There are a number of elections going on around the globe right now all at different stages of completion; electing a party candidate, debates, campaigning, closing in on election day, etc.
Last night I was on a ZOOM call with some past cohorts from my altMBA (January class accepting applicants now) and they suggested I write about my thoughts on elections and all. So with little knowledge of the election process and all that goes on behind that machine, here are my thoughts.
Do away with all that Signage
I would love to see a candidate that focuses more on getting their name out there in the media or through their own personal writing (not a PR team of 15) and forgo the signs in favour of giving to a local charity. How much does it all cost? Hundreds of thousands maybe? Maybe more? Why not give it to a charity, why not pay for all that signage and do something useful with that money? I would have to imagine the PR from such a move would be incredibly popular – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter?
Social Media
The last campaign for Barack Obama was all about how he used Facebook to bring about hope and change? Where is the Instagram? Where is the shoestring budget? Where is the politician who is running for the people AND is funded by the people via KickStarter? Where is the next leap?
We have Party Stewards and not Leaders
Ouch – that hurts. It should. From the outside, the leader of a party is a CEO/President steering the ship of a large organization. Sometimes you get someone who can invigorate the party base and all it’s supporters – see Jack Layton. Ask almost any Canadian there thoughts on this election and the answer is almost always the same – “It would have been a very different election if Jack was still here…” – what does that say? I don’t believe we have leaders of parties, but stewards focussed on keeping the lights on and system running – pushing their 12 year roadmap.
None of the Above
What do you do when you have 3 job offers on the table and none of them jump out at you? You walk away. In your head you say – “None of the Above”. We should have that choice and let me be clear, that it should be a choice and not something that is seen as a spoiled ballot. If I were to mark my ballot as “None of the Above” here is what I would be saying – “I don’t have confidence in any of you to lead this wonderful country that I am a part of”. And if the “None of the Aboves” win? Well that would automatically trigger a leadership election in all parties because it would be the signal that we want change, real change, significant change.
So at the end of this very long week, my thoughts and deliverations on elections – I wish they could be more.
