Political Leadership: Managers (Angela Merkel) 5/5

It took just 1 minute and 40 seconds for Angela Merkel to dismiss Norbert Roettgen from his job. There were no platitudes or well-wishes, simply a limp thank-you and the nomination of his replacement in front of the press.

The Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety was gone. 

He remains just one of two ministers Chancellor Merkel has ever sacked outside of reshuffles, dismissed in 2012 for helping lose a major regional election.

Merkel is Europe's longest serving democratic leader. She has overseen four coalition governments and everything the twenty-first century has to offer. 

And she is the epitome of the manager-leader. This is the politician who can lead a complicated team through any trouble, exercising both ruthlessness and patience at the very top level. 

And after sixteen years, she's still very ruthless. That second minister was sacked just last year.

Political Leadership: Innovators (Charles de Gaulle & Mikhail Gorbachev) 4/5

Gorbachev

In late April, 1986, reactor number 4 at Chernobyl exploded.

The effect was catastrophic. Not only on lives and buildings, but also on the health of the USSR.

General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, in seeing the devastation, realised that incompetence and failure was rotting away at the Soviet Union, and that far-reaching changes were needed in response.

But his subsequent reforms, instead of liberating the  nation, instead hastened its decline.

Gorbachev lost control of events. His innovative spirit ended in failure. He, like all his fellow innovator-leaders, hoped he could lead his community into a better future. Some innovators succeed, some fail. But they all try. 

Political Leadership: Empaths (Joe Biden & Ted Heath) 3/5

Chopin's 'Prelude, Op 28, No.15' swirls around an opening scene in the 'Crown'. The piece is played by Prime Minister Ted Heath, who was in turn swirled around by miners' strikes across his premiership.

Heath is seen as removed from the action. He is distant, aloof. Yet these strikes would lead to rolling blackouts and a cold, long winter. 

The British people would suffer and no-one was telling them why. Heath took the blame, losing a general election soon after.

A thoughtful leader knows they are responsible for not just the economic, but also the emotional wellbeing of their people. 

In times of crisis, this wellbeing can fracture; the leader must restore it. They have to articulate the population's feelings, soothe their grievances, and forge a path out of the depths.

This is the 'empath-leader'.

Political Leadership: Philosophers (Abraham Lincoln & Xi Jinping) 2/5

About two hours into the film Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis stands up and speaks. He rises from the Cabinet table, looming over his colleagues. They are hesitant and divided, unable to outlaw slavery in Congress.

'Buzzards guts, man.'

Abraham Lincoln has run out of patience. 'I am the President of the United States' he thunders, 'clothed in immense power! You will procure me those votes.' 

Lincoln understood he, as the President, couldn't shape Congress's passing of laws. 

But he also understood that being President still gave him large informal powers and levers to influence the final vote.

Such is the philosopher-leader, who recognises the powers and responsibilities that surrounds them, before using them to maximum effect. They aren't always successful, but when they are, their impact is vast. Let's take a closer look.

Political Leadership: Storytellers (Donald Trump & Theresa May) 1/5

'Stop the steal'

'Grab her by the pussy'

'Build the wall'

'Mexican rapists'

'Rocket man'

'China virus'

'When the looting starts, the shooting starts'

Donald Trump is the most formidable storyteller of a generation. His comments are foul, and remembered by millions. To gloat that he will be judged by history ignores that he is able to shape what we consider as history. That is the power of the storyteller. 

But what is it to be a storyteller? Why is it the most important of our five abilities for any political leader? And what happens if you don't have it?

Political Leadership: Introduction (Theresa May) 0/5

The Qualities of Political Leaders: Introduction

I didn’t expect to ever have a selfie with Theresa May, but on a hot June day in 2017, at a provincial fair, there she was. I had a photo with her, plastering social media with it. 

And there it drew some backlash; after the election and with austerity still biting, she was not a popular figure. But when are political leaders ever popular figures? They may enjoy a ‘honeymoon’ initially, but the mood always turn against them. It is too difficult to both govern and please.