Leaders….

With the resignation of Boris Johnson, I felt it was the perfect time to write a blog about leaders. I am writing specifically about what we expect and what we get. I am not writing this to discuss the specifics of policies, I’m not a political expert. I’m an observer of human behaviour and the dynamic of human relationships. With the parameters outlined, let’s start.

What do we expect from our leaders? When I ask this question I mean in an ideal world, not the jaded, low-level expectations that we currently seem to have. What do we expect then? We expect them to serve and represent us and to help improve the quality of our lives. We expect them to be responsible, honest, honourable, respectable and want them to some extent to be better than we are. We elect someone who we feel is more suitable and well-equipped to bring us to a better way of living. With our vote effectively we are saying “you are the most suitable person in our country to bring us what I feel we need”. That’s a huge responsibility and one that certainly seems to suggest that we want them to be better than we are, or at the very least, that they are striving to be.

What do we get? I’m sure every generation and most countries lament their leaders to some extent, but it does feel particularly hard right now to see what we get. As more and more is uncovered, we see the level of dishonesty and corruption that our leaders seem to operate with. Breaking rules with lies upon lies to cover it is no way to run a country and certainly no way to build trust with people. But yet that’s what we get. No wonder some people feel disenchanted. The people we trust to bring us a better life are lying to us.

I’m sure that deceit and deception has been occurring for as long as people have had power. But despite all of this I’m actually really hopeful about the future. I believe that the invention of the smartphone and the ease that information spreads will be the key to this. Almost every indiscretion seems to find its way to the public domain now and that can only be good for higher standards. If we as people say enough is enough and hold our leaders to a higher standard, we may be on the cusp of significant change and the leaders we deserve.