Henry Kissinger, in his book World orderdescribes the Greek word arrogance as a kind of spiritual pride, conceit or defiant arrogance and immoderate ambition, which contains within itself the seeds of its own destruction.

Apart from mythology, Hubris syndrome is also very present in the real world: emperors, rulers, politicians, soldiers, big businessmen and managers suffered from it and still suffer from it.

Restore civility?

Kissinger concludes that we should be inspired by the establishment of a world order of states that affirm individual dignity and participatory government, cooperating with consensual rules; something similar to what should happen in our national politics, instead of insisting on the removal of rulers.

This is where real leaders, statesmen and, in the case of companies, visionaries appear. Among the first are Churchill and Obama, among others Musk.

‘Leadership’, according to Kissinger

In his work The Churchill Factor, Boris Johnson describes that the attitude of British politicians like Chamberlain was to negotiate with Hitler, but Churchill will he opposed and made resistance to Nazism his political mission. His leadership and alliance with the United States prevented Hitler from taking over Europe.

But which of these leaders was the most rational? One who believed that only his word was law and what to do? Fortunately for mankind, Churchill was a rational man.

‘Turnaround Management’

(…) I have worked with good and bad leaders, whose pride destroyed them and led to the destruction of the value of the institutions under their rule.

Obama also impresses us with his great leadership, power of conviction and oratory, when with great discipline and political vision he was the first African-American president of the United States, and in his work promised landmentions: “There is no black United States, white United States, Hispanic United States; and the Asian United States. There is only one United States of America“.

Ashlee Vance tells us in her book about Elon Musk that the planet has warmed too much and yes Musk is confident that his dream of the human race colonizing space will come true. “I wish we could, says Musk, solve the problem of sustainable energy production and lay the foundations of a multiplanetary civilization that can create a sustainable civilization on another planet.”

In Ecuador, we think that we are a multicultural, multiethnic and self-sustaining country, but we are not unique even in the goal of fighting insecurity and poverty, promoting employment, economic growth and defending democracy. Let’s ask ourselves then: is there only one Ecuador?

In my public and private activities, I have worked with good and bad leaders, whose pride destroyed them and led to the destruction of the values ​​of the institutions they are in charge of, with serious consequences for civil society. As citizens we must – democratically – demand that leaders admit their mistakes and change course, before the Hubris Syndrome continues to affect all interest groups and fuel internal social chaos. Much more leadership from the state and civil society, which would act in a coordinated manner, is needed. (OR)