Gabazira's blog

As expected, the Brexit political carnage has continued this week – but there is progress, and significant at that, towards the choice of party leader and ultimately prime minister of the country. The candidate list has now been whittled down to only two – Jeremy Hunt and as expected, Boris Johnson

Pic. Credit|: BBC

However – the process and political gymnastics preceding the choice of the Conservative party leader and ultimately, Prime minister, are oblivious to an inevitable reality

That the profile of a leader chosen to lead, be it a country or organization, boils down to the culture at the organization

Culture is the ‘personality’ of an organization – the Conservative party in this particular instance. And personality, like a magnet, attracts to itself; contexts, individuals and teams that share similar value-orientation, and tends to repel the dissimilar

On several occasions, people question the values of individuals and how they got into leadership. To take this even further, they ask how such individuals could be left to continue in leadership

You have to be careful not to be hoodwinked by the notional and lose sight of the eternal verities, that we know prevail at the end of the day in such situations

Clearly, what is a no-go to the outsider, is the ideal to the insider and others that align to the values regime of such leader and organization in question

As a matter of fact, those that understand the raison detre’ at the entity in question, its personality, simply take action to bolster their man or woman in leadership

Case in point – since Friday, Boris Johnson the frontrunner in the race to become Tory party boss and ultimately prime minister of the UK, has been in the papers due to an apparent altercation with someone at home. And society’s high priests and priestesses have been quick to judge character plus decree that Boris is unfit to become prime minister. Reason: moral bankruptcy and that such an individual can’t be trusted to lead the nation

However – Boris Johnson’s judges forget one thing. That his professional and political career is littered with altercations involving – uncalled for comments on other people. And that even with such a chequered past – he has been, still is, and may continue to be the front runner in the race to succeed Theresa May. The Tory party faithful love their man

The management lesson in this blog is: apart from the few instances where there are calls for an outright organization ‘personality’ change, organization culture (personality) fit should rank high in the choice of a leader. Leaders should be chosen, for their fit to the values, beliefs, and ethos of the entity they are being asked to lead and not the other way round

So – let’s be real and let Boris be!