Reading an article in Forbes about leadership, I found some good advice that Tony Abbott would do well to heed.
“When money is tight, stress levels are high, and the visions of instant success don’t happen like you thought, it’s easy to let those emotions get to you, and thereby your team. Take a breath, calm yourself down, and remind yourself of the leader you are and would like to become.”
But does Tony have the “key qualities that every good leader should possess”?
- Honesty
If you make honest and ethical behavior a key value, your team will follow suit.
As Tony himself warned us in 2010:
“I know politicians are going to be judged on everything they say, but sometimes in the heat of discussion you go a little bit further than you would if it was an absolutely calm, considered, prepared, scripted remark. Which is one of the reasons why the statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared, scripted remarks.”
Less than a month before the election Tony reassured us:
REPORTER: “The condition of the budget will not be an excuse for breaking promises?”
TONY ABBOTT: “Exactly right. We will keep the commitments that we make.”
Except for the ones that he isn’t keeping because of the condition of the budget.
And as far as ethical is concerned – children in detention, rewarding political donors, sacking all Labor appointees, forcing Aborigines off their traditional lands because he shouldn’t have to support their ‘lifestyle choice” to live in remote communities . . .
- Ability to Delegate
It’s important to remember that trusting your team with your idea is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Peta Credlin has centralised control so much that her own party revolted. She decided who got what job, who could give interviews to whom and what they must say, who could attend conferences, and basically all policy.
Tony’s captain’s picks like his paid parental leave scheme have come as much as a surprise to his own party as they have to the rest of us.
- Communication
Training new members and creating a productive work environment all depend on healthy lines of communication.
When backbencher Wyatt Roy suggested, at a private dinner, that the government’s broken promises were a problem, Abbott rounded on him yelling that there were no “effing” broken promises and no one should ever concede there had ever been. A junior minister received the same treatment.
There was also the dismissive party-room “slap-down” of MPs who advocated a less combative approach to the issue of children in immigration detention. The UN has been similarly dismissed when they spoke about the threat of bushfires in Australia and about the torture of asylum seekers in our care. Even the President of the US was slapped down when announcing action on climate change in conjunction with China – nothing wrong with our Reef and don’t you suggest there is!
As Lenore Taylor points out:
“Authoritarian leaders ridicule or ostracise stakeholders and lobby groups who disagree with them, rather than listen respectfully to their views. That has been this government’s modus operandi from the outset, which makes it very difficult to rebuild trust now that it is suddenly changing tack and trying to get some of those same groups onside.”
- Sense of Humor
Morale is linked to productivity, and it’s your job as the team leader to instill a positive energy.
The closest Tony comes to a sense of humour is to giggle at name-calling like Electricity Bill.
- Confidence
Keep up your confidence level, and assure everyone that setbacks are natural and the important thing is to focus on the larger goal.
Tony exhibits a blustering bravado rather than calm confidence. Everyone feels jittery – business, charities, students, pensioners, shift workers, his own party room. Tony’s larger goals are to cut spending and to get re-elected. Far from inspiring confidence, he comes across as uncaring and self-focused with no vision for the future.
- Commitment
If you expect your team to work hard and produce quality content, you’re going to need to lead by example.
It seems Tony’s idea of working hard is to have his photo taken in as many settings as possible. He has admitted that he doesn’t read reports and that he is “no tech head”. The IPA have given him their wish list and that is all the research he needs.
Likewise his forays into diplomacy have invariably been ham-fisted, eager to jump the gun with belligerence rather than understand the complexities of international relations.
- Positive Attitude
You want to keep your team motivated towards the continued success of the company, and keep the energy levels up.
Tony Abbott has been lauded for his negativity – it’s his best thing. By continually talking doom, gloom, and fear, he has destroyed confidence, crushed optimism, divided the community, and isolated us from global co-operation. Morale is at an all-time low both in his party room and in the community as group after group are attacked in the pursuit of his golden surplus.
- Creativity
You may be forced at times to deviate from your set course and make an on the fly decision. Don’t immediately choose the first or easiest possibility; sometimes it’s best to give these issues some thought, and even turn to your team for guidance.
How do I make women like me? Pay the rich ones a lot to have babies. Bad plan. How do we stop the boats? Lock them all up in hell holes. Bad plan. How do we address the cost of an aging population? Cut pensions and superannuation. Bad plan. How do we get young people into work? Cut them off from the dole for six months a year. Bad plan. How do we tackle climate change? Reward our largest polluters with taxpayer funded factory upgrades so they can cut their costs. Bad plan.
Tony isn’t interested in guidance or suggestions or in depth analysis. Who needs modelling – pensions aren’t going down! The only thing creative about this government is its spin.
- Intuition
When something unexpected occurs, or you are thrown into a new scenario, your team will look to you for guidance. The tough decisions will be up to you to decide and you will need to depend on your gut instinct for answers.
Unfortunately, Tony’s gut instinct is to shirt front. Whether it be the Russian President over the Ukraine, the Chinese Ambassador over disputed islands, the US President over the Great Barrier Reef, the head of the Human Rights Commission over children in detention, the Indonesians over the imminent executions, charities over their advocacy for the vulnerable, or journalists who report on our government’s doings – the reaction is the same.
- Ability to Inspire
Inspiring your team to see the vision of the successes to come is vital. Being able to inspire your team is great for focusing on the future goals, but it is also important for the current issues.
I cannot think of one thing Tony Abbott has done that could be called inspirational – not one. Nothing he is doing is making our lives better. There are no long term projects or investment in the future, unless you agree with him and Barnaby that, despite all advice from scientists and investors, coal is the future of humanity. The inspirational reforms begun by the Gillard government have all been cast aside in a fit of jealous pique.
Regardless of reboots, makeovers, fresh starts and marketing, no amount of spin can turn Tony into what he is not – a leader.
