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Hypocrisy, charisma and trust
Christpher Burns
Monday, July 23, 2007
While addressing a mass rally in Mandeville recently, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding touched on several key issues, including two important character traits that seem to be bothering him greatly. He spoke lavishly to the issues of charisma and trust. Besides the obvious drag on these issues, Mr Golding was as eloquent and substantive as ever.
Christpher Burns
As great as his performance was, I was left flabbergasted by his seemingly wilful inclusion of copious religious citations. In the eyes of many, his emphasis concretised their feeling about him - that he is disingenuous. For, while he chastised the prime minister for openly displaying her religiosity, and accused her of attempting to use the church for political gains, he committed the same transgression when he openly used scriptures and religion to show the purity and intent of his heart, while imputing insincerity on the part of the prime minister.
My father used to say, "Some politicians have many faces, it is up to you to find the right face and then stick to it." One cannot on the one hand quarrel about trust, and on the other hand, do things that cause people to cultivate doubts about one's sincerity.
It's such a pity that the media did not give the contents of Golding's Mandeville speech the same prominence, vigour of analysis, or scrutiny they have been giving to the inconsequential 30-second reference to the number 7 in the prime minister's hour-and-a-half-long presentation in Half-Way-Tree on July 8.
On the issue of charisma, Mr Golding highlighted the intangibility of this "God-given" trait then went on to remind his audience of the atrocious qualities of two of the world's most infamous charismatic leaders, former Ugandan leader Idi Amin and Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Perhaps Mr Golding, a widely read and experienced politician, is unaware of the many non-charismatic leaders, some right here in Jamaica, who have carried out despicable acts.
So what is charisma? Charisma originated in theology and refers to a talent, "the gift of grace", given by God. Therefore, I cannot understand why Bruce is so upset with Portia's charisma as though she deliberately went shopping for it. Max Weber was first to introduce the concept of charisma to the social sciences, and later used it to describe political leadership. Studies have found that people generally experience very strong personal attractions to a charismatic leader.
Furthermore, this attraction often leads to a powerful leader-follower relationship. This is important because leadership does not occur in a vacuum; its success is largely dependent on the responses, participation, trust and willingness of followers. We often talk about "buying into" the vision of the leader, but no "buying into" is possible if people do not regard or feel comfortable with the leader. Wonder how Bruce managed to so conveniently forget his own party's staunch commitment to, and admiration of Bustamante's charismatic style of leadership to the extent of vowing to "follow Bustamante 'till they die?" Sir Alexander Bustamante was certainly no Adolf Hitler.
Bruce did not anchor all his anger on the seashore of these references; he proceeded to remind his audience that charisma has no exchangeable value. Now, hardly anyone expects someone to hand another person some charisma in exchange for a piece of land. Truth is, charisma does play a role in negotiations, because of its catalytic worth in fostering the development of beneficial relationships.
GOLDING... committed the same transgression as the PM
Take, for example, a salesman. An employer is more likely to consider a charismatic, outgoing person for a sales job, rather than an individual who is permanently grumpy and unapproachable. We know too, as Mr Golding correctly asserted, that in order to carry out certain tasks successfully, individuals must possess ample knowledge and some practical intelligence, so no one expects charisma to be the panacea for all ills.
While Bruce's characterisation of both Hitler and Amin as infamous leaders is accurate, there is no empirical evidence, anywhere in the world, that up to now can confirm that charisma influenced or caused Amin to practise cannibalism, or Hitler to perpetuate his holocaustic doctrine and acts against humanity. He might well have used his charismatic style to entice like-minded individuals to join his cause, but I do not see how charisma is responsible for the development of evil or good thoughts.
To dislodge this negative perception of his lack of charisma, all Bruce needs to do is to ignore Mrs Simpson Miller's God-given gift of grace and focus exclusively on advancing his own skills and unique leadership style. Although he did not name the prime minister in his direct reference to Hitler and Amin, many left that meeting with the very impression he did not intend to lodge.
On the substantive issue of trust, Mr Golding built his defence on the presupposition that people distrust him because of his well-considered divorce from, and skilfully negotiated remarriage to the Jamaica Labour Party. Again, unable to control his emotions, Mr Golding allowed what people think of his trustworthiness to upset him to the point where he mounted a defence where none was necessary. I agree that it is rather shallow to keep harping on his back-and-forth movement.
However, one gets the impression from listening to people in the know that it is not so much his previously estranged relationship with the JLP that seems to be bothering many people. Instead, it is a perception which seems to suggest that the deep-seated distrust of Mr Golding has more to do with his alleged involvement in the ouster of the former leader and role in some of the coups inside the JLP going as far back as the Gang of Five incident.
In dealing with the issue of trust, he should not have rehashed his tenure with the NDM, because it remains an emotive issue among the regular members of the party although they will not admit to this.
burnscg@aol.com
Christpher Burns
Monday, July 23, 2007
While addressing a mass rally in Mandeville recently, Opposition Leader Bruce Golding touched on several key issues, including two important character traits that seem to be bothering him greatly. He spoke lavishly to the issues of charisma and trust. Besides the obvious drag on these issues, Mr Golding was as eloquent and substantive as ever.
Christpher Burns As great as his performance was, I was left flabbergasted by his seemingly wilful inclusion of copious religious citations. In the eyes of many, his emphasis concretised their feeling about him - that he is disingenuous. For, while he chastised the prime minister for openly displaying her religiosity, and accused her of attempting to use the church for political gains, he committed the same transgression when he openly used scriptures and religion to show the purity and intent of his heart, while imputing insincerity on the part of the prime minister.
My father used to say, "Some politicians have many faces, it is up to you to find the right face and then stick to it." One cannot on the one hand quarrel about trust, and on the other hand, do things that cause people to cultivate doubts about one's sincerity.
It's such a pity that the media did not give the contents of Golding's Mandeville speech the same prominence, vigour of analysis, or scrutiny they have been giving to the inconsequential 30-second reference to the number 7 in the prime minister's hour-and-a-half-long presentation in Half-Way-Tree on July 8.
On the issue of charisma, Mr Golding highlighted the intangibility of this "God-given" trait then went on to remind his audience of the atrocious qualities of two of the world's most infamous charismatic leaders, former Ugandan leader Idi Amin and Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Perhaps Mr Golding, a widely read and experienced politician, is unaware of the many non-charismatic leaders, some right here in Jamaica, who have carried out despicable acts.
So what is charisma? Charisma originated in theology and refers to a talent, "the gift of grace", given by God. Therefore, I cannot understand why Bruce is so upset with Portia's charisma as though she deliberately went shopping for it. Max Weber was first to introduce the concept of charisma to the social sciences, and later used it to describe political leadership. Studies have found that people generally experience very strong personal attractions to a charismatic leader.
Furthermore, this attraction often leads to a powerful leader-follower relationship. This is important because leadership does not occur in a vacuum; its success is largely dependent on the responses, participation, trust and willingness of followers. We often talk about "buying into" the vision of the leader, but no "buying into" is possible if people do not regard or feel comfortable with the leader. Wonder how Bruce managed to so conveniently forget his own party's staunch commitment to, and admiration of Bustamante's charismatic style of leadership to the extent of vowing to "follow Bustamante 'till they die?" Sir Alexander Bustamante was certainly no Adolf Hitler.
Bruce did not anchor all his anger on the seashore of these references; he proceeded to remind his audience that charisma has no exchangeable value. Now, hardly anyone expects someone to hand another person some charisma in exchange for a piece of land. Truth is, charisma does play a role in negotiations, because of its catalytic worth in fostering the development of beneficial relationships.
GOLDING... committed the same transgression as the PM Take, for example, a salesman. An employer is more likely to consider a charismatic, outgoing person for a sales job, rather than an individual who is permanently grumpy and unapproachable. We know too, as Mr Golding correctly asserted, that in order to carry out certain tasks successfully, individuals must possess ample knowledge and some practical intelligence, so no one expects charisma to be the panacea for all ills.
While Bruce's characterisation of both Hitler and Amin as infamous leaders is accurate, there is no empirical evidence, anywhere in the world, that up to now can confirm that charisma influenced or caused Amin to practise cannibalism, or Hitler to perpetuate his holocaustic doctrine and acts against humanity. He might well have used his charismatic style to entice like-minded individuals to join his cause, but I do not see how charisma is responsible for the development of evil or good thoughts.
To dislodge this negative perception of his lack of charisma, all Bruce needs to do is to ignore Mrs Simpson Miller's God-given gift of grace and focus exclusively on advancing his own skills and unique leadership style. Although he did not name the prime minister in his direct reference to Hitler and Amin, many left that meeting with the very impression he did not intend to lodge.
On the substantive issue of trust, Mr Golding built his defence on the presupposition that people distrust him because of his well-considered divorce from, and skilfully negotiated remarriage to the Jamaica Labour Party. Again, unable to control his emotions, Mr Golding allowed what people think of his trustworthiness to upset him to the point where he mounted a defence where none was necessary. I agree that it is rather shallow to keep harping on his back-and-forth movement.
However, one gets the impression from listening to people in the know that it is not so much his previously estranged relationship with the JLP that seems to be bothering many people. Instead, it is a perception which seems to suggest that the deep-seated distrust of Mr Golding has more to do with his alleged involvement in the ouster of the former leader and role in some of the coups inside the JLP going as far back as the Gang of Five incident.
In dealing with the issue of trust, he should not have rehashed his tenure with the NDM, because it remains an emotive issue among the regular members of the party although they will not admit to this.
burnscg@aol.com
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