Quote of the day 2nd October 2013
"Leadership is not about nice. It's about being right and being strong."
(Paul Keating)
Nick Herbert on his visit to flood hit areas of Cumbria
Please note that the post below was published more than ten year ago on 21st November 2009 Nick Herbert MP, shadow cabinet member for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, was in Cumbria this morning to see the areas affected by the flooding. He writes on Conservative Home about his visit. Here is an extract. I’ve been in Cumbria today to see the areas affected by the floods. I arrived early in Keswick where I met officials from the Environment Agency. Although the river levels had fallen considerably and homes were no longer flooded, the damage to homes had been done. And the water which had got into houses wasn’t just from the river – it was foul water which had risen from the drains. I talked to fire crews who were pumping flood water back into the river, and discovered that they were from Tyne & Wear and Lancashire. They had been called in at an hours’ notice and had been working on the scene ever since, staying at a local hotel. You cannot fail to be impressed by the
Comments
you see, its things like "no return to boom and bust, and I know I am right to be spending all this money, and because I am right, I am not going to move on this".
the only place this leader will ever lead you is right to the bottom. So you see there needs to be a system in place which ensures that what is to one person right, is actually right.
We could go to war with Iraq over WMD because its right, but then perhaps its not so right really, now if leaders were held accountable for these things when they turn out wrong, then there could be a case.
Sadly they are not. So we see currently its not a practical approach, regardless of how idealistic it does sound.
Of course, sticking firmly to a suboptimal course of action can often be less damaging than flapping about indecisively and failing to take any effective action at all.
But it is wise to remember that none of us have a monopoly of being right, and the Gordon Brown example you quote is a good illustration that the people who are most convinced they are right are often the most mistaken