Daily Lessons from Life 06 June 2009

Today is my youngest daughter's birthday.


"British PM vows to fight on
He hopes hasty Cabinet reshuffle would salvage position. -Sat, Jun 06, 2009 AFP

LONDON, ENGLAND - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown vowed to fight on, hoping that a hasty Cabinet reshuffle would prove enough in the battle to salvage his premiership.


A defiant Brown vowed to tough it out after Cabinet members quit in bitter circumstances and his governing Labour Party suffered an electoral bloodbath.

"I will not waver, I will not walk away... I will get on with the job," Brown said after announcing a swift but limited reshuffle in a bid to shore up his position.

However, Britain's newspapers said his leadership was fatally crippled and called for a general election to restore some authority to government.

And Labour rebels were reportedly considering their next move, with predicted dire European Parliament election results likely to reignite backbench unrest when they are announced Sunday.


The shake-up, originally expected Monday, was brought forward ahead of Saturday's trip to France after four Cabinet ministers quit in quick succession -- taking the total number of ministerial resignations in the past few days to 10.

With results in from 33 out of 34 councils, the Conservatives have gained 230 seats and Labour have lost 272.


The Sun newspaper said Brown was "desperately weakened", having been "sabotaged" by his own party, and called for a general election. The Financial Times newspaper said Brown was "still standing -- just. The question is whether he can still govern.

"He has failed to reassert his authority in the Cabinet reshuffle. He faces humiliation in the European elections. He should show he commands a clear majority in his party or step down and clear the way for a general election." "

A new leader in crisis! PM Brown was swifted into power after the last popular PM Tony Blair overstayed his welcome by being perceived as the 2nd Vice President of the USA instead of the PM of UK during his last few years in office with ex-US President Bush!

PM Brown was impatient to be the leader having been waiting for too long. I wondered if he now had hoped that he did not 'pushed' Tony out so soon!

Lessons for me are:

1. we will never know if the supposed successor to us as leader will be successful. We will plan the best we could and leave the baton to the successor when the time come. It is normally hardest to leave at the peak of your performance but it is the best way to go now if we want to be remembered for a long long time!;

2. the new leader will need to fight his own battle and pick his team to support him. Hopefully if we were in a corporate setting, we have enable our successor the best we could with the values of the 7e Way of Leaders; and the leader personified the values through his consistent actions and behaviors. The current scandals and erosion of support to some extend were attributed to the corrupt way of the MPs in the government. You can hide for a while if you are engaged in unethical behavior but you cannot hide forever! So, get the basic right!;

3. which it will be unbecoming of a leader if you do not fight for your survival when you 1st encountered resistance and rejection. It will be a serious breach of the 7e Way of Leaders values if you do not recognize that the time has come to move on after facts after facts pointed out to you that you no longer has the authority - morally, especially - to lead!

May PM Brown survive this crisis and come up with the appropriate response - one way or the others!