President elect Michael D Higgins believes there is a need
to “recognise the need for a reflection on those values and assumptions, that
had brought us to such a sorry pass in social and economic terms, for which
such a high price has been paid and is being paid”
In reminding us of what goes so badly wrong when
individualism married to a facilitating political elite pursues wealth creation
without consideration for wider society, Higgins believes we need to reconnect
the economy, society and ethics.
Never again should small groups of influential insiders be
allowed to garner wealth at the expense of society. The powerful influence of
business people seeking to exploit position to further their own aims must be tempered
for the greater good. After all the freedom afforded business to operate within
a system that advances and facilitates ease of enterprise-creation exists only
as citizens through elected representatives permit it. When public representatives
become captive of sectional interests and are influenced by cheque book
lobbying, democracy is usurped to benefit the few and disenfranchise the many.
Recasting the legitimate and ethical role of business and
crafting a new economic model will take more than talking up the national advantage
of a young educated population, the best of who are once again emigrating. Any
new economic model must exist within a society that exposes values of decency,
integrity, egalitarianism and equality. And it must be a society where ethical business
behaviour does not simply mean mere legal compliance.
The shallow narrative and imagery promoted by some
presidential candidates failed to grasp that authentic leadership requires messages
rooted in the values Higgins and those who elected him espouse. Riven with deliberately
ambiguous messages, spun to garner votes from as broad a population as possible,
other candidates’ leadership aspirations were rejected.
Sean Gallagher’s hope inspiring narrative threatened to
become a triumph of style over substance until this time last week when his
carefully crafted independent status was undone, largely by his own hand. Best
described as a motivational brand image, his message was cleverly communicated to
win votes. A disingenuous melange of enticing promises that no president could
ever have delivered on also contained a leadership blind spot.
Gallagher’s blind spot was his failure to respond to the
powerful imagery created by his use of the word “envelope”, faltering
recollection, his subsequent “bagman” denial and obfuscation in explaining
business accounting transactions.
Once the thin veneer of motivational wallpaper was stripped
back, people saw an unreconstructed, unrepentant businessman and member of the
Fianna Fail’s boom time elite. Gallagher was caught in that grey area between
politics and business. People sensed he was an unrepentant boom-time journeyman
and promoter of materialistic individualism.
During his interview with Mike Murphy last week, journeyman-in-chief
Bertie Ahern enunciated his own unrepentant construct that Ireland’s economic
collapse wasn’t down to his leadership failings but others inability to open
his mind to what was going so badly wrong. Hubris, that belief in self-image
and vision are the hallmarks of poor leadership, as is a lack of humility in
accepting responsibility and accountability for things when they go wrong.
Unfortunately for Gallagher, he seemed to represent the same
unquestioning commitment to individualism that was so responsible for the
destruction of national wealth.
Perhaps we should be thankful to Gallagher as he unwittingly
shone a light on a dark place others would prefer to keep hidden. We should
also be thankful that the media forced into the open a past that must never again
be repeated.
The lingering concern is that wealthy people continue to
have greater access to politicians based on the value of their bank accounts.
If this is so, then all talk of reform is meaningless unless the lessons
starkly illustrated by Gallagher’s undoing are learned by this Government.
Higgins’ election represents a triumph of substance over
style, deep wisdom over shallow individualism. It illustrates how ordinary
people realise that out of the chaos of an economic collapse we must craft a
better society. One built on what we are good at and one intolerant of
unfettered individualism and political clientelism.
The ability of business to be a force for the good requires
that trust be rebuilt in business. The same is true for politics. This means
honest, open repentant acknowledgement of what went so badly wrong and a demonstrable
commitment to achieving higher ethical standards today.
A version of this article appeared in the Irish Examiner, Business Section, Monday 31st October 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment