Qualities of Leadership

photo credit: lumaxart

What do we look for in a leader? Do we hope they might inspire us? That they will govern justly? Perhaps that they are compassionate and understanding. Others view a leader as being one who will get the job done, no matter the cost.

We all have different expectations of what leadership is. These expectations are defined by our own experience. Regardless of what our expectations are we do expect our political leaders to govern efficiently and effectively.

Sadly, this has not been the case in Canada these past two weeks. Much has been written about the current political crisis and I’m not going to get drawn into the pros and cons of the decisions that have been made. What I want to do is look at the characteristics that the two leaders have displayed or not displayed as the case may be.

As part of our journey towards a more successful life it is often helpful to examine the behaviour of others to either learn to mimic it or shun it.

Enter Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada. Charged with leading government with a minority mandate, Harper chose instead to attempt to cripple his opponents. In his fiscal update he chose to cut public funding of political parties. He showed poor judgment by putting party politics ahead of the nation. Mr. Harpers cut to party funding was simply the straw that broke the camels back. Up until this point in time there was no crisis, it was business as usual. Harper had the opportunity to lead Canada out of the economic turmoil that the globe has found itself immersed in.

His decisions indicate that he placed the destruction of his political enemies above effectively governing the country he’d taken an oath to lead. His miscalculation about the reaction his opponents would take demonstrates how large his ego had grown. These past two weeks Mr. Harper has shown that he has some serious character flaws and that in looking for examples of leadership we should perhaps look elsewhere.

Next we consider Stephane Dion. A defeated party leader set to step down in May. Mr. Dion reacts to Mr. Harpers plan to cut party funding, a move Mr. Dion knows will cripple his party, by agreeing to setup a coalition government that would see him named Prime Minister for 6 months. It’s his last kick at the can, with nothing to loose he goes for it. Unfortunately, he did have something to loose and that was his integrity. The coalition government he was touting did not have the favour of the majority of Canadians. It brought up separatist sentiment best left undisturbed. Add on his bungled televised address to the nation, ranking in quality with YouTube and delivered to networks late and Mr. Dion’s credibility has destroyed.

To his credit Mr. Dion has swallowed his ego and has agreed to step aside before parliament reconvenes in January.

What do these two men teach us about leadership? By examining what they did not do we find examples of strong leadership. They did not place the interest of their country before their own. They allowed their ego’s to drive them. They used intimidation to get results; they attempted to dominate their opponents. The result was a crisis of their own making.

“Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation.” – William Arthur Wood

To be an effective leader one needs to inspire, cooperate, and place others before self.