Why We Need Good Leaders

by Sudarsan Kant

The ability of small nation-states to survive in the global economy is already being determined by factors beyond our control and Fiji has neither the time nor the luxury to pander to individuals who will bargain our future so they can hold on to the past. The most appalling fact about the ethno-nationalists is their debilitating ignorance about our socio-economic realities and their utter contempt for the people of Fiji who deserve so much better. The future is already here; we just need good people to guide us through it.

I have previously argued in this forum that bad leadership is often a consequence of poorly designed institutions that tend to perpetuate existing inequalities and social divisions. 

To develop better leaders , I theorized,  begins by paying careful attention to the architecture of formal and informal rules and the development of incentive structures to attract or inhibit entry. The elusive goal is to have ceteris paribus, a high enough barriers-to-entry that only allows individuals with the desired tangible and intangible attributes in, yet conditions not so stringent that it excludes good candidates from leadership opportunities. 

The imperatives of good leadership are an ongoing quest for societies like Fiji which sooner rather than later will have to confront extraordinary political, economic and social challenges. These challenges demand leaders who are capable of seeing beyond the insular lens of religion and ethnicity and able to envision a future that exploits the full potential of a small society in a big world. The picture thus far is neither encouraging nor optimistic that good leadership is a priority in Fiji or for the two regional powers. The former has spent most of its political capital in responding to critics abroad and wooing them at home while the latter is stuck to a set of doctrinaire policies long past their shelf life and usefulness. 

Leadership opportunities in Fiji have either come from the indigenous aristocracy or through the traditional sectors of labor and business especially amongst the Indo-Fijians. This arrangement seemed a viable, stable and an enviable achievement when compared to the misery and chaos that surrounded the experience of other post-colonial societies. Today we are casually compared to Zimbabwe. Regardless of the merits of that comparison, it is a shocking and a sad indictment that should make us pause, reflect and wonder on how far our star has fallen. 

While our decline is not irreversible, it will nonetheless require a degree of political will to cultivate the leadership we need to move us forward and confront the great issues facing us. However, before we embark on the process of preparing leaders for a people that deserve better than the ones they are often saddled with, we have to be absolutely clear about the kinds of leaders Fiji cannot afford to have going into the future.

The singular group that poses a real danger to the Republic is those individuals driven by narrow sectarian and ethnic agendas. Our multicultural society has always posed a threat to those who truck and barter with the currency of hate and prejudice. Ethno-nationalism will not only undermine the fragile bonds of our multi-ethnic society but also retard our capacity to flourish globally in the future. We can choose to either spend valuable resources to attenuate communal grievances and social balkanization or we  can harness our diverse energies to build a better country. The complicated demands of national leadership in Fiji today must yield to individuals who are capable of transcending narrow self-interest and strive for the common good. The failure to confront this threat is to consign our children and their children to a future that is bleak, hopeless and impoverished.

The fundamental flaw of a nationalist agenda circumscribed by race, religion or some other narrow category is its denial of global reality, and therefore an exercise in self-delusion. Globalization has effectively demonstrated that the production and delivery of goods, ideas and services have little bearing on ethnic or religious particularities and everything to do with skill, education and innovation. Even traditionally homogeneous societies robustly embrace intercultural exchange, learning and collaboration, as a stroll across any university campus in Australia, New Zealand, Europe or North America will testify to this reality. 

Societies that cling to the insular demands of tribe or creed fail to take advantage of the vibrancy of human capital that is transnational, accumulative, expansionist and in service of a global economy. Who cares if a Muslim develops a pill in France that is manufactured in China with investment from Australia, that  heals a child in Mexico? We can replicate this scenario a million fold in all human endeavors, from civil service best practices to the latest street fashion that is using the stock of human capital to enrich our lives and that of future generations. The future is too important to leave it in the hands of political Neanderthals who are unable to acknowledge this changing landscape and the responsibilities attached to this awareness.

Good leadership does not elide over the varied differences that are constitutive of most societies, nor is it oblivious to the asymmetrical allocations of resources and power in communities they lead. However, good leaders do not cynically exploit these fundamental differences of race, religion and ethnicity for political ends and ultimately deplete our stock of tolerance and goodwill towards each other. 

The ability of small nation-states to survive in the global economy is already being determined by factors beyond our control and Fiji has neither the time nor the luxury to pander to individuals who will bargain our future so they can hold on to the past. The most appalling fact about the ethno-nationalists is their debilitating ignorance about our socio-economic realities and their utter contempt for the people of Fiji who deserve so much better. The future is already here; we just need good people to guide us through it.

University of Missouri

kantsudarsan@hotmail.com