Jerry S Grafstein - A Leader Must Be a Leader: Encounters With Eleven Prime Ministers

A LEADER MUST
BE A LEADER

Encounters with Eleven
Prime Ministers

A LEADER MUST
BE A LEADER

Encounters with Eleven
Prime Ministers

Hon. Jerry S. Grafstein, Q.C.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Title: A leader must be a leader : encounters with eleven prime ministers / Jerry Grafstein.

Names: Grafstein, Jerry S., 1935- author.

Description: Includes index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20190083751 | Canadiana (ebook) 20190083786 | ISBN 9781771614085 (softcover) | ISBN 9781771614092 (HTML) | ISBN 9781771614108 (Kindle) | ISBN 9781771614115 (PDF)

Subjects: LCSH: Political leadershipCanada. | LCSH: Political psychologyCanada. | LCSH: Prime ministersCanada. | LCSH: Prime ministersCanadaBiography.

Classification: LCC JC330.3 .G73 2019 | DDC 320.01/9dc23

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote a brief passage in a review.

Published by Mosaic Press, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, 2019.

Copyright Jerry S. Grafstein 2019

We acknowledge the Ontario Arts Council
for their support of our publishing program

MOSAIC PRESS

1252 Speers Road, Units 1 & 2

Oakville, Ontario L6L 5N9

phone: (905) 825-2130

info@mosaic-press.com

We accept in the fullest sense of the word the settled and
persistent will of the people. All of this idea of a group of
supermen or super-planners making the masses of the people do
what they think is good for them, without any check or correction
is a violation of democracy.

Winston Churchill, House of Commons, Nov. 1947

Table of Contents

Dedication

T his book is dedicated to Roy Faibish whose ideas on politics, the meaning of history and political leadership remain as insightful as they were inspirational.

And to Keith Davey, a master of politics, who studied political leadership at close hand and freely passed on the lessons he learned suffused with his special brand of the joy of politics.

A Leader Must be A Leader

Encounters with Eleven Prime Ministers

T his book essays political leadership in modern Canada. Based on impressions and personal encounters with each of the last eleven Prime Ministers, their followers, reflections on their paths to power, and their legacies still being written on the pages of history all in the context of their times as observed through the eyes of an insider, political activist and participant.

A Leader Must be A Leader

Encounters with Eleven Prime Ministers

The two most important days in your life
are the day you are born and the day you
find out why.
Mark Twain

I have been privileged to observe the last eleven Prime Ministers of Canada and interact with each of them since my first political experiences in the late 50s and early 60s. What follows are my reflections and personal impressions on leadership and their leadership as Prime Ministers for almost three score years. For the record, I have included my take on their legacies.

Factors of Leadership

Like all politicians have, I became obsessed with the factors that made a leader a leader early on. Was leadership a natural or learned skill set? What unique amalgam of oratory, and most especially, self-awareness of ones persona, separate wannabee leaders from the pinnacle of leadership?

Beyond a leaders inherent aptitudes for leadership is the ability to be, or exhibit, empathy, if not compassion, with members of the public. Words are the leaders tools of the trade. Body language in the age of visuality is equally important. Perception becomes reality. To speak and invoke inspiration or have the gift of persuasion to groups, large and small, spontaneously or with careful forethought is a necessary Of course, per force, a leader needs to be a quick study, well informed and a good listener a quick and thoughtful responder. A major criterion of leadership is to attract a loyal team that are skilled and comfortable in a team environment under the publics glare.

Keeping a cool head when other lose theirs in a crisis is the epitome of leadership. No leader is perfect. He Mistakes are often made in haste. How to recoup is a necessary skill. For this, he needs a tight rapid response team he trusts to get at the facts of any surprise, for in these modern times, there are many swift changing parts at home and abroad. The public has access to more platforms of news and is bombarded with information and the wide range of issues from natural disasters to identity to nuke weaponry that is both constant and astonishing. So, a leader and his team must keep up with fast breaking news, separating facts from fiction or opinion.

Most politicians aspire to leadership, but so very few achieve their goal. Usually a long preoccupation and a lust for making

Each successful leader is a master of the dark arts of politics, and as Churchill once wrote, needs, at times, to be a butcher to chop errant supporters especially his Cabinet, whilst he keeps his own counsel. To be a skillful self-promotor and propagandist while appearing sincere and authentic, even reticent, is an essential talent to become a leader and practice leadership.

While the public understands ambition, it usually prefers those who do not appear power hungry.

Leaders will find their groove like a championship golfer. Once in that groove, some leaders, unsure of their own talents, demonize their political predecessors who always leave a mess and are quick to project blame for their mishaps on the others. Other leaders disdain this narrative and eschew this line of politics, believing their own merit and ideas will win the day.

A Leaders Coterie

The leaders coterie quickly learns to align their echo chamber with their leaders policies or stances to spread his word. A leader of necessity to be a leader needs to attract a tight circle of followers and acolytes, as he practices perfecting his style. Can his coterie avoid the public eye? Rarely. If they dont, the leader to focus on this torqued market once empowered. Every leader, or his followers, are loath and reluctant to take responsibility for his own flaws or their mistakes, but rather light an incendiary torch to his adversaries to distract attention while seeking to maintain public empathy, if not sympathy, and supporter affinity.

Chief of Staff

Many Prime Ministers get off to a rocky start as the Prime Ministers election crew is suddenly confronted by a constant avalanche of problems and tasks that assail a Prime Minister once he accedes to office. One important key to this dilemma are the skill sets of the Prime Ministers Chief of Staff formerly called Principal Secretary.

John Diefenbaker never truly solved this endemic problem in his office. Mike Pearson appointed a youthful Jim Coutts who quickly grew in the job and matured later when Pierre Trudeau, after disastrous mistakes in his first period in office and some turnovers, appointed Jim, his Principal Secretary, in 1974 for the balance of his term in government.