Ian BoyneEVEN HIS most admiring supporter, unblinded by emotion, could not say honestly that PJ Patterson is an inspiring, charismatic leader. You are not stirred to action and gripped by passion after listening to him. But in the final analysis, as critically important as charismatic leadership is especially in times of challenge and crises it is not nearly as important as consensual, non-confrontational and emotionally intelligent
leadership.
A charismatic leader who is arrogant, narcissistic and stubborn loses his influence on the masses after a while, and is not able to build the trust and forge the alliances necessary to take an organisation or a country through the trying times.
The Prime Minister's (PM) concession this week to appoint a committee to look into the vexed and increasingly contentious issue of parliamentary salaries is another indication of the kind of emotional mastery and responsiveness which have characterised PJ Patterson's leadership style ever since he became Prime Minister. The cynics, of course, will say the move only reinforces the fact that PJ is a brilliant tactician, and perhaps even that he has a cynical, contemptuous attitude toward "his subjects" whom he thinks are easily fooled. Interpretations of motives are always subjective.
But one thing must be conceded: It takes emotional control and ego management not to "tough it out" and show "who is really in charge here", the critics or "we who have just been re-elected by the people".
A Government in its early days of office usually thinks it can afford to be arrogant. And there are political leaders who know it would be strategic to make concessions to gain points but who are so obsessed with their own sense of importance and in asserting their authority that they would forego the expediency just to clutch to their fragile egos. So even if you ascribe political expedience to Patterson's move to appoint a committee to recommend what should happen to parliamentary salaries, it still took a strong man to "bow" to public pressure.
Some would say that Patterson has perfected the art of the "committee-isation" of conflicts: Whenever there is a great public outcry over something, appoint a committee. The PM has taken the wind out of the sail of the critics who had been saying that the Government had no moral authority to ask people to sacrifice when it had given itself and Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition hefty increases while asking others to take single-digit increases. The Government needs that moral authority badly if it is to push through the expectedly tough measures to come with the next budget. The Prime Minster had to clear that major hurdle out of the way. Objectively, we have to agree that the country benefits from having a political leader with a strong sense of personal security and emotional mastery, the foundation of consensual leadership.
BUILDING TRUST
PJ Patterson is a man on a mission, and I believe his personality traits fit him for this mission. On election night he said that his historic electoral victory "imposes on me an historical responsibility by leading the charge for unity, for harmony, for peace, for progress, for making sure our motto is fulfilled." Elaborating, he said, "That vision cannot be realised by a single person it can't be fulfilled by the Government alone, it has to be the work of all of us the private sector, the religious groups, our teachers, our nurses our security forces our farmers our workers our young people."
In his post-Cabinet retreat press conference, the Prime Minister signalled his intention to take his case for economic and social reform to the people. He also reintroduced the concept of a social contract with the private sector, the trade unions and the Government a partnership which is long overdue and whose failure a few years ago is an indication of our low social capital base. The next 100 days will be most crucial to the PJ Patterson Government and to this country.
What PJ Patterson lacks in charisma he will have to make up with the ability to engender trust an Herculean task; to forge a consensus with the stakeholders in the society; to exercise humility, to demonstrate empathetic listening, to build a sense of hope. Mr Patterson, three years is not a long time to fulfil your mission. Over 100 days are already gone and time flies, as they say. You don't have an hour to spare. Go to the people. Speak to them face to face. Speak to them through their associations, organisations, community groups, church groups. Also speak to them through the media. This is not just something you would be doing for the PNP or the Government. It is something you are doing for the country for if people lose hope totally and write off politicians, the consequences will be catastrophic for all of us.
While the PNP support has been declining already in its first 100 days, according to the Don Anderson polls which have surged in credibility since the elections, the Opposition JLP which is doing disastrously in the polls, is not gaining traction from this fallout. It is more dangerous for democracy and peace if the growing numbers of Jamaicans lose confidence in all politicians, old as well as new and different. So it is critical that the PNP Government does not squander its historic opportunity to build hope and unify the country.
The post-Cabinet retreat report by the Prime Minister showed that the Cabinet did, indeed, look at some critical issues and did highlight some crucial points. The Prime Minister acknowledged in his presentation that the endorsement of the market did include indeed "compels" the commitment "to create social support systems for the young, the poor, the disadvantaged". The Cabinet recognised the importance of rehabilitating "inner-city and rural communities through targeted interventions of various state agencies". importance of job creation and the fact that foreign investments by themselves do not guarantee job creation.
Opposition Leader Edward Seaga basically dismissed the Prime Minister's presentation as a lot of nice-sounding words signifying nothing in concrete terms; a grand "wish list", as Mr. Seaga put it. The fact is the squeeze is on, and Mr. Patterson does not have any give-aways for the country.
Indeed, he is depending on us having more to give. That is why his consultative, consensus-building skills are the most crucial now. To win our trust and to build long-lasting partnerships, he has to come clean with us. He has to take us into his confidence and be honest with us. Send the spin-doctors on sabbatical.
I see the following words from his speaking notes given out at the Press Conference: "A national approach to problem solving. Appeal for reason over sensationalism. A consultative approach to economic and social planning. Commitment to participatory governance". Everything comes back down to trust. Manipulative information and half-truths don't build trust.
TAXING THE INFORMAL SECTOR
The Government had better understand that the attempt to bring people in the informal sector into the tax net will draw considerable resistance. People want to get more from Government, not give anything. And if you think appeals to "playing your part in building Jamaica" and to be "a responsible citizen" will be impressive to the girls who braid and colour hair or the brethren doing their little hustling, you make a sad mistake. These people are going to resist and an irresponsible Opposition could ignite them in doing so by showing that the Government is already wasting people's taxes and corruptly using it for themselves and their friends, so they should not be called upon to pay any more.
The Government will need the support of significant stakeholders and interest groups in the society if this attempt to broaden the tax is not to backfire. A major propaganda war could break out between those who say this wicked, corrupt Government should not get a cent more to waste, and those who play the unfairness card by appealing to the majority of PAYE taxpayers who are carrying the burden for those who are making more money than they are and yet are not paying any tax. Only by levelling with the people, taking the case to them and effectively showing that there is no viable alternative to the strategies being employed, can the Government effectively counter opposition arguments.
Talking with the people, building alliances and consensus and showing humble leadership will not be enough in the long-term. The Government will have to do some out-of-the-box, creative thinking to get exports moving, to create more jobs and to foster an entrepreneurial society. The Government, for example, has not sufficiently exploited its human capital in the Diaspora. The Government has not created enough networking mechanisms to tap into the resources of Jamaicans overseas; not just in terms of their making investments here but in terms of their acting as investment and trade promotion agents for the country.
Sending people from JAMPRO occasionally to attend meetings abroad is all well and good, but we have a permanent presence in key strategic areas in the United States and Europe which we are nowhere near sufficiently exploiting.
There are also many knowledgeable Jamaicans here whose expertise is not being sufficiently garnered. There are people in the entertainment field, for example, who know the industry globally and who would give the Government priceless information for free if their advice was only sought and seriously heeded. Ad-hoc consultations will not do. There are lots of people in the country with very good, marketable ideas and they would be only too willing to share that information But may of them are not connected to any party and don't know party insiders and have no desire to. Some way has to be found to reach them.
INNOVATIVE IDEAS NEEDED
The November 2002 Harvard Business Review has a fascinating article about a World bank project to garner innovative ideas ("The World Bank's Innovation Market") The World bank
developed a Development Marketplace which canvassed innovative ideas for fighting poverty, the results were astounding. "An entrepreneur from Zimbabwe had developed a low-tech process to produce a gel from agricultural rubbish such as sugar cane waste that could be used for cooking and heating. He was awarded a grant to build a small plant".
If this opportunity was opened in Jamaica you would be amazed as to the ideas that would be garnered. Trust the people. Go to them. The traditional approaches are not working and the established private sector is lacking in creative innovative ideas.
We need to launch a massive programme to build entrepreneurship. Phillip Paulwell had that vision and launched the Production Train but it did not go far enough.
The February 3 issue of Business Week has a cover story on the trend to outsource production to the developing countries. It is estimated that 3.3 million white collar jobs will migrate to the developing world in the next few years. Already places like Bulgaria, Romania and South Africa are tapping into the global market for services. More than 8,000 foreign companies are in the Philippines and little Costa Rica has pushed its export earnings five-fold, from US $1.1 billion in 1985 to $5.5 billion in 2000, according to the World Investment Report 2002. What about Jamaica? Why aren't we attracting more of these investments for exports and greater employment?
PJ Patterson had better put the entire state bureaucracy on red alert. Time is not on his side.
