MPP Arnott addresses leadership with Rotary Club

The Fergus-Elora Rotary Club invited Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott to address them at their regular Tuesday luncheon meeting. The following is the text of the speech he made on August 8th, 2006:

“I consider it a real honour to have the chance to briefly address you today. I remember the first time I spoke to this club, shortly after I was first elected in 1990. I was still in “election mode,” and I gave a fiery, partisan speech: perhaps too partisan, which might explain why more than 15 years have passed since you’ve invited me back to this podium!

Most of you in this room will agree with me when I say that experience brings with it perspective and not every issue in life, in business, or in politics is truly black or white.

Next month on September 6th, along with my colleagues Elizabeth Witmer, Bill Murdoch, Jim Wilson, Rosario Marchese, Gilles Bisson, and another fellow, named Dalton McGuinty, I will observe the 16th Anniversary of my first election to the Provincial Parliament. Over those sixteen years, I have served in Opposition as part of the “Third Party,” a humbling epithet if ever there was one in politics – I have served two terms, eight years, as part of two majority Governments, from 1995 – 2003, and now the last three years, as part of the Official Opposition. People often wonder how is it different serving in Government, or serving in Opposition. There are differences. When you’re in the Government the most common question you’re asked is: “Why haven’t you done this or that, when are you going to do A or B?”

On the contrary, when you’re in Opposition, the number one question you hear is: “When’s the next election, so we can get rid of that guy in the Premier’s office?”

“It’s time for a change.” Always a powerful force in our democracy, flowing in cycles, parallel to that other constant in Ontario politics: cynicism. Incumbent Governments, when facing the electorate again, always ask for more time to build on what they think they’ve accomplished, and Opposition Parties always cry: “It’s time for a change.”

If the Government has behaved arrogantly, or there is a crisis which it can’t or won’t address, or if it seems to be listening to the few at the expense of the many, or if its public actions betray the public trust, the electorate becomes more cynical, and Governments are defeated.

We’ve seen this drama played out over and over again, in Ottawa and Queen’s Park, where our politicians appear to be playing roles in a Shakespearian tragedy at Stratford, where vanity, ambition, deceit and hubris all lead to a fall.

It all comes back to leadership. You in Rotary understand this instinctively. For collectively and individually, you demonstrate it every single day. Your club is truly a storehouse of community energy, unleashed with every project you undertake.

We all lead such incredibly busy lives, with our various professional, family and social obligations, and our own private pursuits and pleasures, if we can find the time. But everyone in this room, shares a common belief that we all have an obligation to give something back to our community at large, and you do so through your involvement in this fine service organization. And the time you put into your Rotary work, yields dividends which benefit our whole community.

Over the years that I’ve been privileged to serve in the Ontario Legislature, I’ve seen the differing leadership styles of Premiers Rae, Harris, Eves, and now Premier McGuinty. Each faced their tests, each poured themselves into their responsibilities, each one occasionally surprised us, each one eventually disappointed us.

A while back, I read an interesting book by David Gergen, who served as a close advisor to US Presidents as diverse as Nixon and Clinton. He drew seven conclusions about the essence of leadership. The first is that: “Leadership starts from within.” He says that in politics, if you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.” The second is a central, compelling purpose, that’s clearly defined, understandable, and rooted in core values. Third, Gergen points out, leaders need to have a capacity to persuade, but they also need to pick their spots.

Fourthly, a leader needs to be able to work within the “system.” In an increasingly egalitarian society where power centres are constantly shifting and no one individual or institution is all-powerful, you have to build alliances to achieve success.

Number Five, for newly-appointed leaders, you can’t beat having a quick, sure start out of the blocks, and “hit the ground running,” as the saying goes. Not surprisingly, given his role as a Presidential advisor, Gergen says every leader needs strong, prudent advisors – and that includes your spouse. He’s right about that.

And finally, he says, a leader must know how to inspire others to carry on the mission, creating an army of followers who carry on even after the leader departs the scene.

And I cover this ground of leadership, even though I know that for many of you it is well-worn, to highlight the need for principled, political leadership in the Provincial Government, where you don’t make promises you can’t keep, you don’t deliberately polarize the electorate when you should be bringing it together, where you don’t ignore long-term challenges at the expense of the future and the next generations.

These are lessons in leadership that Rotary International understands, that you at this club have embraced, for forty years.”