Courtesy of, and adapted from Seth Godin’s recent post on Seven Questions for Leaders, I thought I would imagine what Stephen Harper’s answers to these questions might be, with links to recent stories that seem to support my guesses.
1. Do you let the facts get in the way of a good story?
Yes.
2. What do you do with people who disagree with you… do you call them names in order to shut them down?
Call them names in order to shut them down.
3. Are you open to multiple points of view or you demand compliance and uniformity?
The Harper Government is a well-documented fortress of demanded compliance and uniformity. Apparently, you even need to know the secret password question to get information out of them.
4. Is it okay if someone else gets the credit?
Apparently not. Bev Oda isn’t even allowed to speak for something which the party probably doesn’t want the credit for.
5. How often are you able to change your position?
Given that the Harper Government hasn’t done much substantial legislating, it’s tough to say. So I’ll defer to Yann Martel on this one to say that Harper’s not the most open guy.
6. Do you have a goal that can be reached in multiple ways?
Remember during the last election when the Conservative Party’s platform was released like, the day before voting day?
7. If someone else can get us there faster, are you willing to let them?
Remember when Harper shut down Parliament and slandered the opposition parties who were on the verge of forming a (legal) coalition?
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And that’s about how I feel about Mr. Haper’s leadership. Not the most academic survey, but certainly a valid and frightening one, I would say.
Rabbi Jesse Paikin 