OPINION
I have worked for mad leaders, bad leaders, drunk leaders, drugged leaders, beige leaders, weak leaders, two-faced leaders, good leaders and great leaders. I am acutely aware that those who have had the undiluted privilege of leading me may be reading this and, to paraphrase Peter Ustinov on actor Charles Laughton, waiting to be offended.
Maybe one way to judge of judging the quality of a leader - such as Donald Trump - is by the ratio of doors they open to the doors they close. Credit:AP
Probably most of those who have lead me don't give a tinker's cuss as to what I think. All, however, have made their mark on me. The good ones have have made a deep impression on not only how I work, but also my approach to life. I have gained so much more from the great leaders that the scars from the poor ones have turned out to be superficial flesh wounds in comparison.
However it is the height of egocentricity to judge a leader's value solely in relation to their personal impact. Leaders, rightly or wrongly, are perceived as a distillation, a microcosm of the organisations or countries that they lead. As I write this, I am informed that a real estate salesman has contrived to be elected to lead the Excited States of America.
Oddly, given Australia's idolatry of real estate, not all here seem keen on hailing the Realtor in Chief. Indeed some in the media have declared that they shall never visit America again. A forgivable acceptance of a walled reality for Mexicans perhaps, but for others it reflects the degree to which a leader is taken as representative of the entire mob.
Already with the Realtor in Chief the narrative is changing, the mealy-mouthed, weasel words of diplomacy, and the all-too-neat-narratives about middle America speaking (I suppose it was better than the same folks being blamed for defaulting on home loans en masse in 2008), are working to normalise events. In much the same way that the Fascists were given a free run by the United States and European governments in the 1930s. However, despite the best efforts of diplomacy, for many it is a case of see the leader, see the country or company.
Apple was Steve Jobs. Virgin is Richard Branson. The Rockefeller Centre is Rockefeller and Trump Towers. For the rest of us – indeed the majority of voters in the US – we didn't choose or necessarily want the people who lead us. Leaders by their personal behaviour can make our jobs a joy, or they can blight our work. Not only in the usual manner of interfering with perfectly good working arrangements, but by reputation. Leaders who are unpopular with key stakeholders, can make our work doubly difficult or even impossible.
Maybe one way of judging the quality of a leader is the ratio of the doors they open to the doors they close. Sometimes it is necessary to build walls around organisations, but nobody but a fool forgets that ultimately the job of a leader is to open doors. And that takes the courage of a great leader.
Jim Bright is Professor of Career Education and Development at ACU and owns Bright and Associates. Follow @DrJimBright
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