In My Opinion
Old leaders are not necessarily great ones
By Jackie Bueno Sousa
jsousa@MiamiHerald.com
MiamiHerald.com/columnists
For a people so intent on affecting world history, Cuba's political
elite seems conveniently unaware of some of time's greatest leaders.
Asked recently why Cuba's top brass is devoid of young blood and
consists mostly of old men, Ricardo Alarcon, the head of Cuba's
legislature, said there was a simple explanation: the CIA has failed to
kill the old timers off.
Guess Alarcon never heard of Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, the two-time
Roman dictator who accepted his role temporarily and disinterestedly.
Twice, when Rome's senate found the republic under siege or rebellion,
it named Cincinnatus a dictator, granting him total power as he entered
battle. Both times, upon achieving victory, he immediately resigned the
dictatorship to return to his farm.
Note to Alarcon: that's returned to the farm, not bought the farm.
Really, death isn't the only avenue for exiting a position of
leadership, not even one that's dictatorial. Just ask former comrade
Mikhail Gorbachev.
Many great leaders know what the Cuba apparatchik can't seem to grasp:
Leadership shouldn't be confused with position or title or authority.
Many good leaders, in fact, have had none of that. Instead, they've
changed society by pushing forward a worthy idea or cause.
Problem is Cuba's ranking government officials haven't had an
interesting idea or cause since the world's romantic interlude with
communism proved unworthy. Rather than step aside and allow new ideas to
flourish, Cuba's old guard has held on to power mistakenly believing
that their titles make them leaders. It makes them authority figures,
administrators, decision-makers, managers, perhaps even facilitators.
Great leaders are all those things and so much more. They set examples
that others want to follow. When George Washington, having reluctantly
served a second term, refused to try for a third, he set a precedent
that was voluntarily followed by U.S. presidents for well over a hundred
years.
The quip about the CIA came in the aftermath of last month's Communist
Party Congress, when the party officially named Raul Castro, 79, to
brother Fidel's former post as first secretary. It also designated two
new deputies — Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 80, and Ramiro Valdes, 78.
Meanwhile, younger, up-and-coming members of the party were relegated to
lesser status.
The international press was quick to note the lack of youth at the top
ranks, while Raul Castro claimed that the country doesn't yet have young
leaders who are fit to take the reins from the elder statesmen.
Both the media and Raul missed the mark. The problem isn't that Cuba's
government elite lacks youth. The problem is that Cuba lacks good
leaders — of any age. Raul and Fidel have plenty of leadership traits,
to be sure, but they'll hardly go down in history as great leaders.
The leadership qualities they have — courage, intellect and an
unflinching drive to bring about transformational change — aren't enough
to compensate for the ones they lack: selflessness, perspective and the
wisdom that comes from diverse thought.
Alarcon could well have been joking with his CIA comment. If not, it
wouldn't be the first time Cuba's political elite, particularly the
Castros, blame the United States for Cuba's predicaments. The
alternative would be for them to take responsibility for the sad state
of the country, for more than 50 years of bad decisions and bad policy.
Then again, taking responsibility is something we'd expect of great
leaders. No sense in expecting it of them.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/10/2210223/old-leaders-are-not-necessarily.html
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