political intelligence concluding part 5 of 5
Firm yet flexible
Political leaders must be decisive and also demonstrate they are decisive. Here again this is also about optics. Many times such leaders go into the crowd over ruling and often ignoring the advice of the security staff. Though not a right thing to do, they do it all the time to prove a point ‘I am strong and brave’. They are also firm and a good leader must be firm and yet flexible.
Levels of politicians- span of control changes drastically- at times exponentially
Putting it in the simplest way; people in politics fall into three buckets. Most people move gradually from C to B and then to A. It is a rough and tough climb. You require talent, Political Intelligence, networking and a lot of luck to move from one level to the other.
The top most bucket- grade A
This bucket is where national leaders reach and occupy high positions in the government. Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues, ministers at different levels.
This is a level when your responsibilities, span of control and radius of influence hit a real high and your powers are exponentially catapulted. You need to deal with industrial bodies, economic foray, health experts, foundations of significance- above all matters of national security. You have almost unlimited powers to do something good or harm your people and world at large. You deal in billions and talk in trillions. You can sanction/allocate lacks of corers from public kitty –exchequer.
‘What political leaders decide, intelligence services tend to seek to justify’. — Henry A. Kissinger
Between B and A there is another level of people who may not hold a government office but do hold a party position like a party spokes person of ruling party or major opposition party. They also hold part office positions and can be major political influencers as their voices matter- depending on how astute and useful are to people actually holding government political offices like ministers.
The middle rung politicians- grade B
State level politicians who are Cabinet colleagues of the Chief Minister of a state.Members of Parliament and MLAs are also in this bucket
The bottom most — grass roots-riff raff — grade C
This is the grass root level politicians who may or may not have official status but are office bearers of various political parties. They need to create their own space. Some of them try to acquire power by pressure tactics and can influence local civic bodies. In Indian democracy they are corporators looking after a particular geographical area in a city
‘Sustainable development is the pathway to the future we want for all. It offers a framework to generate economic growth, achieve social justice, exercise environmental stewardship and strengthen governance.’
Ban Ki-moon
