Leadership and accountability

The world is in a strange place right now. Not a day seems to go by without Trump, Starmer, Netenyahu, Zelenski, etc cropping up in significant news stories. If I was to ask you to pick one who was doing a brilliant job and one who should have never been let a million miles near leadership, I am sure that whoever you pick, there will be someone who has the opposite view. That is he nature of leadership. I watched the response to the Budget speech by Kemi Badenoch yesterday and I was shocked at just how bad it was. Given that the speech had been leaked early and presumably she knew the key points, I simply couldn't get my head around the fact that she chose a highly personal attack on Rachel Reeves, rather than a forensic dissection of the key areas where she disagreed with the Chancellors approach. After she'd finished, I did a search on Twitter for the word "Badenoch". I was not surprised to see almost universal disdain for her efforts. I then did a search on the phrase @kemibadenoch. That provided the opposite. Tweeters using her proper handle clearly thought she was marvellous. I was actually quite shocked at the way this group of people loved the personal attacks. If it was a comedy routine at the Dog and Duck, maybe you could excuse it, but Parliament is where laws and rules are made and people should not be happy when there is not proper scrutiny. 

It got me thinking about the subject of leadership. I have had some very good and very bad bosses over the years. I've also been in a position of leadership in various businesses, charities, clubs and even in my band. When I watch the likes of Trump and Badenoch, I despair at the fact that they seem to break all the rules of good leadership, which have been drummed into me over a career in business, etc that started 47 years ago. So what are the rules that I try and apply

1. Keep calm and do not get drawn into heated arguments where possible. Never be rude or aggresive towards people, especially underlings. If you have to have harsh words, be polite. 

2. Respect the other person, especially when they disagree with you. They have reached their position because their life experience is different to yours and they may have good reason to hold their viewpoint, based on experience or information you do not have.

3. Follow the rules, laws etc, when it comes to dispute resolution. These may seem like an unnecessary encumbrance, but they are there to pretect both sides, and when the boot is on the other foot, you may be very grateful for them. 

4. Do not make spur of the  of the moment, rash decisions. If a decision can wait until you have had time to properly consider the facts with a clear head, take that time. Sometimes, this is not possible, if there is a crisis, but where there is time, use it.

5. Try and read the room and ensure your allies are onside.

6. If you are a situation, where you have to deal with people who are unreasonable, you should still let them have their say and listen to them. Just because they are being difficult does not mean they don't have a point.

7. When you have to take decisions which will be unpopular, ensure that you have thought through the difficult questions which you may be asked. If you can't answer them, then it will undermine you. It is also worth bearing in mind that if you cannot answer important questions, your decision making may be flawed.

8.If you make a difficult decision, which is unpopular, but is the right decision, stick by it. Don't change tack, to placate people who do not have solid arguments.

9. When you have to make difficult decisions, make sure you thank your allies when they support you. 

10. Be magnanamous in victory. Share the credit around for good decisions you have pushed through, which can be demonstrated to be successful. This will buy you good will with your allies.

11.  Do not seek to humiliate and destroy your adversaries, always offer people a dignified way out where possible. Give them a chance to leave with their pride intact.

12. When you are dealing with difficult people and you are anticipating a confrontational situation, ensure that you prepare and know what you want as an outcome, also work out what is the worst case compromise that you feel you can accept. Give yourself wriggle room and if you don't get everything you want accept that civilisation and decency are built on compromise.

 It is worth understanding that sometimes people mishear things or misinterpret them. When I worked in IT, a co worker reported me to HR for "rudely telling someone who worked they had F****D UP". I was bemused. I was called into a meeting and asked to explain my behaviour. I honestly had no recollection. I asked if HR had spoken to the person I was alleged to have abused. I was informed that they hadn't. I suggested that they ask the person exactly what I'd said to them. This was done and when asked, they said "Roger asked me to transfer a file from one system to another using the FUP DUP utility", which was a command on the IT platform we worked on. It was all a misunderstanding. I was very annoyed at the time, but in hindsight, my co worker was right to have acted on what they perceived as rudeness.

Leaders should be accountable and should have to be able to account for their actions. It strikes me as very bad governance for leaders to have no accountability.