November 2020 - Joshuangala

Sep 19, 2020 | Updated Sep 19, 2020 
by Joshua Ngala @JoshuaNgala 
This article was originally published on The Star Newspaper

A recent Veracity Index 2020 done by IPSOS on who people trust most, ranks politicians as the lowest trusted service providers, trailing at 32 percent.

Kenya is in a season of infected political discourse. A time when some political leaders are competitively differentiating themselves from the rest by hurling insults at each other.

Such political blind spots should never be given space in our national consciousness.

The leaders have reached a state of obsession with what they should be saying instead of how they should be impacting the society. When one hears such political utterances, the first casualty is often the truth.

A recent Veracity Index 2020 done by IPSOS on who people trust most, ranks politicians as the lowest trusted service providers trailing at 32%. The nurses however, ranked as the most trusted service providers at 97% level.

The scorecard for politicians sends a signal for lack of trust and public accountability.

The failed level of trust justifies the boorishness act we see around. It means our political leaders have sunk too low they cannot fulfill their purpose and the promise to the public.

Members of Parliament should not just remain mere law makers, but create more value for Kenyans who elected them. That is the basic starting point for a political promise.

A time has come for political leaders to do self-reflection and take inventory on personal brands. While politics plays a top position in the governance. It should not be considered as just icing on the cake, but everything in the cake.

Abuses, insults and endless rhetoric will blindly take Kenya in to the abyss. Such ugly images live in the minds of electorates against what they have been promised.

It is a bad experience and a disgust as it might also drive some other people’s behaviors.

Politicians have always taken advantage of social epidemics. It is a situation where their behaviors and idea diffuses through a population. As usual, bad behaviors and utterances spread like virus.

They have mastered the art of violating public expectations by breaking a pattern. For that reason, their unexpected surprises get national attention.

One major way social influence affects us is through conformity.

Some young leaders are already imitating such impunity as they see their seniors doing it. The monkey see, monkey do kind of tendency.

Our leaders must therefore understand that political brands are built on foundations of respect, purpose, promise, accountability and our national history.

McGinniss summed up in his seminal 1969 book, The Selling of the President, that politics has always been a con game. He meant that a lot of political actions are never decided by logic and facts.

Beware of how your appearance, actions, and words reflect on your brand. Comb through your touch points to see if anything is off values. A political office must be a brand that connects with constituents.

Even a small misstep can be blown into a huge mistake that distorts your brand.

In any services business, the true value is created in the interface between the consumer and the employee. In this case the consumer is Wanjiku, and the employer to the elected leaders.

I would want to witness a fierce political competition where values created goes to electorates. Where opposition not simply make noise in the public eye, but hold the government accountable in all aspects.

A politician who respects Kenyans must be at the ‘value zone’ is where development takes place, bills sponsored and other outcomes. They must show empathy and pass values to electorates as enshrined in our national laws.

At times I wish we could set a reminder to our leaders that there is a global blue print known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people achieve a better and more sustainable future by 2030.

I wish they could be reminded of the institutional voids in our health sector, or even inequality in our education system. These are the kind of conversation Kenyans should be hearing.

Bad political behavior is harmful and costly for stakeholders, markets, society, and economy. Change process comes with public accountability that includes imparting values to the electorates.

The era of elected leaders being at the apex as the bosses and can have it their way is long gone. They must be accountable to the public.

They must stop taking the electorate for mere voters, but view them as consumers and potential rivals.

The voters have become rational. When they voted you, they entrusted you with the position. The electorates need to start prioritizing themselves that they come first as the employer, and elected leader come second as employees.

Good values, and public accountability should be a threshold for a reelection.

In 2000, Al Gore was a conflicted man. He had built up a solid reputation for eight years as a competent vice president. He lost the presidency but later on found his branding mojo.

He became the subject of an Oscar-winning film and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The coded insult, or meaningless messages are dysfunctional elements you are giving the public should remind you of the advice of Judy Robinett:

“If three people tell you are a horse, buy a saddle”.

In other words, whether or not you believe a perception about you is true, if enough people share it, you would better take it seriously. At such a change process you better get a grasp of your current political brand.

A specific trust-building action is pushing the envelope of transparency. Most voters know what ails their leaders, sometimes even before such a leader does or, at least, before the leader is willing to admit.

Kenyans are still hurt, shocked and even physically sick on current political turns and twists. It is time we became obsessed with constant change for the better leadership with values.

Even in a typical marketing strategy, it is important to consider the business’s position in the marketplace.