By Ronald Austin Jr
ON April 7th 1837, Hans Christian Andersen, a Danish author, published ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’. This is a short tale that details the story of two weavers who were summoned by an Emperor to create new suits for the Emperor’s official duties.
The weavers came up with a grand tailoring scheme and claimed they will create suits that are invisible only to those who were unfit for their positions, stupid or incompetent.
When the so called suits were completed, the vain Emperor paraded in front of his supplicants with ‘new clothes/new suits’ and nobody attempted to inform the leader that he was not wearing any clothes. Succumbing to the Weavers’ trick, no lip moved in fear of being labelled as unfit, stupid or incompetent.
It was a child who shouted “But he isn’t wearing anything at all”. This story has been translated into many languages and the title is an idiom for something widely accepted due to the refusal of persons to challenge or criticise due to the panic of upsetting their leader. In other words, the famous question is ‘who will tell the Emperor he has no clothes? Those who cannot muster the strength to speak truth to power are dead souls.
What is the opposite of a dead soul? Someone who can speak truth to power. What is speaking truth to power? This means believing deeply in what you say and fighting every day to have that heard. It might not be popular, it requires testicular fortitude in any context and it is an undertaking that is invariably avoided by the majority due to the consequences of ruffling feathers or rocking the proverbial boat.
This could range from being a feisty debater in meetings or in any decision making context or simply telling your boss the reality of the situation. Few would opt to do this based on the jitters of losing their jobs or falling out of favour with those who wield power.
Those who conduct themselves with integrity and professionalism always can become part of that rear respected coterie of individuals who are the opposite of silent bobble heads. Make yourself extremely resourceful, knowledgeable, professional and honest that even though your opinions might make the Emperor/Empress uncomfortable, he/she cannot function without your service because you are extremely critical to the survival of the empire or the organisation. It must be noted, this scenario most likely plays out under authoritarian or dictatorial leadership.
People choose to be dead souls because speaking truth to power is dangerous in some situations. While it is indeed fraught with dangers, there are long term benefits. The likes of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and many other revolutionaries did this and suffered. Of course, these noble humans completed their task in a much larger context but the principles being advocated in this column are best exemplified by the aforementioned larger than life individuals. They refused to remain silent and as a consequence, their legacies are eternal.
In her magnus opus, ‘The March of Folly’ Barbara Tuchman documents silly decisions that resulted in massive historical disasters due to the fact that basic common sense warnings were ignored. She referred to this occurrence as the march of folly. While this book does not speak directly to what is being contended here, the idea of refusing to yield to the vocal and uncomfortable voices by powerful leaders in history, is an undercurrent in her writing. Hence the need to reference.
Further, it was Pope Alexander VI who warned a group of Cardinals that “The most grievous danger for any Pope lies in the fact that encompassed as he is by flatters, he never hears the truth about his own person and ends by not wishing to hear it”. The smart thinking leader will embrace the unfettered voice that offers wise counsel. However, this is often not the case, the dead soul is loved by a megalomaniac leader.
They bring adulation and admiration, they feed the ego of the Emperor. In one of my favorite movies, ‘The Last King of Scotland’, a dramatised ‘biography’ of the crazy dictator, Idi Amin, the following conversation ensued between Amin and his Scottish Advisor:
Idi Amin: “I want you to tell me what to do!”
Carrigan (Advisor): “You want me to tell you what to do?”
Idi Amin: “Yes, you are my advisor. You are the only one I can trust in here. You should have told me not to throw the Asians out in the first place!”
Carrigan: ‘I did!”
Idi Amin: ‘But you did not persuade me, Nicholas. You did not persuade me!”
The above exchange demonstrates the consequences of not accepting critical advice and by logical continuum, it shows the mistake of leadership being surrounded by dead souls.
