Leadership in a Time of Crisis

Our accustomed way of living might itself be in for major change.

Sadly, some of our current leaders seem to be convinced that the good old days are right around the corner; and that somehow or the other, we are all set to go – as it were – back to the future.

No such journey is on the horizon.

Ahead we see nothing but a host of new challenges for those who would lead at any level in this society that is ours.

On any given day, we are fascinated by some of the antics of this or that person struggling to capture the attention of the mass public.

We are also being left quite fascinated by some of the spectacle that now accompanies the struggle for power in the ranks of the Progressive Liberal Party.

Some of what we have seen borders on the farcical, while some of the same material comes laden with a slew of implications for those who ultimately win or lose.

We advise all and sundry that they would be making an egregious blunder if and when they decided that victory is theirs, regardless.

When all is said and done as regards leadership in this time of crisis, the Bahamian people will have the last word.

This happens when they vote in what are usually free and fair elections. There are very many Bahamians who have a child-like approach to leadership; believing as they do that leadership can and should be seen as a sugar-daddy kind of role – where the focus is placed on the person who has the goodies and the person who receives them.

The good leader is routinely assumed to be the kind of person who – as the saying goes – can make things happen; thus that popular penchant where patron is linked to client and where money and other perks are exchanged for service and loyalty.

In hard times, things have a tendency to drop apart; this due to the fact that patrons themselves are sometimes so hard-pressed that they are obliged to drop some of their clients.

Today we can see how this system works for some who would even imagine that they could lead this or that party. In every situation, people are called forward to answer the question, what have you done for me lately?

This way of doing things is apparently alive and well in both major political parties. And as fate would have it, both of this nation’s major political parties are – at this juncture – being led by two men who were once comrades in arms and members of the same political party.

Each man has had to answer the question concerning patronage.

Each man apparently considers himself uniquely qualified to serve as this nation’s prime minister.

Evidently, each man his own special set of explanations and rationalizations concerning the notion of leadership, what it takes to run things in these hard times and why – if given the chance – his party will make the difference that matters.

We would want to know and believe that whoever emerges as leader in this country has what it takes to help this nation of ours as it tries to find its way in a brave new world – that place where success is determined by deeds rather than words.

Whoever ultimately emerges as leader in the Progressive Liberal Party must contemplate how they are to wage a campaign against a Free National Movement that has handily won in three of the past four general election contests.

Indeed, no matter who wins the upcoming general elections could and should expect to lead in a time when things seem set to remain a challenge.

As regard such challenges, reference must be made to those that exist at the community level, where whole families are being challenged to the max.

Crime can and should be expected to continue to exact its toll, and for sure, unemployment and underemployment can and should be expected to exact their toll on communities throughout the Bahamas.

In dealing with these and any number of other stressors, leadership is sorely needed.

And even more to the point, we are absolutely convinced that the time is now for leadership – wherever it is located – to stand and be counted.