Brown Leader?
June 10th, 2009 by Sean Trainor
While Ross Brawn was preparing to lead the Brawn GP team to victory at the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend, Gordon Brown was polishing his leadership speech to the Parliamentary LP to avert political rebellion. Facing very different dilemmas, they share the challenge of seeking unity and engagement of their teams around a central organising thought. This challenge is only too familiar outside the worlds of politics and is part of life in the day of leaders of businesses and brands. All leaders who seek to engage with their audience could learn from Aristotle’s Rhetoric: The faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.
Brown’s supporters would argue that Monday’s rallying cry would satisfy two of the three important divisions of rhetoric: Logos (consistency and logic) and Ethos (good character, good sense and good will). He has been consistent on his message about creating stability and no one could argue the logic and good sense of stability when you are on a cliff edge. Reminiscent of the closing scene on the Italian Job, we are all left wondering whether he will pull it off. Gordon Brown may lack the affable qualities of the main character, loveable rogue Charlie Croker, but he has consistently demonstrated good character and good intent.
But what of the third, and most important, division of rhetoric, Pathos (the ability to relate to audience needs and give emotional appeal)? Brown’s apparent lack of passion is something that distances him from Brawn (see previous post). The final episode of The BBC’s Apprentice demonstrated the importance of Pathos with the polished, pitch-perfect Kate losing out to the passion and gritty determination of Yasmina; clearly something that Sir Alan Sugar values. Perhaps he can offer some counsel to Gordon when he joins the cabinet as Enterprise Czar.
Sir Alan praises the prime minister for being “resolute in his position”. Brown is deliberate and exhibits political rhetoric by remaining focused on the future and seeking expediency of a forward looking agenda, rather than being drawn into legal rhetoric which focuses on the past. He doesn’t dwell on accusation or justification of legacy issues but instead chooses to deal with the issues of the day, tackling the current issues head on and addressing the need for reform. A challenge he shares with most business leaders that uncover misdemeanours of previous management while they are at the helm illustrates the need for transparency and accountability.
So, while Brown and Brawn can declare victory this week, there is probably less confidence in the Brown camp of ultimate victory this season. But in an attempt to build public confidence and trust he is setting out proposals for improving levels of public engagement: engaging citizens with their local communities, engaging MPs with their constituencies and engaging young people with politics. Reaching out and relating to the emotional needs of the wider population cannot be addressed by policy alone. Yet how many leaders are measured on the number of skip-level tours or briefing sessions in an attempt to improve engagement?
I suspect team engagement is an area where Brawn trumps Brown, but it is always easier to empathise with people when you have stood in their shoes. Brown’s attempt to demonstrate he is in touch with the public mood by publicising his private phone calls to Britain’s Got Talent runner-up Susan Boyle as she was in recovery in the Priory appears rather futile. I’m not suggesting our Prime Minister should apply to appear on Britain’s Got Talent next year, but it has got me wondering if there was an ulterior motive for his call to SuBo!
There may be lessons from Number 10’s use of media in engagement. Their dedicated YouTube site has the Comments field disabled and on average each video receives about 6,ooo views. In contrast, Brown’s most popular video is his “Ask the PM” video which has attracted 30 times the number of viewings. And the relevance for business leaders? How effective are scripted blogs, podcasts and corporate videos in engaging with employees? The lesson is clear – true leadership and engagement is about creating dialogue.