given you new insight into a leader’s life and how you respond to them?
