
A fantasy examination question for an A level student fifty years from now, might read as follows. ‘Competent leadership on the part of generals and politicians was a crucial element in enabling the Allied nations to obtain victory over Fascism in WW2. Conversely, poor political leadership helped to exacerbate the International Pandemic of the 2020s. Discuss.’ I realise that I have been thinking a lot about the failures and successes of leadership over recent weeks. We now have the commemorations of the Second World War to remind us how another world-wide crisis was dealt with by our political leaders in the past. I realised that it might be helpful to set out more what I believe this mysterious quality of leadership to consist of. I am sure that somewhere among the 600 blog posts there are to be found some other reflections on the topic, but a discussion on leadership at this moment in history is going to be different from anything that has been offered before.
As I begin my random thoughts on leadership, I am comforted by the fact that, although there is a vast literature on the topic, there is much disagreement among the experts as to precisely what leadership is. This allows someone like me, possessing no specialist expertise, to reflect on the topic, basing my remarks purely on life experience. We all have had to cope with leaders and others with authority over us. Maybe we have been in a situation where other people have looked to us to provide leadership. What will be true is that everyone will have encountered the phenomenon of leadership and either benefited from it or suffered pain because it was exercised with ineptitude.
This post will try to focus on the positive aspects of leadership. Examples of bad practice no doubt will emerge as we explore the leadership that can be inspiring, helpful and transformative. We routinely think of leadership as a corporate matter, with a leader having authority over groups of people. We need, I believe, to start in a different place. Leadership begins in the human family. In a traditional family where there are two parents, one parent will typically take on the main nurturing protective role of a child. This will normally be the mother in a heterosexual partnership. But there is a further parenting and leadership role to be performed. That is the task of gradually introducing the child to the wider world, teaching him/her social skills and the ability to care for and protect him/herself and generally function within what will be the adult sphere. Child rearing will have both these aspects, nurture and challenge. Typically, a father will shoulder a significant part of this second area of responsibility. Teaching/leading a child to operate outside the safety of the home is a gradual process lasting a considerable number of years. Later on in life, many of us will seek out other individuals who will continue certain aspects of this parenting role. Their role in our lives is often described as being a mentor. Such a individual helps us by, for example, reflecting with us on difficult situations we face. He/she may offer assessments of future challenges that we are considering. A typical scenario would be a job application. The mentor may well help us clarify the positives and the negatives of a post and whether we are suitable to take up the challenges involved in it.
The parent/mentor model embodies several of the qualities of a good church or political leader. Such a figure will want to be a guide, an encourager and one who can see the way ahead with a degree of clarity. Above all, a leader is going to be a person who only wants good for those in his/her charge. Obviously, when someone has large numbers of people to care for, they cannot know everyone personally. They can, however, be expected to ‘have their ear to the ground’ to pick up the dominant feelings and aspirations of their group. Thus, when decisions are made by a leader which affect every member of a group or a nation, the individuals within it may reasonably expect to feel included somewhere in that decision. When, on the other hand, leaders make decisions that benefit either only themselves or their small band of cronies, the typical person among the followers will be able to spot that self-serving action. If, on the other hand, there has been a genuine attempt to do the very best for the majority that also will be picked up. The key to leadership is good communication. When men and women of power work in secret, that will always create distrust, resentment and resistance among the followers.
One of the best descriptions of leadership I have read, links a leader to a vision for his or her group. The leader has this vision and, through the skills of rhetoric and persuasion, draws in his followers to join him/her in sharing it. It may or may not be a message of new prosperity and plenty. A leader, like Churchill, was inviting followers to a tough period of ‘tears and sweat’. The leader is the one that can successfully articulate and communicate what needs to be said in a given situation and invite the followers to prepare for it. The important skill for any leader is the correct interpretation of the times and the ability to know what will be acceptable to the followers in effectively responding to it. That, of course, will demand gifts of a high order. I am unsure whether there is currently anyone on the political front or in church leadership who can, in fact, perform this role? At the risk of repeating what I said in the last blog post, the future of the nation and the churches looks bleak at present. From our political leaders we will need help to face up to the possibilities of shortages, increased unemployment and severe social pain. While setting out these grim realities, it will also be important to rally people around the possibility that such pain can be borne and be the harbinger of a new sort of society and church life. Froghole has helpfully listed several of the steps that might be taken to allow the ordinary members of society not to feel forgotten. I noted one suggestion which involved the closing down of financial boltholes in British Overseas Territories. If the covid-19 age has the consequence that society ends up with even greater inequality, that will be a stain on this country’s history which will never be erased. If we are to have greater economic hardship, then everyone must accept their share. I am not suggesting some fantasy equality for all, as this, historically, has proved unworkable as an aspiration. Political leadership in this situation is explaining to people what is required of every member of society. We need from our political masters some clear facts, even if they are initially extremely unpalatable.
The leadership of the Church has, to all appearances, been paralysed by the virus. As I articulated in the last post, there is something slight awry when church leaders gather to discuss how the church is going to pass through the present crisis but keep their deliberations secret. When the committees of Church House and the House of Bishops play this game of secrecy, they imply that they own the church in a way that is not true of the rest of us. If dramatic contingency plans are being made, we need to know. If there is a hope that the show goes on as before, we also need to be told. Leadership, good leadership should be telling us the prognosis for the future, good or bad. Will the church not be healthier for facing up to reality and beginning to adapt to coping with its implications?