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What would you say are the essential leadership skills?
Toughness? Perseverance? Maybe it’s the vision thing? Courage, nimbleness, adaptability, innovation?
They’re all important. As is creating trust… which is much more difficult.
Leaders need to be authentic. Emotionally flexible and able to cope with the pressures of leadership. Able to do ‘helicopter-vision’… step back and see the wider picture.
All of the above? Yup and perhaps there is one more thing.
Empathy…
… which is not about sympathy, saying thank you and giving praise. It’s more than that.
It’s about spending time, understanding the individuals who are part of the team, or organisation. Actually seeing them in a way that lets them know they are acknowledged and their problems and issues are being recognised.
Understanding life from another person's perspective. It’s a selfish leader who expects us to ‘see things their way’.
Empathetic leaders don’t have to act-tough to get the best out of their people. Empathy is the opposite of meanness. Spitefulness.
Empathetic leaders are confident in themselves and don’t have to use their position to try to impress.
Empathetic leaders learn by listening and take steps forward by understanding.
Leaders may impress us with what they say and inspire us with what they've done but empathetic leaders…
... it’s about how they make us feel.
I just wonder what Aspana Begum, Richard Bugon, Ian Byrne, Imran Hussain, Rebecca Long Bailey, John McDonnell and Zarah Sultana are feeling this weekend.
They are Labour MPs who must have been thrilled and excited beyond imagining that after years of opposition, at last, the Party they have worked for, campaigned for and knocked a thousand doors for… are at last in power.
Their leader in Number 10.
I doubt they are as happy and excited as they might have been. My guess they will be bewildered, disappointed, crest-fallen and probably vengeful.
There are the Magnificent Seven MPs who voted for an opposition amendment to try to bring to an end to the two child benefit cap.
For a moment set aside your political affiliations. Just look at this independently, in the cold light of day, using your cold steel judgement.
The number of children in relative poverty has increased by around 300,000 since the Conservatives entered government…
... you’d think Labour would want to put an end to that?
The number of children in absolute poverty after housing costs, last year was 3.6m…
... you’d think Labour would want to put and end to that?
The latest estimate I can find is that 1.6m children are affected by the cap of whom 300,000 would be lifted out of poverty, were it abolished…
... you’d think Labour would want to do that.
According to the IFS, the two-child benefit cap costs low-income families an average of £4,300 year, the equivalent of 10% of their income, in lost benefits… and is a relic of the George Osborne years, when he was the austerity chancellor in 2017…
… you’d think Labour would be keen to fix that.
I thought they would.
Labour claim everything is much worse than they thought and they are going to have a review into child poverty… what do they need to know they can’t Google?
In the meantime, Charmer has withdrawn the whip , from the Magnificent Seven, not for a week or a month, but for six months.
What a leader he turned out to be. He has enough MPs to fill a Boeing 747. You could fit the ‘rebels’ into a Volvo.
Taken together the average deprivation score in the constituencies of the M7 is 27…
.. one being the most deprived and 543 the least. Ian Byrne's in Liverpool West is 11…
... how did Charmer expect them to vote?
Ignore their constituents and vote for their heroic leader, or vote for an end to child poverty.
Charmer could have said;
‘I’m disappointed you didn’t vote with the government but I understand why. My namesake Keir Hardie fought poverty and founded our movement.
Now we are in government we must, once again, unite and continue the fight against poverty. We can’t do it all at once. I’ll be patient with you, if you’ll be patient with me’.
... but that takes empathy. Leadership.
Have the best weekend you can.
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