Robert Alexander Hillingford / Public domain
There seems to be a total lack today of leadership skills in industry or politics.
The concept of leadership training used to be the preserve of the British public schools & ancient grammar schools.
It manifested itself on the sports fields & officer training corps. It was essential to Empire & commerce, usually linked to a sense of fair play & generosity of spirit.
I suppose now at 75 I was close to the last generation exposed to such concepts & values.
The professionalization of hitherto amateur sports & abandonment of Christian values has accelerated the demise of our national heritage in such fields of endeavour, none more so than party politics. Always perhaps a murky profession.
Last week I gave an interview to Professor Ed. Dutton on the Jolly Heretic Show.
I pick up on that here for the record.
Some people have natural leadership skills, but they are few.
Personally I was assessed by both military & commercial training establishments as having a modicum of leadership skills worthy of their investment.
In other words a selection system that gave me the opportunity to have what rough skills I had honed by RMA Sandhurst, Ashridge Management School & a few specialist lesser known establishments.
Skippering a modest ability club rugby side was another advantage.
I make NO claim as a great leader.
But there are a few basic rules for those whom aspire to lead in any field & the best set of rules I know came from the Royal Navy,
“A good officer’s qualities should include forbearance, command of temper, conciliation, firmness, tact, system, consistency, discretion, perseverance, activity, enterprise, zeal, knowledge of human nature, justice, confidence & self possession.” (would you believe conceived in 1850)
I would add here, especially for politicians integrity & intellectual honesty.
Recent political events clearly show NO British political party leaders in the last 30 years have any of these qualities with the dubious exception of perseverance.
In order to demonstrate & emphasise these attributes one must lead by example.
The Royal Navy’s publication of these benchmarks coincided with the abolition of flogging. The admiralty board of that era was not known as a friend of modernisation, but it understood a captain who was an regular flogger was likely to be a bad captain, can you not keep control & motivation without punishment? It shows a lack of motivational calibre.
Also ponder if you will if a squadron commander, commercial manager, Bishop or indeed anybody in a leadership role what happens if you die? Or simply leave? Does your unit or company collapse?
If it does you are a poor manager.
It means you have not left those with necessary skills to continue.
Then it is the leader’s fault. It shows you didn’t recruit a team, just sycophants.
Was that deliberate?
Were you incompetent or fearful of peer group competition?
Are such people in politics today pre-clinical sociopaths?
Interesting in party politics your enemies are those you perceive to be after your job.
Why would you fear them?
Because they might be more talented than you ?
If you are in commerce or the military you want the best people in your team, your success depends on them.
In politics it appears contradictory, as we have seen very recently with Reform.
Without wishing to sound altruistic a leader must strive to set an example.
In public & private life.
Recent failures in commerce, the church, politics & sadly the military start at the top.
Personal standards of commitment & integrity are woeful & it trickles down.
Such standards are set in schools & at home.
The nation must build from there, so much to do so much to undo.
© Godfrey Bloom 2025 – Godfrey Bloom Online
