SNOBELEN: Leaving political office with wisdom and grace

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I was just shy of 30 when I had the dubious job of telling someone he was past his prime.

The gentleman in question was an icon. He had forgotten more than I will ever know. Worst of all, he was a friend.

But father time is undefeated and it fell on my young shoulders to tell this amazing man he needed to step aside. He could have continued to perform for a while, but his diminishing capabilities would have done damage to his legacy. He deserved better.

So, we had the conversation. He was a gentleman. But I swore as I got into my pickup truck that I would never make someone tell me I was past my prime.

Decades later, another friend announced he was leaving the leadership of an institution he had led brilliantly. He could have hung on for another decade. But he stepped aside.

I called him and asked him why. He said the sweet spot in leadership of a big organization is about five years. It takes two years to find the bathrooms and three years to implement a strategy. After that, it’s just a long cycle of explaining, rationalizing and defending decisions.

My wise friend made the difference he could and then left before the explaining, justifying and defending began.

That is the cycle of mastery – learning, contributing and then leaving room for the next generation. It can be done with dignity and honour. Mostly it’s not.

Most people want to contribute and make a difference. But few have the wisdom to leave the stage before the lights go down.

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The few who leave before they have exhausted their moment on the stage will exit with a unique grace. There are no better examples than Mike Harris and Brad Wall.

Brad Wall is the proud son of Swift Current. He followed an interest in politics to the Saskatchewan legislature, helping to form and then becoming leader of the Saskatchewan Party.

He won three consecutive majority governments and was the most popular premier in Canada. And then he quit.

Mike Harris came to the Ontario legislature from North Bay. When the Ontario PC party slipped from decades in power to third-party status, Harris sought and won the party’s leadership. He then won two consecutive majority governments and … quit.

Harris and Wall turned around their respective provinces. They each had big agendas that they successfully implemented. And they both left office with gas left in the tank.

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They had the wisdom and courage to leave before the inevitable cycle of explaining, justifying and defending. They left the stage with a measure of dignity.

My favourite definition of a leader is someone who causes something’s time to come. But the brilliance of leadership isn’t constrained to championing a future. It’s knowing when the time has come to make way for the next generation.

Whatever you may think about the leadership skills of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, they clearly lack the wisdom, courage and humility to exit the political stage on their own terms. They aren’t just out of gas — they are in the ditch.

Biden and Trudeau have at least one thing in common — their overriding objective has always been beating the other guy (initially Trump and Harper respectively). Maybe they should have set their sights higher.

But it’s too late now. They will never enjoy the wisdom and grace of Wall and Harris.