On The Balcony With Prime Minister Papandreou

A very special guest joins Michael Koehler in Episodes 10 and 11 of On The Balcony to discuss “Assassination”, Chapter 10 of Ronald Heifetz’s seminal work, Leadership Without Easy Answers, which not only touches on the challenges of adaptive work and leading beyond your authority, but also the dangers of becoming a lightning rod when the heat gets too high, and the importance of inclusion, pacing and purpose in adaptive work.

Why Distress Can Be Disastrous 

Having served as the Prime Minister of Greece in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, George Papandreou is more than familiar with the challenges of leadership, leading beyond his authority, and acting as the butt of contempt. When Papandreou took office, the Greek government was riddled with corruption and debt and in necessary need of change. And when Papandreou took on the challenge to make that change happen, he was met with a lot of resistance. 

But as a long-time friend and colleague of Heifetz himself, Papandreou wasn’t surprised.  Adaptive work is challenging, especially when society at large is in distress. 

Severe distress can make people cruel. 
Empathy, compassion, and flexibility of mind
are sacrificed to the desperate desire for order”
— Ronald Heifetz

The Search for Scapegoats

In the months following the financial crisis, when Greeks and other Europeans yearned for the very normalcy that created the problem in the first place, Papandreou bravely elected for change and transformation instead.  During this time, he found that instead of looking for solutions, people were searching for scapegoats: “others” to which they could easily attribute their blame, frustrations, and hatred.

Countries turned toward isolationism instead of working together.  Above all else though, Papandreou found that, despite the resounding changes he created in his own country, other countries outside of Greece continued to distance themselves from them. At least partially due to this fact, other countries refused to acknowledge that the financial crisis was not solely a Greek problem but one that affected the rest of Europe.

In Greece, I had the authority to make the changes. 
Outside of Greece, I was the leper in a sense.
— George A. Papandreou

The Challenges of Change

It’s no secret that there is immense danger in practicing leadership.  Papandreou shares how he and his family received death threats and verbal blows in the street as a result of the crisis, despite the fact that it occurred through no fault of his own.  Even still, Papandreou is honored to have been asked to lead the country during the most difficult of times.  

Intervention Through Inclusion

During the Euro crisis, Papandreou was involved in negotiations in two different arenas: internally, as he asked the Greek people to make huge sacrifices around yet another set of tough austerity measures, and externally, as Europe negotiated new systems of financial protection. In the midst of this, on Heifetz’s advice, he also planned an intervention built on the idea of inclusion, proposing a referendum on accepting the conditions of a bailout and the creation of a wider coalition. He faced a backlash from the traditional political world for this risky idea and ultimately chose to resign in order to allow the coalition to form. However, Papandreou believes his actions have ultimately been seen as the right choice, though he regrets that the chance to do some deeper adaptive work may have been lost.

Maintaining Empathy and Communication in Times of Distress

Before he became Prime Minister, Papandreou served as Foreign Minister during a time of great tension in Greek/Turkish relations. His predecessor having resigned, Papandreou immediately had to deal with a major crisis, with large amounts of distress and fear. However, instead of giving into the cruelty and loss of empathy Heifetz highlights as a common result of severe distress, Papandreou chose to open a dialogue with his counterpart, İsmail Cem, in an effort to lower tensions. Through their discussions, both men found someone they could trust and be honest with, a key factor in reframing and repairing their countries’ relationship.

Building Trust and Understanding Through “People’s Diplomacy”

Papandreou was keen to build on the progress he and Cem had made, and together, they began to discuss how to build trust and understanding in a way that could help solve both countries’ problems. One way they did this was to start including their citizens in foreign policy, an approach they termed “People’s Diplomacy,” which touched something in the people and quickly ‘caught fire’. This demonstrated the possibility of reframing the Greek/Turkish relationship from animosity to one of mutual benefit—as illustrated in the increase in trade between the countries from three million to three billion.

The Values of Leadership

Heifetz says that leadership is not neutral; there are values behind it. Papandreou agrees, explaining his belief that leadership should be motivated by the values you hold, particularly in times of distress. He states that leadership driven by strong, consistent values allows people to unite and deal with conflict in a way that isn’t violent, something he sees as a key issue for today’s world. For Papandreou, solving conflict through peaceful means, in a way that helps people feel dignity, is an important part of the adaptive challenge of making change, and that can best be achieved by being conscious of higher values when called to serve.

Listen to these two special episodes here: