Politics and Leadership

Thank you Lingyan for your reminders and encouragement. =) This post is dedicated to you.


Reference: http://www.ted.com/talks/patrick_awuah_on_educating_leaders.html

There is something in the way which we educate our leaders and pick them from schools

• The method of teaching and learning is by rote, that there is a formula to being successful.
• Lack of creative and objective view of the world.
• This success is reinforced and expected within families of the higher socio-economic backgrounds.
• There is little emphasis on ethical and moral thinking, and much focus on the attainment of the individual rather than on pursuit of ideals and excellence.
• Students develop a stronger sense of entitlement than responsibility
• The reason why a company or corporation like microsoft can have annual turnover higher and in steady growth than the GDP of many countries, is the way the organisation is run, the working conditions and the selection process of its staff.

References from a A full-time community choreographer
http://www.ted.com/speakers/dave_meslin.html
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/751975--a-mez-merizing-list-of-city-specific-ideas


People do not shun politics because they don't care, are too selfish, too stupid or too lazy to try to make a difference in their community. We live in a world that actively discourages involvement and engagement and puts in obstacles and barriers in our way.

• Intentional exclusion as seen in the way leaders pitch and invite involvement of the community in the decision making process of the community. Why doesn't the leadership institutions put in ads in the media to provide updates and invoke response?  Case in point in Toronto: Ad by city hall Vs commercial ad by nike.
• Misuse of visual and mental environment (public spaces and media): Instead of messages that inspire action, we are bombarded and influenced by profit driven forces that impresses people the things we should want. Advertisements require $$ and social messages cannot afford to keep up.
• Lifestyle as depicted by media includes food, entertainment and personal development ads and articles - Mainly participatory and self-indulgent with little emphasis on community involvement! Peoples interest as piqued by media enforces the idea that Politics is a Spectator Sport, just like how we read about lives of celebrities or follow the sports news. No real relationships follow and hence little interest and stake.
• Depiction of heros and leaders in pop culture (such as movies matrix, pokemon, harry potter, alice in wonderland, lord of the rings) and even in religion enforces the idea that the hero is one who has a mark on this head, is bestowed upon, comes from prophecy, is extraordinary, is chosen, is special and has magical or special talents. There is also an expectation that the hero is perfect and cannot fail, make big decisions and impacts, and spends his entire life dedicated to the good of the people.
• Political Parties are uninspiring and uncreative, relying heavily on focus groups, market research, polling (Information collected from specialists and solicited based on purpose) and hence reactionary at best. Pitching of ideas to people are regurgitative, non or selectively engaging, and all groups argue and say the same thing, feeding mass cynicism.
• Important social groups are silenced or drowned by the voices of the masses.
• Elections as an enforced proceeding rather than desire is a joke.

Some other ideas

• Leadership should be a long term relationship with the people, where it is a 2 way street of constant communication and interaction rather and a single sided action-reaction and an affair during election time.
• Ordinary individuals with dreams of making the community better, who are uninvited and are willing to work with others to make their dreams real should step up to be leaders. Leadership should be seen as collective effort, tolerance of imperfections, actions that can be very small, voluntary and are made up of ordinary people - you and I who just want to make things better.
• People are not apathetic and apathy is not a personal syndrome. People 'are faced and influenced by a complex web of cultural barriers that reinforces disengagement.'