How can Britain help its former prime ministers to stay out of trouble?
How can Britain help its former prime ministers to stay out of trouble?
An odd question, perhaps, but one that’s been raised by the now infamous efforts of former UK prime minister David Cameron to secure funding on behalf of his recently collapsed employer Greensill Capital.
Mr Cameron’s efforts included camping trips to the desert with Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), and sending text messages to the personal phone of Rishi Sunak, Chancellor of the Exchequer, to appeal for government funding.
Despite not making a public statement on the matter, Mr Cameron’s friends have spoken on his behalf, relaying his views that he did nothing illegal but that it was a mistake for him to message Mr Sunak.
Irrespective of the legality of his actions, the so-called optics aren’t good for Mr Cameron.
He tried to woo MBS just a year after the barbaric murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which US Intelligence services believe to have been personally orchestrated by MBS.
Mr Cameron’s contacting of Mr Sunak via the backdoor looks like an attempt to pull strings through the old boys club, evoking images of crony capitalism. Not a good look.
A Purpose and a Pension
The Economist newspaper’s Bagehot column reckons that Britain’s former prime ministers, “need more opportunity to serve the nation and less scope to serve themselves”.
Given that former prime ministers tend to live longer after office than they did in the past, “Britain needs to keep these proliferating former prime ministers on a tighter leash.”
According to Bagehot, rule changes need to be made to restrict former prime ministers from lobbying for a longer period of time after leaving office and, “Britain needs to give them more solid work to do.”
In exchange for doing the work, Bagehot reckons that former prime ministers should be paid a handsome pension, given a hefty annual travel allowance and high grade security protection, as afforded by the United States to its former leaders.
But is it really the country’s responsibility to make extensive efforts to keep its former leaders out of trouble by giving them a purpose and a pension after office?
Can those who were trusted to govern the country not be trusted to govern themselves without extensive state support?
Empowering Self-Leadership for Sustainable Success
That the state should be relied on to such an extent in keeping its former leaders out of trouble is wrongheaded. It belies the fact that we are each sovereign individuals, each captains of our own ship, with choices to make about how we govern and lead our lives. That includes former prime ministers. Systems don’t negate self-sovereignty.
No one is entitled to a purpose and an income – both have to be earned. Nor is anyone commanded in all things, so to speak. There are many choices that each of us have to make in the governance and leadership of our lives. And many of those choices are not easy to make in a world full of distractions, temptations and challenges.
With that in mind, I created a self-leadership mentoring program to empower others to create lives of purpose, meaning and fulfilment in achieving their own version of sustainable success.
Through this program, I essentially give people three things:
A framework: A powerful, proprietary, stewardship-oriented self-leadership framework that empowers each individual to structure their life in such a way that aligns with their values and enables them to achieve their greatest aspirations.
Principles: I call these keys that will never rust. The principles that I teach cannot be refuted or reasonably argued against. They’re as old as time itself and they’re fundamental in creating a life of purpose, meaning and fulfilment in the pursuit of sustainable success.
A process: This process empowers each individual to discover and make a contribution that is uniquely theirs to make, going far beyond any single job role (even prime minister). No purpose or pension need be gifted from the state!
The work I do as a mentor not only empowers people to stay out of trouble, it empowers them to thrive through greater self-awareness and self-leadership. My work is to guide each captain I work with in sailing their own ship.
If you would like to learn more about how 3 Stewardships mentoring can help you to create a life of purpose, meaning and fulfilment in pursuit of your own version of sustainable success then drop me a line: tom@3stewardships.com.