Boris Johnson can't stay at the top indefinitely, the question is how will he descend?
Boris Johnson's inability to self-reflect as a leader could signal the beginning of the end, says Associate Professor of Management Learning and expert in leadership Dr Chris Dalton, from Henley Business School.
As events gather pace around him, is Boris Johnson any good at the vital leadership skill of reflecting? We may never know for sure, but on the public evidence of the last few days and weeks, the answer has to be: no, he is not.
When the cracks in the hull of the ship become large enough for the rats to start jumping, what would a self-aware and reflective leader do? In PMQs today, the Prime Minister’s response was “keep going”. This is worrying because whether or not you agree with the policies, and whether or not you like his charm or cringe at his character, an inability to observe, without judgment, the world as it is may be the beginning of the end: a sequence ending in disastrous decision-making on issues with real and lasting consequences.
Every political leader requires some acumen to get to the top. However, that sort of public climb only implies a certain type of relational awareness. If it is one concerned with pleasing or dominating others, or finding validation in the eyes of others, then it can only get a person so far. No doubt every leader needs some of this awareness, but if it is not balanced by an “acumen of the self”, the person will be lost in the external priorities of staying put in their ascent.
But no one stays at the top indefinitely. The only question is how, and not whether, they will descend.
What is going wrong in the Prime Minister’s case is now probably too late to fix. Boris Johnson is not likely to become a self-aware and reflective thinker. He will not place himself beneath the role or in service of something larger than himself.
Acumen needs to look within as well as with-out. It needs to reflect. A person can deny this truth only for so long before context turns around and says “so long”.