Citizen and politician, manager and leader
It occurred to me tonight, that every society comes to prize what it believes has made it successful.
Take the US for example, freedom is a central value of the society, perhaps because it considers freedom to be the source of its enterprise, moral leadership and consequent wealth and power.
Singapore on the other hand, believes that its economic development was due to control by elites and their vision, hence stability and pragmatism have become national values.
Most citizens try to persuade others to their view of how their ideal society ought to be, based on their personal values and perspectives. What then is the role of the politician?
Perhaps, to provide a voice for a diverse cross-section of their constituency or nation, drawing upon their common values and yet, when times call for it, to be a voice of conscience, providing wisdom and insight. That to me, would be leadership I respect; management is what administrators in the public service do.
I fear that we have more manager-politicans than leaders now.
Take the US for example, freedom is a central value of the society, perhaps because it considers freedom to be the source of its enterprise, moral leadership and consequent wealth and power.
Singapore on the other hand, believes that its economic development was due to control by elites and their vision, hence stability and pragmatism have become national values.
Most citizens try to persuade others to their view of how their ideal society ought to be, based on their personal values and perspectives. What then is the role of the politician?
Perhaps, to provide a voice for a diverse cross-section of their constituency or nation, drawing upon their common values and yet, when times call for it, to be a voice of conscience, providing wisdom and insight. That to me, would be leadership I respect; management is what administrators in the public service do.
I fear that we have more manager-politicans than leaders now.