#BTSpeakingOut – Examining BLP and DLP leadership

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today Inc.

by Johnny Lowe

As the Democratic Labour Party sets out to elect a President, issues of competencies and fitness to lead have started to make the rounds and some comparisons are inevitable.

The comparisons have brought into focus the leadership past Prime Ministers and especially on the current leader of Government.

Already the style of former Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has been targeted and no one can deny that he was slow to make decisions. In addition there was evidence of divisions within the Cabinet but none can deny that his Ministers had full control of their portfolios. In fact, the Stuart administration can boast to have been free from the regular shuffles and reshuffles that characterized earlier administrations.

The evidence of Ministerial responsibility resting with the individuals reveals itself in the unrelenting attacks on Minister of Finance Christopher Sinckler for his handling of the portfolio. Factors of recessionary times, efforts to keep unemployment levels manageable and to keep the value of the dollar constant were scorned. Targeting the Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite, Youth Minister Stephen Lashley, Housing Minister Denis Kellman and Denis Lowe as Minister of the Environment demonstrated that Cabinet Ministers were in charge of their portfolios and were being held to account by the public and an aggressive opposition.

The above evidence is contrasted with the present scenario where a Prime Minister time and time again reduces Ministers of her Cabinet to nothing but appendages to her Court. Barbadians can boast of paying more for financial advice than the USA, UK or the Soviet Union. Yet no one is sure outside the infrequent statements by Minister Straughan who is in charge of Finance.  Certainly it is the one ministry that the Prime Minister seems to shun. In fact outside the boast of another loan, the PM seems to treat finance as an alien subject to the point that she finds millions of dollars to pay the pipers. But when it comes to the other ministries she lords over them as though she owns them all.

What should be of concern for all Barbadians is that this leadership model seems to be the accepted mode.  Barbadians appear to be comfortable with leadership that suggests ineptitude on the part of Mottley’s support team and what can be construed, rightly or wrongly, as egomaniac behaviour that passes as leadership.

Professor Mark Griffiths draws on David Reinstein’s publication of an online article entitled ‘Egomania: An adaptive and necessary illness for politicians. He writes “egomaniacs are typically characterised as individuals who believe the
‘whole world revolves around them’ and that they are ‘the centre of the universe’.

Further, he contends “most egomaniacs suffer from delusions of personal greatness that cover over deeper feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. Everything is to, from, for and about them”. Egomania also seems to be a close cousin of megalomania a disorder in which individuals believe they are more powerful, important, or influential than is actually true.

Egomania is not listed in the most recent (fifth) version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-5]. Griffiths argues that many people believe that egomania is highly prevalent particularly among celebrities and politicians to the point that citizens appear to tolerate (and arguably even value) egomania if the person is a politician rather than someone we personally know. Griffiths turns to Reinstein who asked “Why would we be so prone to accept this otherwise off-putting quality in the people we elect to represent us?

He suggests that many people in the general population have reservations about themselves. Perhaps we are drawn to people who seem to be (or at least present themselves as being) more self-assured. We are enamored by people who seem more capable, more assured and assuring, more in control and consistently authoritative. They appeal to the electorate as they often do to the movie-going public”.

The recent campaign for the leadership of the DLP appears to be drawn into this leadership paradigm that suggests people are likely to vote for someone who comes across as confident and cocksure. One upmanship, bullish behaviour, egomania as the leadership qualities have now surpassed team work, negotiation skills, and service as the qualities of leaders. Clearly this acceptance must have informed the decision to install a Secretary General at the National Union of Public Workers and just may be the driving force at the DLP.