Where have all the leaders gone?

Coming as it does on the eve of the Labour leadership election one would imagine that this article is all about local politics. It is not. It has far more to do with how leadership qualities are perceived worldwide.

Recently, I have been struck by two particular "events".

A unique opinion tracker in the UK, using a panel of 5,000 voters, which is much larger than conventional opinion polls. Forgetting for a moment that it revealed how Gordon Brown was then floundering in his attempt to campaign for public respect after Labour's large losses in the council elections, what struck me most was the depth of the survey about leadership qualities.

It tackled the following among other aspects: presentational skills; competence; fairness; sincerity; decisiveness; intelligence; likeability reliability; strength; trustworthiness; caring; effective; forward looking; in touch with normal people; moderate; self confident and honesty.

On second thoughts there is no harm were delegates to keep all such attributes in mind when casting their vote tomorrow.

Which brings us to Lee Iacocca. We have had many politicians - foreign and local - who talked in the not-too-distant past about their business plans but I do not recall coming across a business leader writing about what he expects to see in his political leaders.

For the remaining few who might not have heard of the man, he is the former president of both the Ford Motor Company, where he created Mustang, and of the Chrysler Corporation, which he famously saved from ruin. He might be retired by now, although he is reported to spend most of his time travelling, giving speeches and supporting the Iacocca Foundation, which funds research for a cure of diabetes.

But when he writes about management and leadership people simply stop to read and listen.

He did so with Iacocca: The Autobiography and Talking Straight, which were both bestsellers and have sold a combined total of about 10 million copies around the world.

You have to hand it to him - the man knows a thing or two about leadership. As the blurb of a recent book of his declares: "he has seen what happens when large organisations - whether they are car manufacturers or nation states - don't have the right people at the helm".

And now he seems to have had enough.

He argues that it is time not just to acknowledge the problems but to demand solutions.

Most field leaders tend to indulge in technical jargon. This does not apply to Mr Iacocca. His style is forthright and straight talking. He speaks his mind on the most pressing issues facing the West today. I might sound as if I have a share of the royalties but his brilliant blueprint for our times is indeed as advertised - full of wisdom, passion and, yes, something which seems to be in short supply nowadays - good, old-fashioned common sense.

In sharp contrast to the UK based poll I mentioned earlier he comes up with what he considers to be the Nine Cs Test for leadership: curiosity; creativity; communication; character; courage; conviction; charisma; competence and common sense.

It might not necessarily take a Lee Iacocca to come up with such qualities. A few moments of deep reflection might be enough to do the trick.

But then the man reaches two other conclusions. These are ideals, he argues, and there are very few people - even leaders - who have all of them. But if you look back in history you will notice that different times require a different emphasis. When Jimmy Carter was elected President, people cared more about character than charisma. With Ronald Reagan it was all about charisma and communication.

Let me pre-empt the question on your minds: So what are the leadership qualities that these times call for?

I prefer to keep you guessing and leave the conclusions to your goodselves.

Mr Brincat is shadow minister for foreign affairs & IT.

leo.brincat@gov.mt