How ‘below the line’ behaviour, which is driven by fear and pride, comes from the top and how our politicians act can affect the whole nation.
At the present time both politicians and business leaders are behaving in a ‘below the line’ manner which is affecting the general population too. We’re seeing it across the world too with Donald Trump seemingly actively encouraging anger and negative behaviour.
While no-one can claim that politics has ever been ‘nice’, what does it say about the people leading our country when this behaviour is becoming the norm and how does it affect our behaviour as a nation?
Politicians have positive intentions, but is their impact negative?
If you asked politicians if they love their country and want to make their country better, more economically viable and be the best country it can be, you will get resounding YES! So why do we, the public, cringe at their behaviour and often describe it as toxic? In every corporate leadership development programme we conduct, the topic of politicians invariably comes up as an example of ineffective leadership – what not to do or say. Yet these politicians are leading our countries – embarrassingly so, many think.
Blind leading the blind
Survival in politics has reverted to negative behaviour, that according to years of our research, is driven by fear and ego-pride. Fear of losing, fear of being wrong or not having an answer, fear of failure, which are then masked by aggressive ego-pride behaviours such as competitive-slander, controlling-bullying and sarcastic-criticism. Politicians have become so blinded by this polarizing conduct that it has become the norm and accepted way of doing politics. We even refer to ‘playing politics’ as a way to describe negative culture in our business world. We call this below the line behaviour. Surprisingly, people vote for this behaviour because they want change and want someone to be their hero and we the public are left with no alternative. History has shown that when the public are living in fear, they look for a ruler, an aggressive leader to take control … then they sit around complaining about the behaviour after the person is elected!
There is another way
The irony is the people we admire most in history, who have changed a nation, have been purpose-driven and it takes strong yet humble leaders to shift mindsets. Leaders who are prepared to hear the heart of the people, stand for what is right and work at shifting hearts and minds of a nation. Our research shows that effective behaviour, which we call above the line, is based on courageous-humility and growth-driven love. So, we would see behaviour such as authenticity, achievement-driven focus, purposeful vulnerability, relating to and caring for others, and being prepared to listen. Where are we seeing this type of behaviour being demonstrated in politics?
Mindset of a nation
Yes, politicians, leaders and change-makers need to be assertive, driven to make change and have something to say. Being overly passive and overly nice doesn’t drive change. However, when the below the line behaviour becomes a normal way of operating to lead a nation, what hope do we have of future generations seeing a positive role model in their lifetime? The current generations are rolling their eyes at these old school, big boy bully tactics. Yet they are left with little alternatives to respect, trust or admire.
The mission of politics
We all know the main mission of politics is economics and to make a nation economically sustainable but wouldn’t it be great to see a group of political leaders attend a leadership and personal development programme to understand people, behaviour and how to communicate with heart and smart.
By Dr Mara Klemich and Stephen Klemich
Stephen and Dr Mara Klemich, founders of the Heartstyles Indicator, authors of ABOVE THE LINE: Living and Leading with Heart (Harper Business, January 2020) https://heartstyles.com/book