Know when to leave

Like many, I was shocked when Premier Ralph Klein received a paltry 55% in the review of his leadership on Friday night. Klein, Premier of Alberta for the 13 years and three months, has had a strangle-hold on power in the province throughout his rein, and is credited with eliminating the province’s deficit, paying down its debt and creating massive, multi-billion dollar surpluses in successive provincial budgets.

I lived in Alberta through much of Premier Klein’s time at the head of the Conservative government, and while I respect him personally, his record in office looks very different from my side of the political spectrum. In the nearly fourteen years that Mr. Klein has held office (and several more when he was Minister of the Environment) the province has spiralled further into an abyss of ecological ruin. Alberta leads Canada in the production of greenhouse gas emissions. As shown in a recently released report from Global Forest Watch Canada, its borders can be seen in satellite photos: the green boreal carpet becomes a tattered remnant at the provinces demarcation with Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories.

While many will remember Ralph Klein as the slayer of deficits and the champion of debt pay-down, I will remember him as the Premier who squandered the opportunity to use the provinces unprecedented wealth to set Alberta on the path towards sustainability. What progress is being made in Alberta comes as a result of the entrepreneurial spirit found in the provinces entrepreneurs, with very little thanks to Ralph Klein and his conservative government.

And so, while I was surprised by the 55%, I wasn’t saddened. I don’t think many people in Alberta, or across Canada are. Why would they be? Fourteen years (which it will be before the leadership race – now finally a real footrace – is decided) is a hell of a long time in politics. Ask Jean Chrétien. Or Margaret Thatcher.

What do these politicians have in common? A reluctance to quit while they are ahead. A hesitancy to release the grip on power.

Do your work well, and then step aside
This is the way of the Tao

Tao, 9

I can’t imagine how hard a decision it would be, when leading a province or a country, to decide when your time has come. When you are flying high, you believe it might always be thus. When you are struggling, the tendency is to want to dig yourself out of that hole and redeem yourself. Thoughts at that time might turn to resignation, but only after you’ve redeemed your honour. But one of the most important lesson’s from the Tao te Ching is to know when to step aside. As a leader, this is one of the most important things to know. Good leaders begin to prepare for the transfer of leadership power as early as they can upon accepting a formal position of leadership, grooming others to take on responsibility, earn trust and accept challenges.

I know the pitfalls of leadership succession first hand. When, in 1999, I co-founded Wildcanada.net, a small, national conservation group that used online technology to organize activists to champion wildlands and wildlife, I said at the very fist meeting of my board of directors that I would be executive director for five to seven years. In 2004 I gave that board 18 months notice of my departure. I gave formal notice 8 months in advance of my end-date.

During all of that time, I worked with my colleagues and board to put in place the conditions of a successful leadership transition: A strong, independent staff, a solid, engaged board and financial resources sufficient to see the organization through the transition period were needed to ensure the hand-off in formal leadership was successful.

On the staff front we succeeded. On the board front, though caring and thoughtful, they become engaged too late in the organization’s life-cycle to weather the storm that lay ahead. They worked long and hard through the transition itself, giving every ounce of strength they had to ensure the organizaiton thrived, but events took on a life of their own. It was not enough. On the financial front, I failed. I was never able to have in place more than a few months of operating capital, nowhere near what was needed to ensure a successful transition.

So the leadership transition failed. And the rest is history. (More will be said of the lessons learned from this in Carry Tiger to Mountain, to be released by Arsenal Pulp Press in late April.)
I write this now because watching much, much higher profile transitions unfold, like the one in Ottawa between Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin two years ago, and in Alberta where Ralph Klein will almost certainly step down this week as Premier, I can see similar patterns. (Though in both of those cases, Alberta and Ottawa don’t suffer from lack of operating capital.) Insecure leaders fear strengthening those around them in the preparation of leadership succession because they have no clear plan to hand over leadership. The true purpose of leadership is the create other leaders.

And even with a plan in place, sometimes the transition is unsuccessful. So we learn from our mistakes. And with luck, we can suffer these missteps with grace.

When you have come to the end, leave with grace
and your efforts will be remembered forever

Tao, 33

Its time for Ralph Klein to leave with grace. Leave the bitter, vitriolic debate over whose fault this fall from power is to others. Thank the people of Alberta for 25 years of support as Calgary’s Mayor, MLA, Cabinet Minister and Premier, and exit smiling.