This morning I watched interviews with two candidates to replace Boris Johnson as Prime Minister in the UK. Political philosophy aside (eg the insistence of the Conservative party that cutting taxes and trickle-down economics still works), both candidates were credible and impressive.
However, in a round of quick-fire questions to finish each interview, they both said they would continue the ghastly policy of dumping refugees in Rwanda. This is a horrendously xenophobic and racist (they won’t be sending too many white-skinned people there) policy that I cannot in any way countenance. I don’t believe either candidate will continue with that policy if elected, but to be elected they have to pretend they will. Ugh. I could never function in politics, I’m too idealistic.
I do, however, have a friend who is deeply involved in such things. They are someone of the highest integrity and deeply principled in their beliefs, yet they are able to manage the cognitive dissonance of being that pragmatic in the game of politics.
This then set me musing a little on the fact that my work does often involve working with leaders in large corporations who do not have 100% of their business in the purest of pure areas of business or parts of the world. I could be 100% idealist and only work with companies of the utmost purity of action, but I am somewhat pragmatic in working with businesses that are not yet “there”.
I square that circle for myself by choosing only to work with leaders and businesses that I feel sure are focussed on being “more”, focussing on the purpose of the corporation being more than simply maximising shareholder returns. In short, on “Leading with Purpose“, as my core blog post and the model represented in the image above says.
Where do you sit on the spectrum of idealism and pragmatism?