Where leaders dare – McSherry’s Musings

“When there’s a disagreement we talk about it for a while and then discover that I was right all along’ – so said Brian Clough, a leader in the world of sport, who was never known to hide his light under a bushel. When asked about his place among soccer managers working in England, he replied, “I would say I’m definitely in the top one”.

And yet Clough needed his assistant Peter Taylor. Once he and Taylor parted company, success proved elusive. His tenure at Leeds United was a total nightmare. However, later on, reunited with Taylor, Clough did great things at Nottingham Forest.

Much loathed Margaret Thatcher was something similar in the world of politics. She came across as this all-powerful, lonely-at-the-top figure of the Iron Lady. Yet she famously said, “Every Prime Minister needs a Willie” – referring of course to her second-in-command, William Whitelaw, her most trusted adviser. In fact he was irreplaceable. After he left the cabinet her leadership suffered, for there was no one else she could really trust.

This war in Ukraine has got me thinking about the nature of leadership. There’s an old story about a fictional Russian president who addressed his colleagues thus, “Comrades, yesterday we stood on the edge of the abyss, but today we have taken a great step forward”. That’s what used to be called a witticism. These days it is more likely to rouse a worried smile.

There probably has not been so much talk about the danger of nuclear war since the dark days of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Being only in my third year at the time, it did not worry me too much. But many older people believed that a third world war was in prospect.

Cuba had become a Communist state under Fidel Castro and the Americans discovered that the Russians were erecting launch pads for nuclear missiles on the island, about 90 miles from the American mainland. President Kennedy certainly had his faults, but there is one thing he was not – and that is a hawk.

Throughout the two-week crisis there were members of his military staff saying that he should bomb Cuba, but Kennedy resisted doing anything rash, since the stakes were so high. He was also greatly supported by his brother, the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy.

Eventually Kennedy settled for a naval blockade of the island. The world held its breath as Russian ships carrying missiles for the launch pads sailed toward Cuba. However, at the eleventh hours, a deal was struck between Kennedy and Khrushchev and the Russian ships turned back. The world breathed a collective sigh of relief, while Kennedy’s profile as a world leader was definitely enhanced.

Many moons ago, in a sociology textbook about people and government, I came across this Roger McGough poem called ‘The Leader’: “I wanna be the leader – Can I be the leader? Can I? I can? Promise? Promise? Yippee I’m the leader, I’m the leader, OK what shall we do?”

It is obvious that this person is more of a follower than a leader. The real power rests with those who put him there. The last line, however, may point to the kind of progressive leader who is open-minded and willing to listen, although the evidence of the poem would hardly support such a positive reading.

Many leaders, and Putin is one of them, present themselves as authoritarian father figures who tend to infantilise the people they lead. Often they can provide great comfort in times of crisis, as Donald Trump did for many Americans. But such father figures can be dangerous too. They cannot tolerate criticism or disobedience from their ‘children’. Look what happened to Russian citizens protesting against the war in Ukraine, they are battened and jailed. One of Russia’s disobedient children, Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova said, “You cannot play nice with Putin. He is insane. He might open fire on his own people”.

Less common than the father figure is the heroic leader who can inspire and bring out what is best in his people. And such a leader has the Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky shown himself to be, as he circulates among his people wearing battle fatigues and drinking tea with his soldiers. Shortly after the conflict started President Biden offered him safe passage out of the country. Zalensky’s daring response, “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”

A few days ago in a scene that was truly surreal Zelensky addressed a packed House of Commons via video link and began to cite Winston Churchill in a speech that recalled Britain’s stand against Nazi Germany in 1940. He received a standing ovation – and all this before a Prime Minister who would also like to channel his inner Churchill.

The contrast between Putin and Zelensky could not be more marked. Putin has become a pariah figure, a bully for much of the western world and beyond. While Zelensky, the ex-comic actor who became President, has only grown in stature as a true leader. We can only hope for a negotiated settlement to the conflict. A wider war must be avoided.

As Albert Einstein said, “I don’t know what weapons will be used in World War III, but I know that World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”