A plea to Prime Minister Morrison.

"Politics have no relation to morals." Machiavelli

Mr Morrison, on Thursday this week, you appeared to hastily abandon a visit to bushfire-ravaged Cobargo in NSW when things got uncomfortable for you after being confronted by local residents. Their town was engulfed by flames on Tuesday morning and three people tragically died and others lost homes, businesses, livestock and pasture. News footage shows you approaching a firefighter and offering him your hand, which was not accepted. “I don’t really want to shake your hand,” the firefighter is heard to say. You then awkwardly picked up the man’s left hand, before you walked away without directly exchanging words. In a later clip you ask the deputy incident controller on the scene to tell the firefighter you are sorry and that you are sure the man was “very tired”. The controller replies that the firefighter had lost his own house in the fires. You would have known that if you had actually spoken with him. In earlier footage, you are seen to walk away from a woman who told you she would only shake your hand if your government gave more funding to the RFS. As you walk away, her emotional plea of “we need more help” is pointedly ignored. I am trying to comprehend how you could have done this, Prime Minister.

Watching the footage is infuriating and distressing. The hurt and exhaustion and trauma felt by this community were palpable. You chose not to engage and not to listen. You appeared to be seeking quick photo opportunities in an attempt to ameliorate growing outrage that started with you taking a holiday in Hawaii during a national emergency and has only continued to build since. Your inability to hold space for traumatised Australians has deeply shocked me. Trending on Twitter are the hashtags #NotMyPM, #ScottyfromMarketing and #HowGood. This level of outrage against a Prime Minister is unprecedented. Quiet Australians have had enough. And I am sorry to have to tell you this, but this is all of your own making.

Courage has become sadly endangered in our current leadership. Our leadership climate is toxically laced with distrust and skepticism. We hold our leaders in doubt and their actions in mistrust. And we know that this absence of leadership today is going to cost all of us dearly in the years to come. Mr Morrison, our politicians are failing to demonstrate values and behave like the leaders we wish you were. Instead to us you have become (with some exceptions) populists consumed with petty party politics, internal bickering, and influence from big multinational business interests. The rarefied atmosphere inside the Canberra echo chamber has led to extremely poor decision-making. Politicians appear to now turn the trauma and turmoil of others, such as loss of income, home or life, through things like droughts and fires, into platforms for their own egos to politically grandstand. We are morally injured by your actions, and lack of. Like psychological trauma, moral injury is a construct that describes extreme and unprecedented life experience. Events are considered morally injurious if they "transgress deeply held moral beliefs and expectations". The key precondition for moral injury is an act of transgression, which shatters moral and ethical expectations that are rooted in culture-based, organisational, and group-based rules about fairness, reasonable conduct and the value of life. Your conduct has been such an act of transgression.

The only way to salvage today’s leadership is to find the heroic who are courageous enough to lead us in the right direction and who have the heart to love us, the people they represent. Your lack of love is hurting us. The most critical and foundational aspect of real leadership is love. The direct translation of the word “passion” is “to suffer.” To lead is to have passion for those you lead, a willingness to suffer emotional, mental, and physical pain for the purpose of growing and bettering those you are charged to lead. Agapē is one of four Greek words used to describe the multiple facets of love. It is a love of sacrifice and passion for serving others. How can you demonstrate leadership with love? With intentionality, selflessness, authenticity, and accountability:

Love Intentionally

Leaders demonstrate priority through intentionality.  If caring for, being proud of, and passionate about your people is a priority then it needs to be consistently demonstrated through actions and words. Leaders need to treat every interaction as a touchpoint. Such leaders listen deeply and engage with people with empathy and compassion. 

Love Selflessly.

Leadership, like love, is not about you. You are a servant for those you lead. You have chosen this vocation and with the title, comes responsibility. Own your behaviour, be transparent and accountable. And stop being defensive and projecting blame.

Love authentically.

Actions and words must have congruency. A lack thereof has immensely negative effects. Not just for you and your probability of retaining office, but for our environment, wellbeing and very future.

Love through discipline.

Loving those you lead is not soft or passive . It is an aggressive pursuit of the unlimited potential of every individual you lead and an unwavering commitment to do the right thing, not the expedient thing. It is architecting a plan then delivering timely results and real outcomes. This requires making tough, even unpopular, choices but this is what you put your hand up to do, what you were elected for.

Fear that any misstep could spell the end of your rein is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Hard decisions are not being made because those are the decisions that might not be popular enough to retain donations, support and power. Mr Morrison, you were elected and are here to make a difference. You have been given the privilege to either improve the world or worsen it. And, whether or not you consciously choose to, you will accomplish one or the other. Please choose courage, choose bravery, choose to be a hero. Before it is too late. Please Mr Morrison, show the same bravery and courage as those that have (and will continue to do so for many months yet) thrown themselves at the unimaginably terrifying day after day.