Leadership Down (Leading a merry dance in a deficit of governance.)
People often hark back with nostalgia to times gone by, usually times of great conflict, to find examples of great leadership role-models that can be used to compare with our leaders of today. Historians rightly historize in academic and popular parlance about what manoeuvrings great leaders of the past made in various circumstances, trying to understand what makes a great leader. Our popular culture in western and eastern societies eulogize the events that distinguishes them as great leaders discussing and dissecting their roles, routines and repertoire highlighting their performatives moments. There are endless deliberations, debates and discussions about the characteristics that makes them such great leaders- coolness under-fire, inspirational, principled, technocratic, knowledgeable, strong etc. Notwithstanding the pageantries and romanticisms of Kings and Princes with their archaic battles for wealth, land, and power ending with the Napoleonic polka and the democratic advocates of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, an epoch arguably won by Lincoln and the abolitionists and their freedom dance.
There have been many great leaders harking out of the late modern era that have influenced the progression of mankind, perhaps more than any other era before. These leaders have a special place I think in the collective minds of our generation, and we often talk with great affection about Winston Churchill’s two step bombastic oratory and his grand political gestures, Theodore Roosevelt’s rock-a-billy strategizing and political persuasions and Charles de Gaul’s slow stoic stubborn waltz and political fortitude. As well as the cold ruthless stomp of Joseph Stalin relentlessly pushing back the Nazis fascist dance craze to Berlin and Mao Tse Tung’s community dance uniting the Chinese people, preventing his country form fracturing after the invasion of Japan in the second world war. This was the generation of leaders that fought the head banging ump pa-pa fascist generation of leaders like Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo and prevailed, setting the global scene for generations to come.
These wartime leaders were more than matched by post war progressive leaders like Mahatma Ghandi and his jig of humble piety and mastery of the peaceful campaign and Martin Luther King’s inspirational rhetoric and awesome old time spiritual and of course the diplomatic persistence and political patience of Nelson Mandela’s African earth dance. But also, who can forget Michel Gorbachev ending the cold war and dismantling the Iron Curtain with the eighties’ answer to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Ronald Regan, and Margaret Thatcher. As well as the many great socialist leaders singing the song and dancing the dance of reform that brought about changes, we all take for granted and rely on today like universal medical care, welfare, unemployment support and minimum standards of living. Also, the many south American and African leaders that took their countries out of dictatorships like Brazil often through the unifying power of salsa, samba, arumba, arribadaaaa! Yeah, they could certainly cut a rug alright… ??
It is fair to say that many of these leaders brought the world through and out of conflict to peace and prosperity after the world wars leaving on the surface at least a world with a legacy of stable, and free nations (but not always). These secular leaders brought people, sometimes disparate peoples, together into nations and they also united previously divided nations. It is without doubt that these leaders had all the moves like biblical Moses and Noah they knew how to lead the dance alright, oh yes, and some at least had what it takes to lead the merry dance of democratic governance, but other did not it seems. It is true most of these great leaders have chequered histories judged by the times favourably or not as many were flawed characters. However, they all well deserve to stand-out in the collective conscience of the people of the world because they all believed in what they were doing their dance was not fake, but real. They built international organisations that made the world a smaller and yes from time to time a largely peaceful place and left behind a relatively prosperous globe. For good or for bad they were the leaders that built this current world order as we live it today and it is their successes and failures that currently dominate the recent history of our globe.
So, how do the current crop of leaders compare to the illustrious movers and shakers of the past do they have a command of the ballroom or are they flops on the dance floor. So, let’s dance: who are the next generation of leaders to watch out for in the forefront of a new street dance craze and where will the next generation of leaders come from, will it be the Russell group raves, Ivy league fraternity parities or the Redbrick discos? Will it be the spiritual dances of the churches, the blues and jazz joints of the business bashes or the trade union workingmen’s clubs? One might say, ‘hang on a minute what the hell do you know about leadership how would you know how to lead the dance? A comprehensive schoolboy from a sink-estate in the poorest city in the north of England, get off with you… what leadership qualifications have you got…’ …Well, and I want to be humble and say who am I to judge who is a good leader and who is not endowed with the qualities needed to be a good leader. However, as a dancehall rave master of ceremonies throughout the eighties and nineties, I have led some pretty-big dances in my time. Despite my humble origins I have recently discovered my family can count twenty or more generations of leaders amongst its ranks from Kings to General, Ministers to Ambassadors as well senior Clergy and Judiciary. But as a member of the human race and an avid follower of world politics I am as qualified as anyone else I suppose to assess who has the qualities to lead the dance.
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Perhaps this is a good time to mention that the current and emerging challenges confronting any prospective leaders are vast and require complex political solutions. Which would be bad enough in the circumstances but to compound the situation the political divide between left and right is more entrenched more defined and more siloed than ever before with the extremes more apart than even in the thirties. Currently, save for a few exceptions, we have the strange situation of having the previous generation’s leaders occupying many of the world’s leadership positions. Many of them having proven they can dance the dance with the best of them during the last forty years, but now if a little rigid, displaying endearing grandad moves on the dancefloor. More worryingly some of the previous generation’s leaders shown the disco door by the electorate point blank refusal to move on and will not leave the political dance floor to allow the time-honoured ritual of the emergence of new talent. Instead, embarrassingly they pull a toddler tantrum throwing themselves to the floor a fisting the parquet varnish blaming the judges for their dance-off disaster, oh dear. However, yet others remain in the mix because voters have felt the current political situation in the world needs an experience lead at the helm, a proven dancer.
However, this has left a dearth regarding new and fresh leaders that are not tainted by previous political associations, scandals, and issues at any rate. Many are now unwilling or unable to take up the challenge of leadership, they don’t wanna dance… dance with you baby no more. ?Moreover, in my view, the state of the political situation in consensus politics- unfounded accusations of election fraud, heightened political rhetoric and discourse, potential violence towards self and family members and a sense that all political problems and their debates are perpetually at crisis point, could be driving down the quality of leaders who are prepared to enter the political realm. Thus, leaving the way open for less moral more unscrupulous dancers that will pull any move and say anything to get elected. It is difficult to know whether entrenched voting for political colours rather than the personality representing the political banner has in some way contributed to a marked reduction in the quality of leadership candidates emerging or it is just down to happenstance. But it is a well-known fact that the quality of candidate does diminish the safer the seat… Limboooo, how low can you go?
This could possibly be the reason why there are more unpolished gems and starmen waiting in the wings left of centre than right of the disco glitter ball, because traditionally funding is difficult to come by on the left, maybe. Therefore, the candidate tends to work harder for their seat, which could explain why they are less bold in their dance moves. Currently, many of those sitting leaders right-of-centre are not in their positions due to wholehearted avid support from their party but by default of all others being useless or unpalatable, having such right-wing extremist views that no one would or could countenance them for a leadership role. So, they fall in behind a plausible less extreme leadership candidate in a conga of deceit hiding behind a palatable face, a face that the electorate can stomach. However, due to these more extreme controlling elements in their party the so-called leader is effectively unable to lead the line dance in one consistent direction leaving we the people subject to erratic wild throws of pretence to lead rather contorting and distorting their political message to jump on the nearest populist outrage. They are held hostage by their extreme caucus and its populist throws in other words they are hopelessly hobbled, man, they just can’t dance.?
In all honesty, one only needs to witness many of the current leadership’s awkward cringing uncoordinated moves in front of the world’s very eyes to appreciate the diminishing quality of leadership on offer in the world today. Where most leadership positions are decided on the twist and it goes like this- not through ideas, principles, or a vision of how the world and society could be, based on shared values of plurality, equality, and fraternity but rather an auction of one’s dignity, integrity, and veracity sinking to the lowest common denominator, less to do with the right moves than desperate moves. Perhaps all the recent crises on mambo number three like the economic bop of 2007/8, 2011/12 2020/22, and now the cost-of-living it up crisis Gangnam style, the ongoing death dance of the covid pandemics, and the suicide last tango of the environmental crisis… well, perhaps with all this, it’s getting too much for your would-be world leader to dance and there is now a leadership fatigue syndrome gripping the political dancefloor. Because, no mate, there are no slick movers and shakers coming through here right now dude just duck feet waddlers hanging on to their partners in the hope they will out-live all other competitors. You want more, well come on and get on the dance floor!!