Alain Juppé: "Political leadership also consists in defending some positions that do not always reflect the most common opinion"
Posted on Nov 20, 2015
Leaders League. During your career, how did you become a political leader? Do you think, like the business world, that in politics one can move from a manager to a leader?
Alain Juppé. Upon graduating from the ENA (National School of Administration, one of the most prestigious and elite French schools, Editor’s note), I saw myself dedicated to a career of senior civil servant rather than politician. However, two critical meetings made me go into politics: that with Jérôme Monod, who introduced me to Jacques Chirac, then Prime Minister, in search for "a graduate from ENS (another prestigious French school, Editor’s note) who knows how to write ...” From there, things cycled through. Unlike in the United States where leading political figures can emerge quickly – for example, Barack Obama – in France, a political career is built over time, and experience is crucial.
In politics, it is not necessarily required to have been manager before becoming a leader. As far as I am concerned, I believe that my experience of senior administration, as Inspector of Finance and then Director of Finance and of Economic Affairs at the Paris City Hall, was invaluable.
Leaders League. What are the elements of leadership in politics?
A. J. I will mention three: authority – without which leadership does not even exist, convictions and the ability to share a vision.
Leaders League. What are the hidden elements of leadership that allowed you to “hatch?”
A. J. I like very much this image of hatching, which refers to the duration, maturation, and everything that allows the personality building. Instead of hidden elements, I would rather speak of favorable factors. The first one, it seems to me, can be found in our received education, both demanding and pushing to surpass ourselves and encouraging self-esteem. Then we need circumstances that are conducive to the expression of one’s full potential: appearing in the right place and at the right time to seize our chance. Finally, it is crucial to be in tune with our times.
Leaders League. What is your view on the evolution of leadership? Have we passed from a "top / down" system (vertical obedience) to a "bottom / up" grid (information feedback)?
A. J. Today, citizens and activists within political organizations intend to express themselves and see their ideas taken into account and relayed by policy makers. No single political project can be developed without the participation of citizens. In Bordeaux, I developed the participation of residents in neighborhood and thematic councils, or in consultations related to major installations. On the national level, I launched the Grenelle Environment debate during which all the stakeholders (associations, academics, industrialists…) were able to dialogue and build a strategy together. Political leadership requires above all a capacity of listening and understanding; but it also consists in defending some positions that do not always reflect the most common opinion, and in knowing to make decisions when necessary.
Leaders League. Leadership: an innate or acquired concept?
A. J. Probably a bit of both, to which are added the circumstances allowing a potential to be realized. The General de Gaulle, who in my eyes remains the model par excellence, was a military man of great quality with an innovative vision, but he became "the General" only after the tragic circumstances of history put him in such a situation to demonstrate his qualities of leadership.
Leaders League. What are the three leaders - alive - that inspire you the most?
A. J. The first personality of which I think is naturally Jacques Chirac who was my political mentor. In this area, I also think of two personalities that I have had the privilege of meeting and who mark their era. Nelson Mandela, of course, for his long fight against apartheid and for his ability, at the appropriate time, to impose national reconciliation and to build, with the enemies of yesterday, a new nation. Aung San Suu Kyi, whose nickname Iron Butterfly expresses the inner strength that allowed her to resist during twenty years, peacefully but firmly. When the authorities understood that they had no alternative but to open up to democracy, she also knew to play the institutional games. Today, she travels the country to defend her beliefs and help the emergence of a new political generation. Finally, if I may add a fourth personality, this time from the business world: Steve Jobs, a constructor of an industrial empire, whose visionary character has deeply transformed our daily lives.
Translated from French by Jeanne Yizhen Yin
Photo: "Alain Juppé à Québec en 2015" by Florencecassisi - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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