LEADERSHIP: LESSONS FROM TIANANMEN SQUARE

Published: 2009-06-29   please add a comment below

Most of us would rate the Chinese Communist Party as both tough and inflexible.  And, we'd be right about tough.  But, wrong about inflexible.  Reflecting on the twentieth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, here are some quotes from the May 30th edition of The Economist.  "After the massacre, the Communist Party set about transforming itself."  And, today, "the outcome is a wholesale reinvention."  If colleagues reviewed your leadership over the last two decades, would they report "wholesale reinvention"?  Or, more of the same?  And, if the Chinese Communist Party can change so radically, what can you learn from it?

Post Tiananmen Square, the Party "launched a vast historical investigation into how political parties fall, and how they stay in power.  Everyone was scrutinised, from Saddam Hussein to Scandinavian social democrats."  "Shortcomings that were identified included corruption, lack of accountability in decision-making, no convincing ideology, and an ossified structure."

While the parallel is crude, the global economy has recently created carnage for all of us - with plenty of financial blood-letting.  And, as leaders, we have daunting challenges in this upturned world.  We're beset by skittish customers, cost cutting, old and new competitors, employee demoralisation and so on.  So, what are our questions equivalent to those the Party asked itself?  Here are six to ponder:

• What are the most important changes in your markets?
• How are you rethinking your strategy - to adapt and win?
• What tactical innovations are you considering to hone your competitive edge?
• How can you re-jig work priorities and approaches to save money and increase output?
• What new skills and resourcing do you - and others - need?
• How's all this to be communicated?

After its review 20 years ago, the Party wasn't half-hearted.  It sent members "back to school."  Recruited "bright technocrats and entrepreneurs."  Opened some appointments to "peer scrutiny."  Fired "whole armies of time-servers."  And, shifted propaganda to "talking up the economy", "emphasising achievements", "turning natural disasters into quasi-religious occasions" and repeating endlessly "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China."  (In your business, what are comparable core messages you can use to align and motivate people?)

The Economist concludes: it's not surprising today "no national movement challenges the Party's monopoly."  There may be leadership splits or other problems going forward.  But, contrary to forecasts in 1989, the "Party (today) glides smoothly upon the tide of history."

If you want to be a successful leader, particularly now when assumptions have been wrenched from their foundations, you'll have to learn from the Party.  And, if an organisation of 74m members can be flexible, it sets a high bar.  But, being a centrally-controlled economy, there's one thing I'll guarantee: they made a plan - and, acted on it.

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®