This weekend, the UK celebrates an extended weekend in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. I am neither a Royalist nor a Republican. Annoyingly, I can see the arguments of both camps and can certainly put forward a few of my own. However, I am a firm believer in “lessons learned” and in using the pros and cons of every situation to learn and develop myself and those around me.
So, what lessons can be learnt from the Queen’s 60 years of leadership?
1) Consistency
Numerous Governments, Prime Ministers and world Presidents have come and gone during the last 60 years, but the Queen has stayed as a consistent force to remind everyone all over the world that UK is open for business as usual. It is also a reassuring reminder of the ultimate accountability and ownership of various internal policies and strategies (e.g. from the numerous British PMs over the years) resting with the same person. There is therefore a certain amount of confidence that is derived from knowing that incoming governments can’t go mad with their policies just because they think that they may not be in sittu for long.
2) Connectivity
As a leader of any establishment (work, business, home, church etc) the ability to connect with a majority of your people/followers remains one of the most critical success criteria and one of the most difficult. As people live longer and retire later, the challenges of connecting with different age generations and still remain relevant to all, heightens this difficulty. The culture, behaviours and landscape that the Queen inherited when she came into power in 1952, is completely different to the one that exists in 2012! The expectations of the people in the post war Britain of 1952 were no doubt, a whole lot simpler than are today. The Queen is aging. She is a Grandmother and is still expected to carry on with the official duties and travels that befit the position. Retirement may seem like great prospect on some cold days when her bones are weary, but her sense of duty, and some may argue, lack of a “credible” and ready successor, prevents her from doing this now. The pleasure that can be seen on the faces of young children and old adults alike whenever the Queen is around as well as the fact that thousands are expected to willingly and happily (there are no choreographed emotions in the UK!) give up their hard earned public holiday break to line up the streets to participate in the celebrations, says a lot about how the Queen has connected with many.
3) Creativity
The Queen and her family have had to reinvent themselves from the stuffy, aloof, almost colonial type of leadership to what we see now. The ability to anticipate the mood and needs of your people/followers and adapt your style accordingly, requires a serious element of creative thinking, thinking out of the box and listening. This is not always easy – which is why we should surround ourselves with competent and courageous people who are able to provide creative and often alternative suggestions to the norm. Today’s preoccupation with employing people who are clones of us, “Mini- Mes” or “Yes Men” and “Yes Women”, is, I suggest, an unwelcome antidote to creative thinking. Likewise, our tendencies to shout down any ideas that may not be what we were expecting is simply stupid.
These are some of the many foods for thought from the reign of HRH, Queen Elizabeth II.
I cannot agree more with your thoughts about the Queen and the institution she represents. She has in no small measure and consistency over the decades lived up to the aspiration and expectation of the British people and in deed all admirers of the monarchy all over the world. She is the supreme and iconic world monarch if you will. In my opinion she has set the standard against which any other successful monarch in the world would be compared.
Her remarkable ability to adapt to changing times and circumstances without compromising the ideals of the institution has kept her appeal and relevance to the people. The peculiar circumstance of events during her reign such as the 2nd world war and the colonial era time of her travels to install the head of one newly independent state or another has etched a special memory of her in the minds of many people and has helped to make her reign over these many years enduring.
In addition, she has been blessed with good health of mind and body and that has helped her to withstand the rigors of office and to remain in office up to this day.
The worry or what you may call fear of the unknown is what will happen after her reign which many may have begun to perceive will come to an end soon. That thinking may have unwittingly boosted the turn out and outpouring of genuine love and emotion on display at her majesty’s sixtieth for people who wish to savour this ‘last’ moment, anticipating that the institution of the monarchy may loose its shine after her reign.
I guess that people may have harboured the same feeling when she was installed as a young and inexperienced Queen but she rose to the occasion. I expect the same to happen if the transition is handled with wisdom.