There is little doubt in my mind that we could never have started our global business information companies in the UK without the incredible changes in the 1980s brought about by the remarkable premiership of Margaret Thatcher. What she achieved in government changed the lives of everyone in the country and left a lasting legacy of freedom and (at least a recognition of) individual responsibility and personal choice. Britain’s entrepreneurs should occasionally take a tiny bit of time out from running their businesses and moving their assets offshore to escape the tax crunch and the appalling economic mismanagement of today’s politicians, to pay tribute to this fantastic lady who believed in us like no other politician ever has.
I consider myself most fortunate to have met Mrs Thatcher (she’ll always be ‘Mrs’ to me) on several occasions and was always amazed by the electrifying charisma that surrounded her. Those who know me will probably agree that I am not a ‘natural conformist’ or someone who is likely to ‘simply obey authority for the sake of it’. I am neither overawed by people in great positions of authority nor renowned for 'sucking up' to get my way. Yet I found that I was awed in her company. She had a physical 'presence' like no one else (a 'busy frisson’) I have ever met and I have met every Conservative Party leader since Heath except Cameron.
One of my first encounters with the Great Lady was at the 1984 Young Conservative Conference. I remember how I stood before her and jabbered away incoherently about student loans (a colleague and I had previously written a pamphlet on the subject for Conservative Central Office entitled: ‘Student Loans: Independence and Responsibility’). She was attentive but clearly had more pressing things on her mind. After listening to me politely, she turned suddenly and started to berate Peter Walker the Energy Minster over some event connected with the miners strike. No matter what you say about Mrs T she was always in charge and incredibly focused.
Later that same year at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton, I had my most vivid recollection of her as I walked towards the conference centre early one morning. In those days of just-graduated poverty I had to stay in bed and breakfast lodgings far away from the nice hotels and conference hall at the centre of town. On the morning in question, I was walking briskly along the deserted Promenade next to the sea. We had all woken to the news that the Grand Hotel (which I was visiting until 2330hrs on the night before) had been bombed during the night by the IRA and that people had been killed (more here).
As I got to a pedestrian island in the middle of the coast road, I saw some police motor cycles speeding along. And then, in a picture that will be forever etched in my mind, there was Mrs T giving me (an obvious lonely Conservative representative on his way to Conference) a reassuring wave from the back seat of the prime ministerial car. Moments later as I settled in the conference hall (which was right next to the devastated Grand Hotel), she went up to the rostrum and made a short, impromptu, speech about how the ‘Show Must Go On’. Having been just yards from death hours earlier and with very little sleep she was as cool as a cucumber. Truly magnificent. As a subsequently Sandhurst-trained student of leadership – I now recognize that Margaret Thatcher really is an exemplary example of this overused term.
My last meeting with Mrs Thatcher was at a Conservative Party Conference in the 1990s where I was manning an exhibition stand (see photo). Even though she was out of office and out of power, it was clear that she still had that electrifying charisma. Before she reached our exhibit she went over to the British Airways one and expressed her disapproval of the new livery on their airplanes (In fact, she draped a handkerchief over the tail fin of the model plane in the centre of their stand to cover the offending livery!) - more here. It seems that she was right again, for the livery was changed by the British Airways Board within 24 months!
Much has been, and will be written, about Mrs Thatcher's style. For me three outstanding personal qualities are responsible for her success:
1) She had an argument to make and made it. Today, far too many people avoid defending or promoting what they believe in. Give me a person who failed but tried any day rather than someone who never had the guts to stick their heads above the parapet and make an intelligent case for change (Have Balls!). In this respect, the present leadership of the Conservative Party has a lot to learn from Mrs T, as Britain increasingly faces the same bad economic habits that led to her first election victory.
2) She chose when to make her enemies as well as her friends. For some considerable while Mrs T kept a lot of people in the tent who not only disagreed with her but wanted her scalp rather than take on all the vested interests at once. Let’s face it, Peter Walker was never one of her greatest admirers but he played a key and loyal role in defeating Arthur Scargill before she took his head and dismissed him from the Cabinet for being a less enthusiastic on other matters essential to resurrecting Britain’s fortunes.
3) Behind her conviction was unquestioned integrity. You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give. Mrs T was incorruptible. Of course, she had her faults but the British 'People' trusted her (she never lost a general election) because she trusted them. This is what lies at the heart of her powerful charisma... What you see is (nearly always) what you get.
Mrs Thatcher changed our great country for the better. In the age of the polyglot sound bite we will never see the like of her again.
If you liked this, try some Chicken Balls, Military Balls or Adult Balls
Don't be a follower be a THINKER! See all Gary's tweets and links at www.thinkSURE.com.
I consider myself most fortunate to have met Mrs Thatcher (she’ll always be ‘Mrs’ to me) on several occasions and was always amazed by the electrifying charisma that surrounded her. Those who know me will probably agree that I am not a ‘natural conformist’ or someone who is likely to ‘simply obey authority for the sake of it’. I am neither overawed by people in great positions of authority nor renowned for 'sucking up' to get my way. Yet I found that I was awed in her company. She had a physical 'presence' like no one else (a 'busy frisson’) I have ever met and I have met every Conservative Party leader since Heath except Cameron.
One of my first encounters with the Great Lady was at the 1984 Young Conservative Conference. I remember how I stood before her and jabbered away incoherently about student loans (a colleague and I had previously written a pamphlet on the subject for Conservative Central Office entitled: ‘Student Loans: Independence and Responsibility’). She was attentive but clearly had more pressing things on her mind. After listening to me politely, she turned suddenly and started to berate Peter Walker the Energy Minster over some event connected with the miners strike. No matter what you say about Mrs T she was always in charge and incredibly focused.
Later that same year at the Conservative Party Conference in Brighton, I had my most vivid recollection of her as I walked towards the conference centre early one morning. In those days of just-graduated poverty I had to stay in bed and breakfast lodgings far away from the nice hotels and conference hall at the centre of town. On the morning in question, I was walking briskly along the deserted Promenade next to the sea. We had all woken to the news that the Grand Hotel (which I was visiting until 2330hrs on the night before) had been bombed during the night by the IRA and that people had been killed (more here).
As I got to a pedestrian island in the middle of the coast road, I saw some police motor cycles speeding along. And then, in a picture that will be forever etched in my mind, there was Mrs T giving me (an obvious lonely Conservative representative on his way to Conference) a reassuring wave from the back seat of the prime ministerial car. Moments later as I settled in the conference hall (which was right next to the devastated Grand Hotel), she went up to the rostrum and made a short, impromptu, speech about how the ‘Show Must Go On’. Having been just yards from death hours earlier and with very little sleep she was as cool as a cucumber. Truly magnificent. As a subsequently Sandhurst-trained student of leadership – I now recognize that Margaret Thatcher really is an exemplary example of this overused term.
My last meeting with Mrs Thatcher was at a Conservative Party Conference in the 1990s where I was manning an exhibition stand (see photo). Even though she was out of office and out of power, it was clear that she still had that electrifying charisma. Before she reached our exhibit she went over to the British Airways one and expressed her disapproval of the new livery on their airplanes (In fact, she draped a handkerchief over the tail fin of the model plane in the centre of their stand to cover the offending livery!) - more here. It seems that she was right again, for the livery was changed by the British Airways Board within 24 months!
Much has been, and will be written, about Mrs Thatcher's style. For me three outstanding personal qualities are responsible for her success:
1) She had an argument to make and made it. Today, far too many people avoid defending or promoting what they believe in. Give me a person who failed but tried any day rather than someone who never had the guts to stick their heads above the parapet and make an intelligent case for change (Have Balls!). In this respect, the present leadership of the Conservative Party has a lot to learn from Mrs T, as Britain increasingly faces the same bad economic habits that led to her first election victory.
2) She chose when to make her enemies as well as her friends. For some considerable while Mrs T kept a lot of people in the tent who not only disagreed with her but wanted her scalp rather than take on all the vested interests at once. Let’s face it, Peter Walker was never one of her greatest admirers but he played a key and loyal role in defeating Arthur Scargill before she took his head and dismissed him from the Cabinet for being a less enthusiastic on other matters essential to resurrecting Britain’s fortunes.
3) Behind her conviction was unquestioned integrity. You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give. Mrs T was incorruptible. Of course, she had her faults but the British 'People' trusted her (she never lost a general election) because she trusted them. This is what lies at the heart of her powerful charisma... What you see is (nearly always) what you get.
Mrs Thatcher changed our great country for the better. In the age of the polyglot sound bite we will never see the like of her again.
If you liked this, try some Chicken Balls, Military Balls or Adult Balls
Don't be a follower be a THINKER! See all Gary's tweets and links at www.thinkSURE.com.