Buh-bye...

On 10th June, Congressman Dennis Kucinich took 3 hours to read 35 articles of Impeachment against President George Bush into the House Record. That's probably as far as they will go, however they do read as a comprehensive list of the failures and mistakes of the Bush administration. These include misspending, incompetence, misrepresentation, delberate misleading, invasion of a sovereign country, illegal detention, torture, imprisonment, violating laws/constitution, obstruction - the list goes on.    

Despite all this, I really find it hard to condemn George Bush. I have also been elected to an office (mine was piddlingly small in comparison – Deputy President of University of Limerick Students' Union but nonetheless important to the people who depended on me) I somehow understand how one can a) become a victim of circumstances that you don't control and b) find yourself advocating a position you don't believe because you followed a path that seemed like a good at the time) suddenly realise that, even though society tells us we can do anything, you maybe just do not have the skills for a certain part of your task.  

He has admitted that his use of phrases such as "bring them on" and "dead or alive" had "indicated to people that I was, you know, not a man of peace". However, bringing in a certain type of person into his Administration/circle of dependants, he probably allowed himself to be manipulated into these statements and the actions that went with them. He goes on to defend the Iraqi war, however saying "No I don't regret it all. But I could have used better rhetoric," Bush said. "The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision."  

A certain amount of what Bush has done has been progressive, increased funding of AIDS research in Africa, and his (late) support of efforts to bring Israeli-Palestinian peace. However, saying that he wanted to "leave behind a series of structures that makes it easier for the next president" to tackle issues such as Iran's nuclear programme and establishing a Palestinian state, is naïve wishful thinking. He is being politely listened to, but generally ignored. He is hoping to save the reputation of this disastrous Presidency through international diplomacy, but this cannot be done while he clings to Iraqi-type interventionist policies and refuses to acknowledge faults. It is for this reason that he will fail, not because he has 6 months in office. 

Bush is not a stupid man, he has gone through his life surrounding himself with excellent people and managing them efficiently. However what he probably cannot see is that he has been and is being managed by those around him. He could probably still contribute in his last 6 months to America and the world, but first he must seek forgiveness from a damaged people and a damaged world and truly build the international structure necessary to face global challenges. 

 
(Edited through addition of first paragraph on 17/06/08).

8 steps to change, could it be that easy?

I've complained a lot in this Blog about leaders (politicians especially) not leading change in their own particular areas. Obviously it's easy for me to preach this message having never (besides Student Union day) in a position to understand the difficulties that go along with the responsibility to change.

To educate myself about this I've started reading the above book, "Leading Change", by John P. Kotter. It's a book that was recommended by former Lieutenant Governor  of Massecheusets(Deputy Governor to Mitt Romney) Kerry Healey when we met her on the Boston College Young Leader's Programme 2007. She was teaching a course in Harvard where she outlined how the Romney administration adapted the above book from its private sector roots to implement public sector change in their administration.

 The 8 stage process Kotter outlines is as follows:

1. Establish a sense of urgency

2. Create the guiding coalition

3. Develop a vision and strategy

4. Communicate the change vision

5. Empower broad=based action

6. Generate short-term wins

7. Consolidate gains and produce more change

8. Anchor new approaches in the corporate culture.

 

I will report back on what the above actually means (and if I feel it has any applicability to public sector change) in a few weeks!

Young Leaders' Group  with Dr. Kerry Healey, former Lieutenant-Governor of Mass. (I'm 4th from right)