The L word

Leadership, leadership! We need another leader. Or we need more leadership. Or we need less leadership? The L word becomes -very fast- a lastig word. Or rather a boring word.

After some initial words of satisfaction, and then after the cold blooded analysis of numbers from David Rietveld, it is clear that Groenlinks has been defeated in the last election. Does that have to mean that the relevant issue is the leadership of Femke? I hope that the antics of Verdonk and Rutte give us the needed soberness to evaluate what happens when we focus on the poppertjes. A sorry state of affairs, that is. The VVD today follows the known dictum: “When in confusion, run in circles and shout” What they are shouting is leaders, leaders! We need a better leader! Or: I'm the leader! I'm the leader!

Are we going to follow suit here?

Yesterday I wrote about coaches and ceos. The intended point is that a political party is nor a football team nor a business. Moreover, Femke (in principle, but only her, also the party top) has deserved our support for the course that she set up. Part of the decided strategy has not been successful, at least not in the elections. So now is time to evaluate what went wrong, and what changes are we willing to do. Then it makes sense to see which team is going to carry those changes, if changes we decide to have.

I am strongly convinced that we need more clarity in our political activism. But let's not allow ourselves to get convinced that clarity boils down to single words. Coaching or Leadership, Coalitions or CEOs are merely headlines of a discussion. What we need to think is in the content of the discussion. Let's help the partijbestuur to organize that sotto voce coming discussion on our ideas in the coming year, let's see who is willing to walk into the partijbestuur from december onwards. As you dutchies say, there is enough work to do in the winkel. Not the time to run in circles screaming for the head of somebody, rather the time to use our own heads.