In the mountain of books pending reading, last weekend I managed to rescue the manual of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, With leadership. Lessons for the 21st century. Although today he is not a very beloved figure on the left, as he continues to be judged severely for the disastrous war in Iraq, His leadership between 1994 and 2007 was energetic, visionary and pragmaticwhich allowed the weakened Labor to overcome Thatcherite hegemony, obtaining great electoral victories.
After leaving Downing Street, he created the Institute for Global Change, which advises governments and political leaders in more than 40 countries around the world. Blair is not retired from public life, and this book is also proof of that. In Spain, however, not much attention has been paid to it, although There are passages that the advisors of Pedro Sanchez They will surely have stood out.
Particularly, in relation to communication and scandal management, The book connects very well with our current situation. There is a chapter titled Avoid paranoia, even if they are coming for youafter which it is impossible not to think of Sánchez’s words on Constitution Day in which he claimed to be the victim of “a political, media and also judicial strategy against him and his closest environment.” Blair notes that all governments suffer scandals of one kind or another.
Unlike a dictatorship, where they can hide, in democracy, as they gain strength, they can consume a lot of energy, “distract and distort the government agenda, and leave the leader frustrated and exhausted.” Which is what happened to the Spanish president last April when, for five days of reflectionit seemed like he was going to throw in the towel. No one has become a leader without some kind of struggle, so from the moment they reach the top, there are groups of people who try to throw them out of power.. About this, the leader of the PSOE wrote a famous resistance manual.
“Sometimes wrongly, sometimes rightly, they’re out to get you,” Blair writes. And that leads to a “high potential for paranoia,” which is “bad for the government.”bad for decision making. Now, it is necessary, he clarifies, to make a distinction between authentic scandals, which bring to light corruption or unexemplary behavior in his environment, and which have the potential to bring down the leader, and others that are invented or manifestly exaggerated based on trivial facts.
In the case of Sánchez right now, we are witnessing a mix between the two, which only time will elucidate, especially when he leaves office. Most of the accusations being leveled today will surely fade away, and Of his mandate, which is far from over, only real achievements or failures will remain.