Inspiring others to do better work is the accomplishment of a leader. How true it is that more often than not, people in key decision-making positions lack the traits and qualities required for leadership to be nurtured and to form an integral part of our life.

Principles, beliefs and values are cardinal to life and central to our life as leaders. To walk the walk is not only a slogan but a way of living in which we assume the responsibility to live in communion with others.

Integrity, authenticity and responsibility form the backbone of this communion. For this reason it is important that we live our daily lives, our daily encounters with passion and enthusiasm, being genuine, expressing respect, being humble and prepared to serve, expressing gratitude, creating opportunities for dialogue, collaboration and opportunities for ongoing formation.

After 11 years at the Faculty of Education I needed a new challenge. The position of director was an opening I couldn’t resist and managed to get the post, a position I truly enjoyed for a whole year.

That is before I was asked to serve as permanent secretary because it was felt I could be of better service at that level to the authorities. As I engaged with my new responsibilities I recognised more and more how important it is to live with a great sense of purpose in life.

It is, however, not something you can live on your own – you need others, as that engagement gives that ‘purpose’ life and meaning.

Yet, as we all know, living with purpose is far from easy. What really matters in life is putting emphasis on basic life issues. These can help us to make a difference.

In spite of an unfailing commitment to the mission of our ministry, this was not to be, given that, in my opinion, the moral commitment of my superiors was, when it came to the crunch, lacking.

Experts warn there is a big price to be paid when a culture of mistrust exists in an organisation.

“The internal costs of mistrust result in inefficient entanglements of hierarchy, communication, misperception, anger, blame, and cynicism that waste time, energy, goodwill and money…” (Copper and Sawaf). Rings a bell, doesn’t it!

In a number of contexts a culture of mistrust exists, a culture that is toxic in nature, because it does not respect the person as a human being who wants to be respected and acknowledged but merely seen as a pawn moved around a chequered board determined by others.

A sense of ownership and collective responsibility is lacking and is not seen as a means to the success of the tasks that need to be achieved.

It was not the first time I found myself facing an arrogant attitude to the way things had to evolve. So long as there was agreement to what ‘big brother’ had to say then it was fine.

If you objected, if you presented counter-arguments, then you had a problem, potentially even with ‘players’ who occupied a lower position than yourself in the civil service hierarchy but were within the inner circle. I was not willing to play their game, and in spite of the fact that I did things with the minister’s support and approval, I ended up being a victim.

If people are to assume collective responsibility and willing to accept his/her part then surely I would not have been used in the way I was.

The way the exercise was undertaken by administrators within the Office of the Prime Minister showed that concern was raised as to how to handle the matter with least embarrassment to the government.

The exercise was executed clinically within just a few days. That is how seriously the matter was handled.

The pound of flesh had to be offered to appease the masses.

The irony is that my concern throughout was the search to resolve the problem without hurting the ministry and embarrassing the government while respecting the needs set out by the European Commission. The latter – in spite of the investment of time by a lot of partners – has not been resolved.

So, my mismanagement was surely not the issue. This was well known by the people who set up the so-called board of inquiry.

Authentic leaders breathe life into the workplace and keep people feeling energised and focused. They build people and their self-esteem. They derive their credibility from personal integrity and their values.

We need leadership that is exemplary in nature, one that abounds in a climate of respect, understanding and sacrifice.

This leadership, defined as invitational leadership, implies that autonomy is bestowed and leaders lead by standing alongside and behind rather them always at the front. They empower staff by developing a climate of collaboration.

The role of a leader is to transform institutions into communities of learning. This brings to light the issue of moral capital.

In his 2003 book, The Moral Capital of Leaders: Why Virtue Matters, Alejo José Sison defines moral capital as “excellence of character… the practice of virtues appropriate for a human being within a socio-cultural context”.

This is one of the major issues I was grappling with and which, in my opinion, in the end led to a situation that was untenable for some superiors as it placed them in an embarrassing light.

Yet, I acted with the full support of my minister, and while I may have been judged by a biased jury (and we all know why I am making this statement) of not informing my superiors what did not come out in the board of inquiry proceedings was the mismanagement from the people of higher authority than my office, and those even higher than the minister’s, and mismanagement within the European Union Programmes Agency.

Working within the civil service has shown me that networking among top officials is extremely strong and is based on work practices that are there to safeguard the boys (or girls) irrespective of what they do.

Newcomers may find that such officials have tons of human and intellectual capital. They may well have been educated at our University and ones abroad, or received excellent professional training, but more importantly, each one had huge endowments of social capital in terms of the networks of influence, of power and control over situations and others.

As a newcomer you realise you are on your own trying to create a work ethic that may be antithetical to the ones you are confronted with.

At the superficial level all looks good, but when you scratch the surface, you realise that the focus has been on technical issues, on reaching specific goals at whatever the cost; at putting the interest of some people as against the common good; at being dishonest in their practices; at claiming virtuosity and uprighteousness when reality shows otherwise.

Taking action, remaining detached, and blaming others was felt as the way forward. In spite of discussions, the government officials who had vested interests in the matter ended up offering my scalp in spite of the fact that 16 months before I had been described as the ‘new broom’, and that three months before judgment was passed I was given the responsibility of a mega-ministry, being told that the Prime Minister believed in my capabilities to lead the ministry forward.

If we want to inspire confidence and respect in those we work for and come in contact with we need to be genuine. This experience has shown that such virtues are nonexistent in the echelons of power I worked in.

While expressing passion and unfailing commitment to work, while doing my utmost to be genuine and authentic in my dealings with others, I have suffered a blow that leads only to a cynical outlook to what politicians and some top civil servants will do to maintain power and control.

It will be hard to ever believe that things will change if the people at the helm lack what, in my opinion, has been an abuse of the trust I showed my superiors.

However, as they say, I am not alone. The climate which we are in goes to show that something is fundamentally wrong – the values that should permeate our society are just not there.

Prof. Bezzina is a member of the University’s Faculty of Education and former permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education.

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