DOROTHY BARKER knows all about leading people. Determined to pull, she is a dog with her paw on the pulse of Westminster and she knows where all the bones are buried! This week she takes a look at how Boris fares as ‘Leader of the Pack’. Is he up to it?
HR & RECRUITMENT
What is Boris up to?
AS I write, we are entering the sixth week of Boris Johnson’s tenure as Prime Minister. I’m a dog and so I’m only really interested in food. Shortages worry me so I watch what our politicians do very keenly, and indeed take some of the rhetoric with the dose of salt it deserves. However, being a dog, I am also interested - on a theoretical basis - in what leadership tools are being used.
In between digging stuff up I’ve been asked this week what I think Boris is doing from a leadership point of view. My answer? Whether deliberate or not I think we are witnessing fairly close adherence to Kotter’s 8-Step Process for Leading Change. Let’s just see how closely it fi ts.
Step 1 – Create a sense of urgency. Woof! Woof!
Ko� er says: "Help others see the need for change through a bold, aspira� onal opportunity statement that communicates the importance of ac� ng immediately".
I think it’s fair to say that threatening to Brexit on a ‘no-deal’ basis on 31 October 2019 fi ts quite neatly into Kotter’s fi rst requirement, as does proroguing parliament. Watch this space!
Step 2 – Build a guiding coalition. Who is Top Dog?
Kotter’s view that "An army [sic] needs a 30
coalition of eff ective people – born of its own ranks – to guide it, coordinate it, and communicate its activities" holds true here too.
We swiftly saw those who share Boris’s vision come together and take on the more moderates in the party. Some reclined arrogantly on the couch in the commons... what’s wrong with that, eh? Twitter is on fi re with opposing views and this in itself gets the message out and keeps Boris’s bold strategy in the public eye.
Step 3 – Form a strategic vision and initiatives
Kotter says: "Clarify how the future will be diff erent from the past and how you can make that future a reality through initiatives linked directly to the vision".
We certainly see initiatives starting such as bold investment plans, investment in the NHS, dialogue with the US on trade and preparations for a no-deal in the form of a £300m tender for provision of food and medicines in the event of a hard exit on 31 October but I think the strategic vision of ‘Do or Die’ needs some work. No doubt, Kotter would agree.
Step 4 – Enlist a volunteer army
This one is a little trickier but I would hazard a guess that the government’s PR budget is being stretched to the maximum to get the greatest number of Brexit commentators ‘on message’ to support the PM’s stance. Kotter’s take on this step is that "large-scale change can only occur when massive numbers of people rally around a common opportunity. They must be bought-in and urgently to drive change – moving in the same direction".
Social media platforms play a huge part in driving change. Just look at the #metoo campaign which achieved over 500,000 tweets in its fi rst 24 hours.
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