Don't be a Silent Witness!

Leadership is ethics, honesty and action are important

Do not be a Silent Witness

Act, Do, Challenge!

Anyone but Boris Johnson

I’m at a dinner party with my oldest friends, after years apart.  We’re talking, as only old friends can do, openly and honestly about who we once were and what we’d become.  We get to the loss of integrity in public life and onto politics and there is a sudden, complete and heartfelt sadness amongst us.  We speak of the lies, the deceit and misrepresentations, the fake-news, falsehoods and the gullibility of so many of our fellow citizens. We arrive at the inevitable… What can we do?

The Dinner Party

We begin to tell our stories.  At my turn, I say I’m not a member of a political party.  That I spent my career in education teaching about and encouraging integrity, honesty, values and living to a set of ethics.  I continued that work In Education and Business Leadership.  My work with www.iAbacus.co.uk now is all about empowering people.  I encourage Judgement and Action based on Evaluation and Analysis of Evidence.   My beliefs are best captured in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.  I want us all, humanity, to work together and make our world safer and more caring.

The others bear witness to their lives and work.  We have an impressive set of achievements and success between us – retirement and a quieter life beckon.  

I go on to explain that, a couple of years ago, I decided to speak up more – to challenge opinion parading as fact and especially lies and falsehoods.  I quote from Hamlet, a play we had studied together in school,

“Above all to thine own self be true and it shall follow, as the night the day, thou can’t be false to no-one”

I explain that if I am to be true, to my beliefs and ethics, I am moved to do something about the future of the poor and the vulnerable.  I have to do what I can to protect our environment threatened by the #ClimateEmergency.   I tell them of www.kes-charity.co.uk   I admit that I’m old and rich enough not to worry about the downturn that #Brexit portends, or Global Warning but I am still working, trying to make a difference.  One of my friends says,

“John, you are right, I too am deeply appalled by it all…. but I don’t want to cause friction and unpleasantness with the people I meet….. so I say nothing”

Suddenly, a visceral reaction boils up in me - despair turns into anger.  I manage to hold it but still bang my fist on the table,

“No!  You must to speak up... No! Please! When people, like YOU and all you believe stay silent – hope dies, a little more, for the rest of us”

And there we have it – my friend is a Silent Witness - I'd expected more...

A radical in my own country

The activist, teacher, evangelist and leader within calmed me down.  I asked about the other decent people, we know, who are appalled and yet do nothing.  How many good, bright, “Silent Witnesses” are there out there just watching as our Country slides down?  

I explain that being like this, speaking up, challenging, means I've become a radical in my own country.  I’ve lost friendships and business because, yes, I am an activist now –  I’m a staunch #Remainer.  I want to stay in Europe and have been on all the #PeoplesVote marches. 

Peoples' Vote March

I’m trying hard to bend the ears of those happy to swallow the untruths perpetuated by a biased print press and through the millions spent on Social Media Campaigns. These campaigns are working, judging by latest polls and so we need more to act. The good news is I have gained friendships and business too.  I am hurt by the silent looks of disdain and the abuse I get.  I know that I waste time on those who are beyond truth.  Then I am humbled and warmed by the friends and strangers, who thank me for speaking up and beg me to carry on kicking against the pricks.

There was never any doubt that we five parted as friends but what about you, perceptive reader?  What about you?

Are you a Silent Witness?

If so, I’m challenging you - no I'm pleading... maybe it’s time to stop being a #SilentWitness?  

There are just a few days before Election2019.  It’s not too late to speak up and persuade a few others to wake up, think carefully and vote for the best of the politicians parading before us.  We need to help the general population see through the subterfuge, to #wakeup and #speak up.

My view?  All political parties shine their spotlights on what they want us to see but there is now a recurring and proven pattern.  We must recognise we are being duped, through traditional press and social media, especially by the right wing press.  

Months of tabloid propaganda pre Brexit Referendum

Conservative Central Office has become the worst, led by Boris Johnson, led by Dominic Cummins, backed with millions.  Boris Johnson is cynically using the dark arts of manipulation and political shenanigans to win this election, whilst playing the amiable, tough buffoon.

Rebranding and more lies

        

So, what can we do?

We don’t need to get bogged down, too much, in the economics of Brexit and all the messy, muddy, misrepresented policy detail.  Of course, policies are critical and need scrutiny but there is one, crucial, overarching question.  Do we really want a proven liar as our Leader, as our Prime Minister?   This is why I’m arguing one point: #AnyoneButJohnson as Prime Minister.  I’m saying vote Green, SNP, Plaid, Lib-Dem, Labour, Independent.  I’m saying vote for anyone, in your constituency, who can beat the Conservatives in order to stop Boris Johnson becoming PM. Simple eh? 

Why anyone but Johnson?Why? Because, the evidence indicates the man, in the eyes of many who know him, have worked with him and have fact-checked him: is a serial liar; who speaks, writes and repeats untruths; he misrepresents; promotes false and #FakeNews and has a reputation for lack of application to the work required.  

This is not opinion.  It is fact (see below).  We need to help our fellow citizens see through his “charming bluster” and realise he is a dangerous man and not fit to be our Prime Minister. 

The bus that sold a lie

What’s the evidence?

For anyone in any doubt that #BorisJohnson is a liar - this is the fact-check site to reference.  It was set up by Peter Oborne, a once Conservative supporting journalist, who became deeply disillusioned with Boris Johnson and the lies the Government were promulgating.

All I ask is that you load up the site here  and at the end of Johnson's nose below and follow the links. Then think hard about our future because Leadership is about ethics, honesty and action - it’s not about staying a silent witness.

BORIS-JOHNSON-LIES.COM

The lies, falsehoods and misrepresentations of Boris Johnson and his government.

Lies told by Boris Johnson and his government.

A further article by Peter Oborne, based on his website is here 

Anyone but Boris Johnson

Mayday in June again.

It's now May 2019 - almost two years after Grenfell
Another National Disaster awaits
The fools are screaming slogans...
The wise are warning us..
The Silent Witnesses are..... silent...

An update of the poem I wrote after Grenfell June 17th 2017


Mayday May Day!


We lay them down in Grenfell Tower
Clad in unintended consequences.
Our very own refugees, lost friends,
Clutching copies of their whistleblowing letters,
Dark reproaches
Posted to their elders, richers and betters
As dawn approaches.





Too late, too late!
The strong, unbolted, stable had unbridled hate.
No more high days, hay days
There are still only Mayday May's days...
Even this thundering immensity
Fell on deaf ears, bent shoulders, heads bowed.

Who sees any lightening in our sky
Through Grenfell's black cloud?
Aching hearts and dimming hope.
Dulling sensitivity to emergency...
And what of democracy?

The flames died

We hide  





Then the first of us rise up
Bare teeth fools gesticulating, “Our rights!”
And kick against the pricks.
The chorus is rhetoric
That empty echo trick.

Rasp it out through sore throats,
Spit it out at scapegoats,
Print it on placards in full view
“For the many not the few,”
Or was that,
"We’re all right - Fuck you!”?

 
The second of us couch potato down
Watching, screens scrolling,
Eyeballs rolling, swiveling.
Keyboards trolling, driveling.
Surfing click and chips
Licking and index fingering.





The third of us just mutter,
“Democracy,” tut and splutter,
“That stupid delusion
Coalition of confusion
Pathetic illusion”.

 
The fourth of us ponder,
Frowning, thinking it through.
We may question, or dissent,
But fearing the label “troublesome and slow”,
And that last stand in the boss’s office
Him whining, “I’ll have to let you go”.

The final indignity is,
“The politicians’ swerve.”
Loosening their limper grip
On a finely shredded nerve,
We hear them cry,
"This is not what I meant at all
I only came to stand and serve.”

And so they are set free,
After settling for a suitable fee,
They rise in the Commons and plea,
"More time with the family"
Reading their, scripted, statement of apology.

Meanwhile, a fifth column forms
These are not enemies of the people...
They are the lonely wise
Who looked up and saw,

The vulnerable and poor
And

Not a moment too soon,
Beyond the moon,
All our reflections in the deep blue sky.
Each yellow star, a prick of light mingled,
Interdependent, not one single.
They turn and ask us, “Why?”




And a woman standing on another Tower
Begins to sing,
"For me, for us, for everyone and everything"

Seeking answers, some vaguely recall...
“Love thy neighbour...
Above all to thine own self be true...”
“If you can keep your head when all around…
“No man is an island…”
“I have a dream...”
“Yes we can...
“For the many and the few”

These bites are all sound
But do they speak to you?
Could there be hope after all?

Did you hear the woman's call?

They forecast more wind tonight
With a hard frost whoring in.

"Light the fire

Let the flames go higher"
If we hug closer, safer, warm, tight
Are we less vulnerable and small?

Turning away from such troubles
As our evening duties call
We must turn to our own vulnerables, small
And bend over our youngsters singing,
“Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high,
There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.”

Straightening we leave them safe, sleeping
Hearing our words repeating,
“Dreams that you dare to dream really can come true.”





Yes, let’s dare to dream and teach them
How to face their darkest hours.
We can set their moral compass
On those ivory towers.

We can teach them to demonstrate, with care,
And, how to become aware,
When others oppress, abuse,
With alternative facts, fake news.

They will learn to prove that lies are obscene
That grassing up can be green.

 
Yes, they must learn to be tell-tales
And Whistleblow a wind
A breath of life, a righteous gale
To buffet those who sinned.
A hurricane of hope
As they shout truth to power.

Let this be our lesson
From that awful, burning Tower.





Fifth column - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_column


A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group from within, usually in favour of an enemy group or nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine.

Consensual Leadership for Diversity Educators

Yesterday I attended the second #DiverseEducators Conference @AureusSchool, Didcot,

It was a challenging, powerful and inspirational day

Here’s my take on it and, most importantly a Call to action….

WHY were we there?

Here are the reasons we gave at the start (using Mentimeter)

WHAT was it like?  

Led by the indefatigable Hannah Wilson ( @The HopeFulHT ) the day comprised a powerful keynote from inspirational Angela Browne ( @nourishedschool ) followed by workshops and ending with another stunning presentation by Iesha Small ( @ieshasmall )  A day packed with powerful stuff attended by well over 1OO diverse people.

There was honest storytelling and witnessing  - all painful to hear... exemplifying experiences of living in a society not yet relaxed about diversity.  It was intellectually, professionally and personally bruising... you couldn't help but breathe it in.  I was in a minority, rare for me..... a little, old, privileged, white man…. but I knew I could leave the conference and travel home alone, without any of the fears and watchfulness I'd been reminded of......  I felt, at times ashamed, tearful, frustrated and angry - that made up my hurt.  Thank goodness I was also inspired, impressed, hopeful and above all buoyed by the positive if snatched conversations with individuals....  Today, Sunday, I was going to take it easy but I can't... I remain driven to try and make a difference...and especially pass on some thoughts about turning HURT into PURPOSE... it’s what I try to do...but HOW might I help?

HOW might Consensual Leadership be one way of making a positive difference....

Well.... the HURT I felt yesterday is linked to the HURT I felt when traduced by a Local Councillor (previous BLOG), and linked to the HURT I feel when trying to debate politics reasonably and am abused (earlier BLOGS)...  In other words the HURT is an element of wider worry. I'll try to explain the wider view....

(For readers of my earlier BLOGs on Consensual Leadership – there is some repetition – jump to So What Next?

I'm increasingly frustrated, like many others, about the rise in apparent acceptability of what may be called macho, domineering, oppressive and authoritarian styles of behaviour in politics, business and, my own profession, education. Bullying, racism, abuse, rape, violence and threatening behaviour have, sadly, always been with us but, in recent years it feels like they have been on the increase.  Statisticians provide the numbers but we, the livers of our lives, know our feelings drive how we respond. Perhaps we are just noticing it all more.  Certainly, intemperate and oppressive behaviours are gaining popular coverage in the virtual and, perhaps consequently, our actual reality.  As people "take to the streets" in ever increasing numbers - the extremists capture the headlines.... It can be depressing and there is a huge temptation to look the other way, switch off... walk over the road to walk on the other side.

On the other hand there has been an increasing realisation, in many, that such behaviours should and must be challenged and there have been powerful examples of successful prosecutions of individuals who abuse, especially (but not exclusively) in the area of relationships and sexual relations. This has been the case in many high-profile court cases in the UK and US, to the extent that when sexual relations are not consensual they are deemed illegal.  The painfully slow increase in successful prosecutions for rape, abuse and coercive behaviour by men (and sometimes women) has been a cause for muted celebration.

The brave movement #MeToo, led by offended women, has been responsible for highlighting this issue and causing a deep rethink, amongst women and caring men.  I wanted to explore a simple question. 

If consensual relationships are a legal requirement in personal relationships, 

shouldn't we apply the same principle in our working relationships?

So, this is a work in progress and I want to pay a special debt of gratitude to #WomenEd who first gave me a platform for asking the question and supporting the exploration of the idea and hopefully some answers and to Hannah Wilson ( @The HopeFulHT ) who asked me to run a workshop on making it happen.

SO WHAT NEXT?

 Before looking at the materials please read the CALL TO ACTION

Below you’ll find a link to the materials – they are a work in progress –  but they explain.

• Thinking behind and around the concept of Consensual Leadership.
• Why it’s so important and timely.
• How we might Lead and Teach in a more Consensual way, to become even more successful.
• What we can measure when evaluating and planning for improvement in progress.
• How to collaborate on further thinking and most of all ACTION on Consensual Leadership.

The MATERIALS can be downloaded here

CALL TO ACTION

Most will agree with the following quotation

"All that is required for evil to prevail, is for good men and women to say nothing."

 (variously attributed to:  John F. Kennedy? Edmund Burke? R. Murray Hyslop? Charles F. Aked? John Stuart Mill?

But “saying something” is not enough what we do is critical.

Discussing, analysing and debating are important but in the end unhelpful.  Jack Nicholson's character in "As Good as it gets" says it best,

"Hey, I'm drowning here and all you're doing is describing the water!"

Philosophers, journalists, politicians, activists, artists, writers, poets all have place but unless there is a "Call to action" and someone: throws a rope; launches a lifeboat or holds out a hand the drowning will drown.. the failing fail.... the suffering will suffer and the dying will die.

Rope ready...

The MATERIALS can be downloaded here

I'm especially interested in collaborating in finding ways that the idea can be turned into positive, day to day, actions and activities by teachers, leaders and fellow citizens who feel that enough is enough and some new codes of behaviour need to be agreed (or old ones held in greater regard).  It is crucial that our educational provision not only raises the concepts of consensual behaviour, tolerance and respect and but also teaches our young citizens how to turn the concept into more of a lived experience by thinking critically and acting with care.

John

January 2019

BREAKING GOOD in MODERN POLITICS

First draft Sat 8^th December – to catch those setting out to march, protest or discuss.
Second draft Friday 14th  - tidied up, inserted better descriptors, lost some verbiage... more to go..
Third Draft Jan - typos sorted... ?....

Happy to receive suggested edits - I enjoy collaborative writing

NOT The Councillor I am complaining about
but a classic BAD conduct

The Precious Present

I like causing serious hassle for unethical and unprincipled people. Don't you? If you do - Read on, you'll need determination and energy but you know that.  It's not easy but it’s important stuff.  I've been reminded of that in the last, exhausting, weeks.  This BLOG is about my experience and learning it's the most important I will ever write but I often think that. 

If you identify with my story and like what I'm suggesting please share it, retweet it, plagiarise it but, most of all, DO something.  It's about making the world a better place.. bit by bit... step by careful step...but only if you do DO something. I often find myself saying "GOYA" when I hear folkd complaining, "Get Off Your Arse! Go Do Something.."

One more thing, there are no arguments for, or against, #Brexit in this BLOG. Neither is it party political. It’s far, far more important than that.  It's about real change in our villages, towns, cities and our country.  So, bear with, bear with... this is about our precious present and how we build a fulfilling future.

Losing my Precious Present.

I’ve had a terrible, testing and tiring, couple of weeks culminating in me preparing a Formal Complaint against a local Councillor, this week-end.  It's meant late nights and early mornings, as well as covering the day job.  It's been an unwanted but critical extra task.  It's involved at least a dozen people so far and is set to involve more. I've been deeply hurt, personally and professionally, angry, grumpy and at worst, I feared a heart attack about what he wrote, said and did, to me and to two friends (yes, they're women).  It would have been so, so much easier to leave the councillor unchallenged and do nice stuff - enjoy my precious present.  But something deep drove me on.  I've never fallen for, “You’ll not change him (yes it's a bloke). They are all the same.  You’re wasting your time. Get a life.” So, I pushed on chanting, "This too will pass" and am now reaching a place I recognise well - been here before, had the sleepless nights and now I'm due some rest.  I'm finding my way out of the tunnel, beyond the horrible, awful, draining swamp.  It's like a clearing. It's peaceful here. I’m strangely calm. I feel a stronger sense of purpose and a weird burgeoning energy.  “Why?” you mutter, and I continue…because writing this and passing on the "idea" is cathartic...

Making my complaint has meant analysing and judging how I and my fellow villagers and our Councillors are behaving.  I'd heard residents talk about it bully tactics and I sort of believed them but it was all nebulous.  But now I've witnessed it myself - the lies, duplicity, weedling and plotting.  I can't say more, you know why - "The Case is ongoing".  But the detail and content is not crucial here, you'll see why this is about process.... and there is light at the end....

Whilst compiling my Official Complaint, on the Form Provided, I’ve occasionally lifted my eyes to the TV, heard the radio from the kitchen, or responded to news alerts on my phone. Doing so, I see and hear the regional, national and global version of my little local issue.  There they are our country-folk, our international brothers and sisters and our elected representatives breaking bad and breaking good behaviour.  It's 24-7 on our Social and not so Social Media.  It’s the same damned play, on a bigger stage, with different bloomin actors!  

Recognise this?  At worst there’s tribal behaviour, bully tactics, fake claims, misrepresentation, untruths peddled as fact, deliberate avoidance tactics, shouting, tears, personal insults and blind anger.  At best, thank goodness and I do mean goodness, there’s also a calm, respectful, integrity in dialogues where listening is balanced with talking. Amongst the noise blitz from the breaking bad, we find the breaking good as we hear more objective, evidence-based arguments and, occasionally, the willingness to shift an opinion and an honesty in realising a mistake has been made, saying sorry and moving on.  We witness see this on all sides of politics and not just in my village - it's global - isn't it?

The bigger, national and global view
I'm seeing, in this bigger picture, something else. The dangerous tribal behaviour is not between the Left and the Right or the #Brexiteers and #Remainers, the Democrats and Republicans (fill in with the other tribes you know...) No the real tribes are the Reasonable Rational and the Unreasonable Irrational and these warriors do lurk within all political and activist tribes all over the world.  The important point is - the Reasonable Rational are good for us and the Unreasonable Irrational are bad for us, especially when they, as they tend to do, drift into abuse and bullying.  So, to make distinguishing between these tribes easier I’ll label the Reasonable Rational GOOD and the Unreasonable Irrational BAD.   The good are critical thinkers and moral scientists - they discuss to find ways forward for a long, long time and they resist anger.  The bad are knee-jerk, grabbers of opinions that fit their view, skewers of truth, facts and prepared to be immoral to win, at all costs.  We must applaud the Reasonable Rational, even when we disagree with what they say.

My fear, shared by my closest friends (real and virtual) is that the BAD are winning.  My darkest fear is they will win if they are not challenged. Unchallenged they destroy the balance of our lives. They mess up our villages an towns.  They are literally, destroying the planet.  So, in this BLOG and elsewhere I'm arguing, in a GOOD way, that we work to establish a more Consensual Leadership at all levels by educating ourselves to be reasonable and rational... but I digress.... follow my thinking on Consensual Leadership in the The Original BLOG or in A Calmer Education Focussed Article more to follow....

How 7 Principles of Public Life might help.

Whilst these actors were moving, strutting and shaking around our stages, locally, nationally, and internationally.. some breaking bad and others breaking good, I rediscovered a document.  I once signed it and knew it well.  Finding it again has been my handrail to sanity See Page 3 of Ethical Standards Document  It includes the statutory "Code of Conduct of people in public office".  It's a charter for the GOOD and a huge challenge for the BAD.

The 7 principles are:

·         Selflessness

·         Integrity

·         Objectivity

·         Accountability

·         Openness

·         Honesty

·         Leadership

Here's the link to our local Complaint Form" based on the 7 Principles.  The document helped me check that what I'm thinking and writing about my complaint against a set of solid criteria (I'm resisting a plug for The iAbacus here - note no link - but the Code would make an excellent template!)

GOYA?
You too can use the 7 Principles to complain when others are behaving badly.. They apply to anyone and everyone who works as a public office-holder, or is elected or appointed to public office, nationally and locally.  There are also procedures to hold them account for their conduct through investigation and inquiry. Check your Local Authority/MP's Website to find your equivalent. 

I'm now thinking wouldn't it be great if these principles were applied to all of us who venture out into the world of public discourse? Well they can! They can be applied, easily, in our day to day interactions and certainly on and in Social Media. (I will be advising/educating my fellow braves in #WomenEd to use them, where appropriate, to strengthen their brilliant stance on on-line abuse. I've already invited the amazing "Sheffield Trees Action Group" STAG to have a peek and use it with their errant Councillors.... 

So what about our Fulfilling Future?

The priority?  This week-end and the days and weeks ahead are likely to be the most important many of us will ever spend.  How our MPs think and vote on our future is under hourly study.  Millions, of UK citizens are preparing to march again, protest, hold rallies, leaflet drop or discuss with neighbours and friends. Many are new activists and for some it will be their first political act and, yes, talking to a neighbour can be a political act. Go do it I say.  Indeed, let's all do it more but but but we are better when we do it reasonably and respectfully, in line with those 7 GOOD Principles.

Go small?  We know that in families and relationships there are women, girls, men and boys children who are suffering under Unreasonable Irrational Bullies.  They need help - the 7 principles and the notion of Consensual Leadership can provide a handrail to thinking.....

Go global? Look wider than the UK and we see see people, active politically.  Look what's happening in France this week-end!  If course it's right when people rise up to challenge their representatives' thinking rising up but we must be worried about how some of us, some of them, the BAD conduct themselves.  We the GOOD must use our precious present to achieve a fulfilling future by challenging the BAD? Why?  Because aggressive behavior is not an argument. Oppression and power are not reason. Anger, bullying, coercion is the pathetic response when the rational argument, the temper, the love, is lost.

What is point? Well, it’s deceptively simple as the very best things often are.  I’m suggesting we all keep to the Code of Conduct for Public Life.  I am challenging anyone and everyone, who had the determination to read this far, to consider making an Official Complaint against anyone in public office who breaches the Code of Conduct, as I'm doing.  

Incidentally, I decided to do so only after I'd offered to discuss a way forward with the councillor.  This was refused, with more bile, as was all future contact. That was even more unacceptable and great evidence for the complaint. 

Finally:

We cannot work for a better future in our villages, towns, cities, across the UK, EU and the world, when elected officials behave badly.  In some ways mine is a pathetically small issue compared with the upper levels of Brexit and Global Warming.... but it's a small step... and I, for one, intend there to be more - my own and maybe yours? Remember,

“All that is required for evil to prevail, is for good men and women to do nothing”

Go do!

I am willing to collaborate with anyone who wants to promote these standards in a voluntary or professional capacity.  If interested contact me via john@johnpearce.org.uk

John Pearce in calmer mood

John Pearce

Further Information

The 7 principles of public life apply to anyone who works as a public office-holder, or is elected or appointed to public office, nationally and locally.  They apply to the civil service, local government, the police, the courts and probation services, non-departmental public bodies, health, education, social and care services.  They have legal force to all sectors that deliver public services.

They are the foundation of the MP's Code of Conduct and can be found on the websites, or required of all County, Borough, District and Parish Councils.

For further information on the 7 principles and the work of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, visit the Committee’s website and blogsite

Tags

#MPs #BREXITDEAL #BreakingGood #JOB70 #WomenEd #HeForShe #StandardsInPublicLife

#Consensual Leadership #STAG