14. Winners and Losers 1: The Leadership Fitness Continuum

                In our last post we discussed the recent London riots and the way in which our media, Prime Minister David Cameron and the justice system all jumped on the bandwagon of calling for drastic action against the perpetrators without proper consideration of its consequences and validity. We stated that this might be expected of society's "winners" - taking the opportunity to keep the "losers" down. This blog develops this thought by way of our Leadership Fitness Continuum.

                Globally Fit Leadership is our term for the best possible leadership that humans are capable of while Diabolical Leadership would be the worst possible. Actual Leadership Fitness represents the quality or fitness level of leadership currently taking place. The gap between actual and globally fit leadership is the room for improvement and that between actual and diabolical leadership the extent to which we should be pleased with the leadership we have!

                                              

                                       Leadership Fitness Continuum

                                    Globally Fit leadership

                                                Room for Improvement

                                    Actual Leadership Fitness

                                                Potential for Decline

                                   Diabolical Leadership

                       One explanation of the current crisis in leadership might be that the fitness level of current leadership is not sufficient to cope with the challenges of the modern environment.  Leadership fitness may have declined in recent times but it may equally be the case that the challenges faced may be much greater so the Globally Fit Leadership goal is much harder to achieve.  The Leadership Fitness Continuum is useful for identifying a number of points for reflection:

                  - What would globally fit leadership look and feel like?
                 -  What would be the outcomes if globally fit leadership were present?
                 -  How fit is your own leadership?

                To close the gap between actual leadership fitness and GFL we need to identify and reduce the MisLeadership that is taking place. It is difficult to stand still so unless we work on our fitness it is likely to decline – perhaps the current leadership crisis is partly due to historic complacency?

                Our next blog considers the importance of these ideas to 'winners' and 'losers'

13 Riots: A Wake Up Call - At Last!?

One might expect the public to over-react to last week's riots, and given the standard of our media that they too would be baying for blood. One would not expect both the Prime Minister David Cameron and the justice system would also jump on the bandwagon.

Or perhaps that is naive - we should expect society's "winners" to take the opportunity to keep the "losers" down - a point which will be returned to in the next blog.

David Cameron's main reactions (aside from slating the police - see blog 12) seem to have been to claim this is a wake-up call and that severe actions should be taken against the perpetrators and their families, including imprisonment for very minor misdemeanours, withdrawal of their / their parent's social security payments and possible eviction from their homes if they are council tenants.

He is right about the wake-up call. The first of our 8 'initial steps toward globally fit leadership' is WAKE UP! The question is, how many wake up calls are needed before he takes properly thought-through effective action? He is the Prime Minister! I find it hard to stomach ordinary members of the public saying 'someone should do something' implying it is nothing to do with them, but for the Prime Minister to adopt that stance is mind blowing. OK, its a wake up call - 1, 2, 3.. WAKE UP!!

Concern over the 'toxic childhood' we give our children has been expressed very loud and clear for many years yet governments have failed to tackle the issue effectively and the current government has been reducing the attention and funding given them - while talking about the need to cut the top tax rate from the current 50%

The first phase of our ASK SIR L decision making model is ASK: Appreciate a problem exists, Specify its scale and scope, and assess the Kauses. The knee-jerk reactions listed above would not help to tackle the problem - instead make it far worse - but the main point here is that the ASK phase has not been carried out.

No proper attempt has been made to establish what the true problem underlying the riots is, its scope and underlying causes. Jumping on the bandwagon is surely what most of the rioters did yet the courts are treating them as if they had made long-term carefully thought-through actions and were part of an organised gang. A woman who was given a stolen pair of shorts by a friend has been jailed for 6 months. How will David Cameron be judged and sentenced by society for his MisLeadership?!

Pages 39 to 43 of our MisLeadership book provide an introduction to the problem of toxic childhood and its solution. It clearly goes far wider than the recent riots, which are a symptom rather than cause. Outcomes of toxic childhood covered include rising obesity, posture and eye-sight problems, lack of reasoning and social skill development, little outdoor exercise, too much time watching television and playing computer games, and consumption of large amounts of junk food. Causes outlined include the collapse of family life; misguided focus of education on developing skills for the economy; use of exam-results-based performance measures to judge schools and pupils; misinformation by the media; excessive use of vetting and barring schemes for those running youth clubs and the terrible abuse over an 80 year period of children by Catholic priests and others involved in running children's homes. Additionally, the environment in which children grow up has changed fundamentally (i-phones, social media etc) but our treatment of them has not kept pace with the challenges.

In the book we wonder whether the fundamental difficulties are a lack of a full appreciation of the issues, how significant they are, and their underlying causes, with the result that solutions implemented have not been effective. They have been piecemeal rather than a coordinated systematic response.

The recent riots and knee-jerk reactions only strengthen our concern. It is obvious that threatening withdrawal of social security payments and eviction from their homes assumes that the perpetrators came from broken homes but does nothing to help the plight of such families. The woman mentioned above who has been imprisoned for 6 months has two young children - what affect will placing her in prison for her very minor offence have on their upbringing?

The Prime Minister should get off the bandwagon, take a deep breath and start looking for real answers. Our book could help!!

12. Riots: Who'd be a Policeman?

It has been scary watching the riots in the last week. Those involved acted in a completely irresponsible and unacceptable way and should be punished. Thieir combined actions resulted in several deaths and millions of pounds worth of property damage, including major arson that could have resulted in many more deaths.

But I have found it equally frightening watching the reaction of the media, politicians and courts: those supposed to be leaders of society. Their actions have displayed gross MisLeadership in all its guises.

Our next few blogs respond to the riots and their aftermath. This one looks at the role and actions of the police and those claiming to lead them.

Very fast criticism was made of the way the police handled the riots including the Home Secretary Theresa May saying they were too slow to act and not robust enough in their actions. She then attempted to give the impression that their subsequent change of approach was due to her intervention, including ordering them to cancel all police leave - a power which she does not and should not posess. The truth is the police were, like everyone else including the government, taken by surprise at the speed and severity of the riots, and were initially vastly outnumbered and under-equipped. They reacted extremely professionally and bravely.

Had they attempted to make arrests on the first night most of their limited numbers would have been involved, so the situation on the streets made far worse. Instead they coralled the rioters, protected lives as their main priority, then property where possible. Instead of futilely attempting to make arrests on the spot, they photographed those involved so that they could arrest them once the immediate threat had been dealt with. By the second night, police chiefs had been able to increase numbers on the street so could take more immediate actions, which they did so effectively that the rioting rapidly ceased.

Rather than criticising their actions and falsely attempting to claim credit for their change of tactic, the Home Secretary should have praised them for their ability to handle the situation with so little loss of life, relatively little damage, and ultimate ability to identify and bring to justice those involved. We should recall that the police have faced recent criticism for being too heavy-handed when dealing with rioters, yet suddenly their actions here were being lambasted as ineffective by the very politicians who should be supporting them. Further, the government had made clear their intention to reduce police budgets.

David Cameron the Prime Minister made matters even worse by announcing he would be seeking advice from William Bratton, the man credited with reducing street crime in New York, Los Angeles and Boston. Surely the most superficial analysis would make one expect that our police have little to learn from those policing such crime-ridden parts of the US but the crucial point here is the display of total lack of faith in and support for our own police despite their evdent top quality performance in handling the riots. How can he think that such a move can help relations between the government and police force?

The police continue to act professionally themselves and protect us from riots and other unruly behaviour which results in part from the government's failure to lead society effectively.

In the words of Gilbert abd Sullivan "A Policeman's Lot is Not a Nappy One". But it would be helped by proper leadership and support from the Home Secretary and Prime Minister.

11. Funding Olympic Athletes

The GB Women's Olympic Volleyball squad had their funding withdrawn for their 'home' Olympics next year because they were not considered a strong enough medal prospect. Funding is currently concentrated on those teams most likely to perform well.

At first sight this seems logical - why waste money on teams unlikely to win?

But that is falling for the trap of solving a problem before really thinking through what the objectives are. That leads to 'solutions' very unlikely to result in what you really want to achieve.

What are the Olympic Games all about? Should it be 'win at all cost'? Is it worth spending £1million per Gold? Is a Silver worth half that, and Bronze a quarter?

Should they be dominated by sponsorship of powerful global brands, many of which have unhealthy products and are using the OG to achieve apparent support of and endorsement by top athletes who wouldn't win if they actually used the products.

What messages are we giving to our children? Unless you are the best in the world, you are a failure, and don't expect encouragement or support?

By giving all the money to the most successful teams, are we stifling new sports or development of sports currently unpopular in our country? Volleyball may be a minority sport in GB but it is in the top 5 worldwide - the men's volleyball final at the Beijing Olympics having bigger global TV viewing than the football World Cup final!

Is it a self-fulfilling approach? Give money to likely winners and not to less likely ones, then justify it by saying 'see, they won'

Fundamentally, what is the purpose of sport in the modern world?

The team have responded to having their funds withdrawn by becoming even more determined to live their Olympic dream. They have been using various univeristy's facilities for traing and carrying out a range of fund raising activites. Watching them train one can see their dedication and determination, ironically reinforced by their poor treatment. Let's hope they are successful and achieve the objective the Olympic movement should have at it heart.

10. Media

Revelations about The News of the World phone hacking add to a history of misleadership by newspapers and other media, when we need them to perform a key role in keeping us informed, and politicians and other leaders honest.

As editors, owners and top politicians duck and dive, denying knowledge and bleating about how evil the culprits were, they exhibit all four aspects of MisLeadership: Missing, Misguided, Misinformed and Machiavellian.

To change them (editors, owners and top politicians) from an often negative into a positive force will take all eight of the steps suggested in our book 'MisLeadership: Prevalence, Causes and Consequences': 1. Wake up!  2. Take responsibility,  3. Have transparency in all that you do,  4. Prepare a force field analysis,  5. Adopt effective problem-solving approaches,  6. Take a global perspective,  7. Work towards anew paradigm of thought,  8. Develop a contemporary mission

As with so many current issues, this is urgent and global, but experience tells us that little will be done. It is the first two steps that are crucial: 1. wake up to what has been going on, its prevalence, causes and consequences, and how it links to such aspects as MP's expense claims and domination of access to and quality of information by a very few powerful individuals.  2. Take responsibility for failure to act in the past and for taking the necessary globally fit leadership decisions and actions required.

9. Chilean Miners

65 days after the collapse of the original mineshaft, a rescue shaft has been drilled down to the cavern in which 33 miners have been trapped in the San Jose mine near the town of Copiapo.

The men were discovered when they tapped a message on a probe drill, and soon after that rescuers were able to meet their basic physical needs by sending food and water down a small pipe. It was clear that drilling a rescue shaft would take very much longer, so the major concern became maintaining the mental and spiritual fitness of the miners and their families.

Communication was recognised as extremely important so radio and video contacts were established to enable the miners to communicate with their families and the 'above ground ' world - giving them reassurance that people were aware of their plight and striving to help, but also giving a sense of belonging and being in touch with their ultimate goal of freedom.

Physically and mentally, the rescuers and miners were well equipped to deal with the situation. The rescuers had access to the right tools and machinery and were highly experienced in the mining environment so aware of likely risks but also had the right drilling, construction, project management and logistical skills to tackle the physical tasks confronting them and establish likely successful approaches. The miners were physically fit and experienced in the environment so more likely than most people to be able to survive the physical aspects of their plight relatively unharmed.

Thus, the main concern was maintenance of the miners' morale, confidence, faith and emotional well-being - what we term their spiritual fitness. This has been achieved in a number of ways including close involvement of their families, attention to all their physical needs including medicines, constant reassurance and keeping them informed of progress. Of particular importance, and handled extremely effectively, was managing the expectations of the miners.

Initial statements as to the likely rescue date were 'not until Christmas'. This must have been a hard blow for those trapped but became part of the initial situation and thus built into the scenario their mental and spiritual elements recognised as having to be faced. As the rescue has progressed, all news has been good news - in addition to establishing and constantly improving food, drink and communication chains, the predicted rescue date has been slowly brought forward, providing a constant boost to morale.

Imagine if this had been handled the other way round, with rescue initially promised within a week, then gradually pushed back. Confidence would have been shattered and the miners and their families would have started to fear that they would never get out.

Now that the rescue shaft is within close contact, it must be tempting for the rescuers to claim success and go for a quick release but again they have used extremely good psychology and exhibited spiritual strength by maintaining a rational, long-term view with safety, security and risk minimisation their foremost priorities. Thus they have taken precautions such as slowing the rate of drilling to avoid jamming the drill head as it breaks through into thin air. They have also pre-warned the miners and families that they will need to send a video camera through the shaft to determine whether it must be cased with steel to prevent rockfalls before rescue is initiated, and that this could take up to a week. Making this clear before the breakthrough is psychologically beneficial as it will not overshadow the delight at seeing the tunnel completed, but if left until after breakthrough, it could be a serious set-back for people who feel their ordeal is about to end to then be told 'another week'.

Even the order of rescue has been considered, starting with some strong characters who will be able to handle being first up what may be a precarious ride to the surface, then those suffering physically and mentally so in need of assistance, and finally the ones felt best able to wait until last to be rescued. To further boost morale, several rescuers will be travelling down the shaft to demonstrate their faith in its security, solidarity with the miners and to give them a further immediate link with the above ground world.

This rescue mission has been a first-rate illustration of Global Leadership.

8. Bishop Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu had his 79th birthday this week and decided time was right to retire from the world stage. Bishop Tutu chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa which followed the fall of the White apartheid-based government and facilitated the move to a truly democratic system.

The brilliance of this peaceful transition is rarely recognised but comparison with Zimbabwe may be pertinent - Rhodesia was as strong as South Africa at the time of its independence.

Truth and Reconciliation recognised the spiritual needs of both sides of the old regime - the oppressed and the oppressor - to recognise the wrongs - individual and collective - perpetrated under that system. These needs included confession of their roles and actions, expression of regret, and requesting and bestowing of forgiveness.

Getting the truth in the open removed the desire in those who had been maltreated to confront their abusers, and gave the abusers the opportunity to confess their dark secret at a time and in an environment of acceptance and forgiveness. This laid the foundation for reconciliation and moving forward into a fairer world. Had this not been achieved, feelings of frustration and a desire to blame and achieve retribution would have been likely, with negative physical, mental and spiritual consequences for all.

Was South Africa incredibly fortunate in having a number of Globally Fit leaders at the time, or is it the case that such leadership is only fostered by the kind of backgrounds these leaders experienced? Was it living under apartheid that actually helped South Africa's new leaders achieve what Zimbabwe has failed to do?

Nelson Mandela suffered many years of abuse and imprisonment but emerged as a great leader with brilliant ideas, the passion to follow them through and the humility and compassion to bring both sides with him, but to me it was the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by Desmond Tutu with his infectious laugh, twinkling eyes, sharp mind and global spirituality that paved the way for peaceful change.