Politicians of the future

Each politician executive must learn to respond appropriately to the phenomenon of expansion after the crisis.

 The insightful politician has always addressed himself to the task of setting a proper development climate. The pervading element in this atmosphere is an attitude that makes growth "the thing to do”. There is a posture of forward motion and a spirit of solid building. This spirit and posture are more often caught than taught.

A healthy climate for growth simply exudes feelings that attract people who want to be a part of a political action that is going somewhere. People, in political activity as elsewhere, take their cues from others; they get in step with the subgroup of which they are a part.

There are two important ways by which politician can direct the energizing force in man and maintain its flow at peak levels. These two factors operate simultaneously. Politician is responsible for: (1) generating a healthy discontent with the status quo; and (2) insuring that rewards, both material and psychological, are given to people who are “on the march.

A healthy discontent can be generated in a number of ways. One society did it by getting each citizen in the habit of asking “Why”. Each was asked to apply this question to every activity in which he was engaged if the duty seemed silly, cumbersome, or unrelated to efficient operations.

This society believed that if all citizen not only felt free to ask but also felt obligated to explore the “why’s” with their superiors, at least two important outcomes would develop. First, a lot unnecessary procedures and paper work would be eliminated, and second, some naïve citizen would get a better understanding of the society.

Both of these outcomes occurred. Thousands of dollar of expenses were saved in operations alone. Tradition and habit that said, “We have always done it that way” were broken.

Procedures, reports, and practices that had outlived their usefulness were eliminated. The question “Why?” had a way of triggering ideas that brought better social product designs, better political practices, and better society goals.

Another detonator that politician can implant in the fiber of its citizen is “What would happen if…?” Sir Francis Bacon once observed that if we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted. If citizen keep asking “What would happen if… (We tried some other method)?”, then it logically follows that new results and perhaps better results can be expected. Dynamic politician leaders use their imagination to keep a continuous stir of healthy discontent in the minds of their citizen as a means of creating a growth climate.

Rewarding citizen who grow is also a crucial factor. Both psychological and financial rewards are highly important to a growth climate. When a public servant completes a good work, talk it up and write it up. When he submits an idea, good or bad, praise him for thinking.

When a head of a program produces an important piece of social Business, let it be known all over the society. Everyone has an ego, and citizen and public servant tend to make their greatest sacrifices in those situations in which there is an audience, either real or imaginary, to praise their performance. Most politicians have given citizen and public servant only an imaginary audience; most citizen and public servant prefer the real one.

In regard to financial rewards, politician has tended to lock themselves in by placing too great an emphasis on tenure considerations and job-evaluation programs.

When a citizen feels that he will be rewarded simply by living long enough, then he will design and structure his life activities in such a way as to insure old age!

When an individual feels that regardless of how well he does a social job, he cannot expect greater financial remuneration until an opening occurs for promotional possibilities, then he is likely to spend more time wondering when Jones will retire or when Smith will finally be fired than he spends on equipping himself for additional responsibilities.

The society and community it has no guaranteed reward. It moves ahead or behind in terms of how well it does the tasks. The more nearly citizen can be integrated into this same competitive situation, the more likely will the potential for growth be fulfilled and realized, both by citizen and the society.

People have more pride, grater feelings of independence, and more self-sufficiency when they “earn” fringe benefits for themselves.

Therefore, there are psychological benefits to be gained from situations in which the individual must work through some series of steps to earn the advantages of insurance plans, vacation benefits, retirement funds, and the like. Just to be “given” or “guaranteed” such benefits simply by obtaining employment with a company is to parallel the concepts of the “welfare state”.

Unless a citizen (or a people) has earned the fruits of such plans he has bypassed the fundamental aspects of the developmental process.

Foreign diplomats who try to take home with them our democratic processes, technological know-how, and modern benefits cannot make them work in their own countries because they are not outcomes of the labors and experiences of their people. Instead of being earned, they are superimposed and, therefore, do not work.

A child who has everything planned for him, is given everything he wants, and who takes no steps toward self-determination finds himself short on psychological strength and is certainly ill-equipped to take his place in modern society.

Citizen treated in like manner are unlikely to provide the thrust necessary to move ahead in enduring fashion in this day of crisis.

The psychological “lift” which stems from achievement, from earning something, from being recognized or rewarded for a job well done, is an undeniable force for society growth.

Study the system of nonfinancial and financial rewards for their psychological impact on the citizen recipients and see that each contributes optimally to the growth of the citizen and the society.

But a word of caution: growth in itself is not a panacea. It is a hazard as often as a blessing. Politician finds that success in achieving growth objectives most often brings new problem.

The most notable problem is the subtle tendency to take success for granted, to assume that it is a perpetual reality and relax the vigil necessary to insure an all out effort. These responses happen so often that they seem almost inevitable.

While we cannot go into detail on the dangers of growth, the mere listing of some symptoms of poor politician response to rapid change in society scope, size, and complexity should be useful.

The common symptoms are:

(1)                        Anxiety about the levels of expectation;

(2)                        A quick rush to “have a meeting” when problems arise;

(3)                        Backbiting between old politician friends now at different status levels;

(4)                        Ensure the goals and plans;

(5)                        Repeated organizational personnel changes;

(6)                        Verbalization about the future at the expense of the work of the day;

(7)                        Rationalization of poor judgments and inept performances;

(8)                        Development of cliques as a false haven of security;

(9)                        Reliance on “outsiders” for solutions;

10)Fogged communication.

Rapid expansion tends to highlight these behavioral phenomena; politician as a manager, to avoid growing hollow in the middle, must adhere closely to the fundamentals of administrative responsibility, the human factors, in order to keep growth on a sound footing.

Each politician executive must learn to respond appropriately to the phenomenon of expansion as it affects him. As in all other responsibilities, final accountability for leadership and action in this function of keeping the society on the track rest with top management.

A growing edge in a society is its life force in vibrant action. It is not only the result of good administration. Rather, it is an extension of a useful service, operating within a sound philosophical framework, where an insightful understanding of human activity is consistently applied.

To grow, a society must be committed to make a real contribution to human well being. It must have a set of sound beliefs to which it consistently adheres. It must continuously set new goals for itself and the members of society. Its citizen must see themselves in ways that are stimulating and meaningful to them. Its work must be important and challenging to its citizen. Its vitality must derive from the development of its citizen. And it must reward achievement.

In all nature, even the strongest of a species adapt and change during the life cycle.

The growth drive is inherent but not inevitable. Plants and animals that are too rigid, too impervious to environmental factors that necessity change, have eventually become extinct. So do people. So do societies.

Managers of tomorrow will be required to learn more and more about nurturing the life force and the life-process of society. They can bring them to full fruition through analysis and intelligent cross-fertilization, stimulation, planning, and hard work. With skillful application of these psychological principles, we can maintain a growing edge.