Three leadership lessons from an election landslide

The 11^th of March 2017 saw a convincing win by the West Australian Labor Party, after eight years in opposition. 

Without wanting to take sides and comment on what went right or wrong (depending on which way you voted), let’s explore what I see as three significant leadership lessons from the event.

1. Groom a solid successor.
   The primary role of a leader is to develop other people and execute the organisation’s vision through them.  If a solid successor is not groomed, the organisation in left in very poor shape when the leader exits. More than that, poor succession planning might contribute to the actual downfall of the organisation.
   
2. Don’t do business with a third party whose values are not in alignment.
   When values are not in alignment both parties lose.  An audience that aligns closely with the values and philosophy of an organisation will feel betrayed by that organisation should it choose to do business with another party that has conflicting values.  It weakens integrity, causing people to want to disassociate.
   
3. Engage deeply with your audience and understand their primary drivers.
   Ultimately the market always decides the future.  Being able to read signs of discontent and acting upon them ensures longevity.  Failing to read the signs is suicide – when you’re no longer relevant to your market, your time is up.  This applies both within an organisation and without.