Leadership by EXAMPLE - the Peter O'Connor column

Maybe it was always so, and certainly Naipaul’s earlier novels and short stories suggested that the higher one climbed in “rank”, the more preposterous they became in terms of setting some example of reasonable, far less decent, behaviour. 

Of course, I am referring to this country more than others. For in countries like the United Kingdom and some European states, persons who misbehave in high office do sometimes resign. 

In the United States politicians may eventually step down under pressure in matters of sexual improprieties, often with a tearful wife “bravely” standing beside him. Strangely, we never have stories of women leaders being involved in sexual scandals? But let us leave that for another discussion.

We need to acknowledge the stupid pomposity of our people who move up the social or successful ladder in this country. Whether in business, politics, and even in some religions, people who were raised with some reasonable set of social behavioural standards become pompous and boorish asses, and accept for themselves that rules and standards no longer exist. Certainly not for them!

Naipaul parodied this behaviour often. The meekest little civil servant, when given a uniform, would become a parody of the Governor himself, even adopting an artificial British accent while in uniform.

We appear to be unable to understand “example” whenever we are promoted to some position of authority. 

A recent reminder of this was when a former Chairman of the Police Service Commission berated a Police Traffic Officer after disobeying the proper instructions of the officer, who did not even know that the offender was Chairman. Of course it should not have mattered. 

The Chairman should have simply apologized to the officer who was simply doing her duty, properly setting an example to all. Well all except the one who decided that because he was Chairman of the PSC, he was entitled to ignore the instructions and to seek to discipline the officer!

If our leaders would only understand the value of “example”, and simply behave in ways that set the examples which they understood before elections, appointments or promotions, this country would take a giant step forward. 

We are in desperate need of leadership by example in our country, but too often we are getting leadership of “do what I say!”, “listen to me!” and the like. Why is it that our leaders cannot set the proper example for the people to follow?

Just read the news and you will understand this terrible failing at the top. This country was proud of CLICO and Mister Duprey when we thought that he was developing a genuine international conglomerate all in the name of T&T. 

Now we all know better—from those who lost their life savings, through those who “hid” their unacknowledged millions in the CLICO EFPA’s, to those of us who had nothing to lose except the fact that our money has to go and rescue the investors.

Is Mr. Duprey, Mr. Monteil or Mrs. Teshiera at all apologetic or remorseful about what they did? Absolutely not! They all seemed to believe that what they did was quite “normal” for persons in high office! They were “in charge” in various ways, and simply did what was convenient or profitable to themselves—the investors’ money be damned! 

If Karen Nunez-Teshiera was an ordinary citizen, she would have had every right to withdraw her money quietly from a collapsing CLICO. But she was not an ordinary citizen, she was the Minister of Finance and a shareholder in CL Financial. It could quite reasonably be argued today that she was swayed in her decision to agree to a government rescue of CLICO because she was, privately, a shareholder of the company which her government was going to save.

That she should have recused herself from any bailout discussion is “a given” in any other society. But in good old T&T, that is not demanded, and no example is required by a Minister of Finance in such conditions. All that is required is that the person involved is “naturally” seeking their own interest! 

Did we really expect her, or indeed anyone, to something for the country which might have been detrimental to their own personal fortunes?

What “example” did our former Prime Ministers, Patrick Manning and Basdeo Panday, display to the country in July 1990? 

When armed insurgents invaded parliament and committed murder and mayhem, these two “heroes” of ours lay cowering in the deep south and could not, would not, bring themselves—to this day—to condemn the treason. In what other country, dear reader, could anyone display such an example, and not be considered accomplices to treason.

I cannot wait to read the comments which will emanate from the two Commissions of Inquiry, about the examples set by some of our leaders in this country.