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LEADERSHIP QUALITIES

© Linda Little

In a little while the people of America will be asked to vote for a new president. It is not just Americans who have to decide who is to rule their countries though. All citizens who live in a democracy have the right to decide this for themselves. It is one of the priveleges of being a citizen. Since all rights also carry obligations, it is important for all of us to realise that our choice of leader can mean the difference between a beautiful, unique world and environmental chaos.

So what do we need in our leaders?

1. Somebody who listens: not just to big business, not just to the powerful, not just to the influential...but to those who voice their concerns about environmental degradation of important natural habitats; those who protest angrily about the environmental injustice of forcing poor people to live in the most degraded areas; those who worry that our attempts to make our own lives easier are contributing to the extinction of species on our planet.
2. Someone who hears: not just that a powerful government must make money...but that a truly powerful government should lead by example, that a truly powerful economy should be accountable for the environmental damage it creates and that the no government, however powerful, should build that power by climbing on the backs of the poor - whether this is within their own country or in terms of poorer countries elsewhere.
3. Someone who understands: not just how to get elected or keep the electorate sweet...but someone who understands that ignoring environmental problems does not make them go away or prevent them from becoming more of a problem in the future.
4. Someone who speaks the truth: that unless we make the polluter pay for the damage he/she creates, we will have increasing environmental damage which will eventually effect not only the lifestyles but the very existence of all the people on this planet; that unless we make people assess the environmental impact of all projects, we can create the sort of environmental damage that we may never have the resources to rectify or even irreversible damage; that unless we look at the world's resources as gifts for all the world's people and not merely priveleges for the richer nations, we may create such fundamental divides both within and between nations that the gulf between rich and poor will be insurmountable.

Will the leader you vote for show such qualities? If not, then we may be in for a world of suffering.