Loud and angry wordsNovember 13, 2012Dear Sir,I spent a couple of hours this weekend reading press (and public comments) related to the upcoming election and ended up feeling quite literally nauseous at the vitriolic comments (on both sides); hugely concerned about the divisiveness; weighed down by the negative energy and saddened by the waste of possibilities.Let me start by saying that in 1998, like many, I was worried by the untested nature of the new government, but I was also hopeful. Hopeful that the uncomfortable but much needed change in government would redress imbalances, focus on the needs of the elderly, the youth, the community. I am grateful to the current government for the advances made in these important areas.I would like to share my very first PLP Public meeting in the very early days in 1999. The general feeling was of lost sheep looking to the new leadership to provide clarity on an important and somewhat difficult issue, so naturally there where many questions, and a lot of uncertainty. The response was unforgettable instead of calm, reassuring wisdom and diplomacy, it was: “Sit down and shut up, we are in charge now.” In fact Dame Jennifer Smith actually said words to that effect to one attending member of the public. I was shocked, bowled over, hurt, and so I am silent and hide behind a pen name to speak these words.Dr Ewart Brown, a highly intelligent man, for whom I am now ashamed to admit I also had high hopes, effectively started his career as leader with the now famous words “we had to mislead you”. Patrice Minors, in response to genuine worries about the loss of the Botanical Gardens: “get over it, we’re moving ahead”. Madame Premier, whose father was a hugely respected member of our community: “I was just a cog.” Colonel Burch, Zane DeSilva, Rolfe Commissiong … I do not look at these people with respect, I hear their words and choose not to engage. Why? The angry words and aggressive language they choose are often very simply not words of effective leadership, of community, of bringing people together. Even Madame Premier, recently wearing army fatigues (!), and using the words “when we are attacked,…we will respond aggressively”, speaks to leadership by force. How can there possibly be a comparison with President Obama’s style of authentic leadership?As a business owner, I recognise the difficulties that come with leadership you are often faced with uncomfortable decisions, you can’t keep everyone happy all the time, people mutter in the background, but your job is to keep the overall picture in focus and do what’s best under the circumstances.I too have been in that exasperated place of wanting to say: “When you are holding the risk, you are entitled to select another option, but from my position in the driving seat, this course of action is the best option we have.” But even if you are right, this never works as a long-term strategy. You absolutely need to have all your people (not just those that agree with everything you say) on your side. You want them to walk with you no matter what, through the fire and for this, a good ear, compassion and steadfastness are imperative.The PLP may wish to applaud themselves and say our people follow us no matter what, but this is to forget that leaders are not infallible. Unquestioning followers only feed our egos and blind us further, as do those (often intelligent) contributors who offer self serving arguments, garlanded with praise. Effective leaders listen compassionately in areas where there is dissent and build consensus. This, it seems to me, is what the PLP has never fully grasped in its eagerness to finally have hold of the reins. “Sit down and shut up” and angry words have garnered only a begrudging complacency from part of the community and a refusal to engage from others.I recognise and applaud the unfailing perseverance of the PLP which ultimately gained the confidence of a majority and won them the leadership of the country in 1998. I also accept that that hard won victory was galvanised by a painful and repressed past. I accept there are deep wounds we all have our private and collective often painful histories it makes up who we are, but it doesn’t need to control what we become.A bright and optimistic future for our cherished island depends on our individual and collective ability to work together, to have the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can change, and the wisdom to know the difference. This is the dignity of our elders. Amidst the loud and angry words I now find myself drowning in, it has never been clearer to me that the words we utter as leaders have the power to create the reality that we ultimately inhabit for this lesson I am thankful.BREAKING THE SILENCESmith’s