Here's my thought for the day:
So, I was watching Kevin Rudd's address to the nation the other night, like many of you might have. I don't generally watch the news because if the news were a person it would be schizophrenic, bipolar, psychotic, and full of malice - except for the token daily announcement at the end of each news broadcast that an ice-bear cub has been born at a Zoo somewhere in the world. If the news were a person, I would find that person very high-maintenance.
Because I, as a Swede with permanent residency status in Australia, have 'taxation without representation' and cannot vote in Australia, I'd like to express my human opinion on this issue here - not on the politics, but on the leadership qualities that I have observed recently.
Three things struck me about Kevin 07's address:
a. How much of the economic downgrade is in fact a confidence downgrade?
b. If a large proportion of the economic downgrade is in fact a confidence downgrade, shouldn't our leaders try to motivate trust, confidence, creativity, and innovation [and no, not just with hand-outs]?
c. By announcing 'unprecedented measures for unprecedented times' and 'crisis packages', is the crisis and the fear in Kevin's eyes not in fact a self-fulfilling prophecy?
I believe people out there are genuinely scared, and they need strong leadership. Leadership that is inspirational, certain, innovative, creative - even funky! Leadership that declares that 'we will make it through this'. Leadership that says, 'hey, we have enjoyed 17 years of unprecedented economic growth, we are currently experiencing a slow-down, but we need to upgrade our thinking, our marketing, our positioning, our universities to ensure we get back on the right track.'
Strong leadership is not just 'stimulus packages'. Does anybody feel 'stimulated' by the logical, analytical number-crunching administration talk of hand-outs?