Missing Helen

Sometimes I wonder if we are all missing Helen Clark. Rodney Hide has now joined the legions of people who seem to think that John Key is doing nothing. This list seems to include everyone from the left and the right, except for the right-wing centrists. Which should tell us something – namely that, whatever it is that Key is doing, it is very “middle of the road”.

In fairness to Rodney Hide, his remarks were out of context, light-hearted dinner conversation, not public policy and they should not have been reported (unless, perhaps, you are a gossip columnist). Note that Hide clearly stated that he thought the comments were “off the record”. The journalist presumably thinks that ethics is a county in England.

Part of the problem we have when we look at Key is that his management style is quite unlike the style of most CEOs, let alone Prime Ministers, and we are simply not used to it. After nine years of a Prime Minister whose style was severely controlling and autocratic, Key’s relaxed style makes him seem seriously lacking in control of his cabinet. And yet he is having considerably less trouble with his coalition partners than Clark (or Shipley, for that matter) had with Peters. Looking back over the Clark administration, her ministers seemed just as gaffe-prone as Key’s, but having an autocratic style made her make snap decisions on whether to support a minister or not, often to her later regret. Key, on the other hand, tends to let the drama play out and see where it leads. Given the gradual escalation or decline of such matters, this is probably a better approach.

I am not surprised that Rodney Hide also finds Key’s approach hard to fathom, because he represents the other common management style, the prescriptive or directional style. Hide is the sort of person that gets an idea and sticks with it through to the end. Some people refer to that as “vision” but sheer bloody-mindedness is probably more accurate. Whereas Clark was a dictator (in the management, not political sense), Hide is a doer. This is precisely why Key has given him a task which requires a lot of action in short order. Hide is perfect for this roll. It is also not surprising that someone with Hide’s energy sees Key as inert. Compared to Hide, most people are inert!

Key is that rare beast, a person with a facilitative management style. He would much rather help a person to get things done, than do it himself. He would much rather put together a team, point them in more-or-less the right direction and tell them to get on with it. He does not do “vision” in the five-second sound byte sense. His idea of where he wants to take the country is almost certainly far too inclusive and complex to articulate in this fashion, although he has learnt to use a few “tag lines” to give the media something to write. Typically, facilitative managers are seen as indecisive and wishy washy by those more used to prescriptive or autocratic managers – exactly how most media and bloggers see John Key. But a good facilitative manager will have boundaries beyond which his staff cannot go. You can recognise these easily with Key – his stances on pensions and the anti-smacking bill are obvious examples.

A facilitative style relies extensively on people being trustworthy. This is it’s major advantage and it’s chief flaw. It brings out the best performance in people but also allows for terrible performance, although, eventually, the flaw corrects itself as poorly performing ministers are demoted and better performing ministers come forward – just as in the other management styles. While a facilitative manager allows the possibility of truly great ministerial performance, he also runs the risk of a true corker of a stuff-up. The hallmark of a facilitative manager, therefore, is one who is prepared to make risky choices that others would not. Key is certainly that type of person, as evidenced by his appointment of the inexperienced Paula Bennett to a major ministerial portfolio.

So while the media (but, probably, not Rodney Hide) are missing the autocratic style of Helen Clark, the rest of New Zealand is experiencing a Prime Ministerial style they have not seen before. Because this is so different from the norm, the facilitative style of Key goes a long way to explain both his high personal ratings and the extraordinarily high consistent ratings of National – far beyond the normal “honeymoon” period.

And, Rodney, look around you. Plenty of things are getting done (including done by you). It is just that they are not being done directly, or directly controlled, by Key.

Now tell me you are not really missing Helen, are you?

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