Developing strong and diverse political leaders. (2015)

“…while it might be easy to ascribe politicians’ apparent reluctance to acknowledge their own needs for development to arrogance, hubris or self-interest – there may be legitimate reasons for being wary about introducing training to politics.”

Jo Silvester, Professor of Psychology, Cass Business School, City University London
Madeleine Wyatt, Lecturer, Kent Business School, University of Kent

The psychologist (British Psychological Society online journal)
May 25, Vol. 28 pp 168-371

The authors ask why so little formal support and development is available for aspiring and incumbent politicians, compared with the considerable efforts investment devoted to developing public- and private-sector leaders?

With the benefit of experience in several projects, they report three common sources of resistance to the idea.

“The first view is that politicians simply don’t need training or development. This might look like arrogance (ie. ‘I am elected by the people, so why do I need training?’).

“The second view is that practical challenges make it difficult to provide or engage in training and development: usually insufficient time, or a lack of available resources to support training activities.

“The third reason for resisting training relates to the belief that the introduction of training and development poses a threat to democratic process. At first this appears to reflect hubris on the part of politicians (i.e. ‘I’m elected, so who are you to tell me I need training?’)

“…while it might be easy to blame this lack of training on politicians themselves – to ascribe the apparent reluctance to admit or address development needs to arrogance, hubris or self-interest – there may be legitimate reasons for being wary about introducing training to politics.”

Access the full article here: Developing strong and diverse political leaders