Remember the people behind the politics!

Jacinda’s back in. Gladys is just hanging on. Trump… is anyone's guess?

The world of politics never fails to amaze. Occasionally for good reason, too often for bad.

To describe politics as a zoo would be a compliment.

For starters the animals at a zoo are not allowed to eat each other. They are there to represent their species, be the best of their breed, educating us about the remarkable diversity, beauty, and interconnectedness of all living things on the planet. A celebration of life. A compelling reason to think and act for the betterment of all. 

If only politics were more like a zoo!

Over the last decade I’ve had the opportunity to interview many global and local influencers, a large number of which have been politicians such as Ardern, ScoMo, Berejiklian, Baird, Combet, Milne, Moore, Sinodinos, even Pauline Hanson.

In my role I have also benefited from being part of private dialogues with the likes of Rudd, Abbott, Beazley, Gillard and Shorten.

Last week I had the good fortune to interview the Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s 29th Prime Minister about his autobiography titled A Bigger Picture.

This was the first time Malcolm has shared firsthand the life and leadership lessons captured in his book with an audience ‘in the real’. His book was released at the height of the first COVID19 wave and health guidelines had, until now, limited his interviews to virtual formats only.

For the record I am an organisational psychologist with no training or expertise in political science. So not surprisingly I tend to approach all my interviews with politicians from a more motivational and behavioural perspective, including my dialogue with Malcolm.

I am fascinated by what drives, enables and sustains people to perform at the highest levels, especially when the performance context is not just VUCA it is also HUVA, i.e. Hostile, Ugly, Venomous and Aggressive.

One former politician I will never forget was Meg Whitman [pictured below] who in addition to leading eBay and HP for many years also ran for Governor of California. Meg shared how her the worst days of running eBay or HP paled in comparison to running for Governor of California. 

As the global CEO of two major corporations she was constantly under scrutiny from investors, competitors, clients, partners, employees and others. It goes with the territory.

“The bigger your role the bigger the target on your back”

so the saying goes. She knew that was part of the job, however she didn’t appreciate just how much more personal, venomous and damaging the attacks would be whilst running for Governor.

At the time Meg was tipped to be one of five women most likely to be America’s first female Presidents. Given Meg’s toxic experience of state politics that is now highly unlikely.

But I digress. The point of this article is not to paint a negative picture about politics. That story is nothing new and well overdone by most traditional and social media channels already. 

My motivation in writing this article is to share a few insights, nay highlights, I have gained about the people behind the politics, the stories behind the soundbites, the hearts behind the headlines.

I have not met one politician so far that has failed to deeply move me by their conviction and passion for the countries they are trying to serve. Clive Palmer even got me thinking!

I may or may not agree with their policies and/or political tactics, but these people in their varying ways are all quite remarkable and deserve to be recognised for the sacrifices they make and the phenomenal resilience they display daily.

Malcolm Turnbull is a great case in point. 

You may know Malcolm as a Rhodes Scholar, gifted journalist, high profile barrister, serial entrepreneur, multinational CEO, four-time author, and of course our Prime Minister, but did you know he was raised as an only child by a single parent?

Malcolm’s mum Coral left suddenly when he was only nine. He writes in his book about how she took the family furniture, even the cat, leaving him and his father Bruce [pictured below] in their small flat without chairs, sitting on boxes until the dentists downstairs decided to redecorate and pass on their old seats.

As a result Malcolm became incredibly close to his dad over the next two decades until Bruce tragically died in a light plane crash whilst doing a favour for a friend. At just 28 Malcolm had lost his father and best mate.

Did you also know Malcolm suffered severe depression after losing his leadership of the Liberal party to Tony Abbott in 2009? So deep and dark was his journey that death was a constant thought on his mind. He shares with great courage in A Bigger Picture excerpts from his personal diary such as the following.

“The answer is the pain will end at some point – suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary (we hope) problem. But frankly I am thinking about dying all the time.”

In knowing these things we can see how Malcolm’s life has been forged and formed through setbacks and struggles as much if not more so than his successes.

Gladys Berejiklian the current Premier of NSW is another great example. 

She shared during our conversation how she was sent off to school at age 5 by her mum not speaking a word of English. Her mum’s advice… “just put your hand up and have a go?" 12 years later she was made School Captain. Three decades later she became Premier of NSW.

You may well have heard that story but did you know all four of her grandparents were orphaned in the Armenian genocide that began in 1915? Did you know she had a twin sister that didn’t survive birth. Did you know she was relentlessly bullied at school and had to do the homework of the tough kids to avoid getting bashed up?

All these experiences and others have contributed to her unparalleled work ethic and stoicism, her self-sacrificing nature, her gratitude for life, her remarkably high standards, and her drive to make a difference. 

Gladys is one of the most selfless and ‘greater good’ oriented politicians I have met, making her current predicament all the more unbelievable and no doubt deeply disturbing for her. Hopefully good sense and the good of the state will prevail for her sake as much as ours.

Greg Combet is another example.

Greg was the head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions rising to prominence during the high profile 1998 waterfront disputes. In politics he held various ministries ranging from Industry and Innovation to Energy and Climate and Defense.

But what you may not know about Combet [pictured above] was that his father almost killed him at age 10 when a double barrel shotgun accidently discharged whilst he and Greg were trying to scare Indian mynas (the birds) off the grapevines on the Penfold’s vineyard where they lived.

You may also not know that Greg’s father was sick for most of his life, diagnosed with bowel cancer at the early age of 11. They lived in Minchinbury, now a well serviced suburb of Sydney, but at the time the area had poor access to healthcare. 

Seeing his father go thru so much pain with very poor access to healthcare dying at just 44 was a key factor that drove Greg to ensure all people, regardless of their socio-economic status, should have access to fundamental services.

I could go on. I have more stories even about the likes of Pauline Hanson and Clive Palmer that may change how you see them, but hopefully my point is becoming more clear.

Our politicians have an incredibly challenging role to play. They are very much human.

Their apparent thick skin is not a sign of arrogance but more likely a reflection of the scar tissue they live with every day and have gained thru the trials and traumas, not triumphs, in their lives.

Another amazing pollie I have interviewed twice is Mike Baird, first during his time as NSW Premier and then a year after handing over the role to Gladys. 

Mike wrote a cracking article about Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who has copped an enormous amount of criticism over his handling of the pandemic. I encourage you to read the article if you have not already here .

Mike concludes the article reminding us of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous words

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood… who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Not surprisingly, and more than a little ironically, a proportion of the comments Mike received about this article were critical. 

No doubt I will also receive some critical feedback about this article too. Maybe I am being na?ve, maybe I am too idealistic, maybe I don’t know the full story. 

All possibly true, but maybe there is an alternative way to respond that actually serves not stifles progress.

I am tired of the negative doom loop of accusation and blame in the mainstream and social media. Debate is warranted and constructive criticism is key. We don’t need to agree but we do need to find solutions and move forward. This is where science of psychology, not politics comes to the fore.

We now have clear and indisputable evidence that negativity is negative for us.

Here are just a few data points that reveal the true cost of being negative.

• Research by Gallup way back in 2004 estimates that negativity costs the U.S. economy between $250 and $300 billion every year. That figure is likely far higher today.
• According to Stanford University Professor Barbara Fredrickson when threatened with negative emotions like anxiety, fear, frustration, or anger, the mind constricts and focuses in on the imposing threat (real or imagined), thus limiting one’s ability to be open to new ideas and build resources and relationships.
• Conversely, Fredrickson found positive emotions, like love, joy, and gratitude, promote new and creative actions, ideas, and social bonds. When people experience positive emotions, their minds broaden and they open up to new possibilities and ideas. At the same time, positive emotions help people build their personal well-being resources, ranging from physical resources, to intellectual resources, and social resources.
• Neurological science explains the previous two points. When someone tells us what we are doing wrong it triggers our ‘flight and fight’ response. According to psychology and business Professor Richard Boyatzis negative emotion and criticism “inhibits access to existing neural circuits and invokes cognitive, emotional, and perceptual impairment,”
• Conversely, when people receive encouragement and positive direction Boyatzis says “The parasympathetic nervous system…stimulates adult neurogenesis (i.e., growth of new neurons)…, a sense of well-being, better immune system functioning, and cognitive, emotional, and perceptual openness.”

In other words

“Focusing people on their shortcomings or gaps doesn’t enable learning. It impairs it. We learn most when someone else pays attention to what’s working within us and asks us to cultivate it intelligently.” Buckingham & Goodall

This is relatively new science and it continues to be debated and researched, however even if it is 50% accurate we have 100% reason to be less negative and critical than we are being today given the benefits of a more positive and constructive approach.

In my experience remembering the people behind the politics, the humans behind the hubris, is key to shifting our focus from the condemning the superficial to celebrating and drawing out the “strong man” [or strong woman], as Roosevelt describes, in us all.

Science aside, look where the negativity, criticism and cynicism is taking us. Are you happy with the current state of politics? This applies beyond that realm too of course. Are you happy with the state of your business, your family, yourself?

If we want a different outcome we need to change the inputs. To paraphrase Einstein, to do anything less would be insanity.

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Rich Hirst is the CEO & Founder of Tenfold Australia, your multinational leadership ecosystem. Our company name reflects our purpose to tenfold Australia’s impact for a better world. We will primarily do this by providing a range of digital and in-person forums for the Australian based leaders of global companies.

Tenfold Australia also helps companies and their people create high performance cultures, scale their leadership impact, and find growth from disruption via keynote speaking, facilitating workshops, individual and team executive coaching, designing and analysing bespoke culture and climate surveys, developing cultural transformation maps, and online leadership development.

Rich is a leadership, change and high performance psychologist. His insights are based on real world experiences from his work with 50,000+ leaders and over 1,000 CEOs, underpinned by his knowledge as an organisational psychologist and expertise as a change agent supporting organisations for more than 20 years going through major transformation.

For more information please go to www.tenfoldaustralia.com or www.richhirst.com or contact me via email on [email protected]. For daily leadership tips on LinkedIn search for #tenfoldtips.

Please find below links to my previous monthly posts.

1. You are stronger than you think
2. 5 ways companies get culture wrong
3. Why we do dumb things and how to stop it!
4. How is your 2020 vision?
5. How to be the best of the best and 10x the rest
6. 10 career lessons I learned the hard way
7. Don't make this high performance mistake in your company!
8. 7 Tips to World Class Performance
9. Winning in the turns
10. The #1 predictor of career success is not what you think
11. Don't die with your music still in you
12. Blasters, badmouthers, bottlers, brooders and builders. Which one are you?
13. P.S. I love you
14. The great change trap-eze!
15. What is your New Year's Evolution?
16. How to lead when change is NOT constant
17. All good things must...
18. This choke point may be slowly killing your company
19. Australia: The distrusting country
20. The most damaging four letter word to use at work is @#*!
21. Finding your moonshot
22. Sleeping your way to the top
23. How to supercharge your influence
24. How to be a master of mental Aikido
25. Time to terminate HR?
26. Too busy or not too busy. Is that the question?
27. Who inspired you in 2017? My top ten!
28. The missing link of high performance
29. The future belongs to people with this skill
30. Lessons from loss
31. Good Grief
32. 20 reasons why corporate wellness programs get sick
33. Australia is still lucky... but for how long?
34. Change management has become a joke!
35. Are you ready for the third age?
36. What matters most in a post-truth world?
37. Never waste a good crisis
38. Your best bet yet for a year of success
39. What will your New Year's Evolution be?
40. Are you ready for the 'gig economy'?
41. Are you working with an energy vampire?
42. From counting people to making people count
43. Five novel tactics for better leadership
44. Mid year reviews: Ubiquitous but ridiculous
45. Talent pipelines are broken
46. Australia: The innovation immigration correlation
47. Time to reimagine HR
48. The secret to successful disruption: The innovation colony
49. How to survive and thrive in the supermatrix
50. The biggest predictor of career success is...
51. The secret to high performance is not what you think...
52. Where are you on the digital vortex?
53. Diversity does not equal inclusion
54. How to catch and hold the rebound expat
55. The e-factor is the new x: the ultimate growth multiplier
56. Are you working with a waste of space?
57. Iron Man needs you!
58. Collaboration: the new super skill
59. Leading innovation from the Australian subsidiary
60. Insurgent or incumbent: the key to a future every company wants is...
61. Why the talent war is over
62. How 'the other GDP' is causing a talent crunch