One of the major “Bromances” of modern politics has turned exceedingly sour. Former US President Donald Trump has just lashed out at the leader of the Republican Party in the Senate, Mr. Mitch McConnell, who had in turn taken the time out to say some “mean” things about Donald Trump. Despite voting to acquit Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial, Mr. McConnell then gave a speech accusing the former president of inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol Building on 6 January 2021. Details of the latest in the Trump McConnell row can be found at:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/17/trump-lashes-out-mcconnell-republican-rift-deepens
How did this relationship suddenly turn so sour? As leader
of the majority party in the senate during the four years of the Trump
Presidency, Mr. McConnell was to all intents and purposes Mr. Trump’s enabler.
Mr. McConnell practiced his constitutional obligations to check executive power
by giving the blank cheque to the administration to do whatever it wanted to
do. So, why did Mr. McConnell suddenly turn so sour on Mr. Trump.
The answer is simple. By 7 November 2020, it was clear that
the Trump Administration was on its way out and as a proverbial “lame duck”
president, Mr. Trump’s value to Mr. McConnell and the rest of the Republicans
in the senate started to decline. It didn’t help that Mr. Trump didn’t fade
away and so, there was no skin off Mr. McConnell’s nose to get snappy with Mr.
Trump.
The breakdown of the relationship between Mr. Trump and
McConnell is what you’d call the most public example of what happens to
relationships based on convenience. Unfortunately, the world is filled with
examples of leaders who derive their respect and authority from being, well in
certain positions, rather than earning their respect. As is so eloquently said
by Major Winters in Band of Brothers, “You salute the rank not the man.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTRZRRlA4sw
The military functions on a certain system. Where possible,
an effort is made to ensure that the men with certain ranks earn them. However,
relationships are ultimately built around the rank structure. A young
lieutenant commands a sergeant old enough to be his uncle because he has rank.
The said sergeant will usually act as a “guide” to the young officer who is to
all intents and purposes his boss but has less experience.
In the civil sector, things can be a little more diverse.
Instead of an obvious rank, the main differentiators are money and power (which
often go hand in hand but are not necessarily the same). In the work place for
example, we try and build relationships with the boss because he or she is the
centre of power and by extension power. You may not have to salute the rank in
the work place, you merely remember who decides if you continue collecting the
monthly pay cheque and who decides if there’s an increase or a deduction.
Most are trained to work in a career path where we get to
decide on whether the people below us get a cheque at the end of the month and
whether we cut or increase their salary. It’s a normal human case of wanting to
be the one with the power in relationships.
While most of us work hard to get into positions where we
have power over others, there is a need to solidify relationships beyond that.
If we go back to Major Winters in Band of Brothers, you’ll realise he has a
point. You salute the rank but not the man. However, there comes a time when
the man no longer fits the rank or when the man no longer has the rank but is
still required to lead. Will people still look to the man for leadership and
give the due respect when the man does not have a rank?
Let’s look at Singapore’s Prime Ministers. Modern Singapore
had Lee Kuan Yew who was a force of nature. His nature was such nobody ever
believed he had relinquished control until the day he died in 2015, even though
he had “stepped down” in 1990. It was a case of the man having control. By
contrast, we have our “Prime-Minister-in-Waiting,” Mr. Heng Swee Kiat. While
Mr. Heng is a technocrat. He’s been named deputy Prime Minister and given the
heavy-weight finance ministry. However, if he hadn’t been given the rank of
“deputy Prime Minister,” would anyone bother with Mr. Heng. Sure, Mr. Heng came
up with five budgets last year, but his leadership was, well virtually
invisible.
Singapore does need to move beyond Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Singapore
is a nation not a brand that belongs to one man. While Singapore does need a
competent leader, it does not need one that dominates everything the way Mr.
Lee did. However, we don’t the other extreme of someone who takes the rank and
sinks into the rank and does not rise to the occasion.
Life’s proverbial rank holders need to remember that while
they derived certain perks from holding the rank, they also need to remember
that they will not hold onto that rank for life and that they are likely to
have a need for the people who saluted that rank. Hence, the smarter rank
holders do enough to ensure that the people who saluted them will continue to
salute the man once the rank is over.
I take my own professional development as an example. I kept
in touch with PN Balji after he left the editorship at Today. I earned a job at
Bang PR and two court case jobs (Susan Lim vs Singapore Medical Council and Guy
Neil vs Ku De Ta). I have now reached the stage where I can pass him work.
Forgetting that holding a rank is finite, does have
consequences. Mr. Trump could not imagine that he’d lose an election and that
the judges he appointed would not support his bid to get the results struck
down. Not long after he lashed out at his former ally in the senate, Mr.
McConnell proceeded to laugh at him – something which would never have happened
when he was the president.
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