What makes a good leader? Authors Jody Wilson-Raybould and Roshan Danesh can explain - National Post

Jody Wilson-Raybould, left (credit Dean Kalyan), and Roshan Danesh (credit Mary Danesh).Article contentWith their new book, The Inbetween Leader: Cultivating Courage and Unity in a Complex World, authors Jody Wilson-Raybould and Roshan Danesh are looking to foster a new way of leading, at a time where leadership is being questioned around the globe and cynicism around leadership is commonplace.

“Leaders, political leaders in this day and age often prey on cynicism. They encourage cynicism because it paralyzes the people. It paralyzes and freezes them in the idea of nothing can change,” said Danesh, a lawyer and educator who has worked internationally in peace building and conflict resolution. “I think the book, and this is where it ends in the closing with kind of a call to arms and a call to hope, is trying to act as an antidote to that cynicism and counter some of that.”

A member of B.C.’s We Wai Kai Nation Wilson-Raybould, the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2015 to 2019, understands disillusionment all too well. If you recall, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled her from the Liberal caucus on April 2, 2019, during the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Photo: Courtesy of Greystone BooksArticle contentArticle contentShopping EssentialsProduct reviews, deals, roundups and interviews to help you make better buying decisions.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Shopping Essentials will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Trudeau made this move after Wilson-Raybould secretly recorded a phone conversation with the Clerk of the Privy Council, Michael Wernick, after she alleged she faced intense and improper pressure from the Prime Minister’s Office to override a criminal prosecution of the engineering firm via a remediation agreement.

“We talk a little bit about it in the book when we reflect on specific people like Donald Trump and indirectly other politicians,” says the Cape Mudge, B.C. resident when asked about the cynicism epidemic.

“I think it’s really hard for, myself included, to look at politicians, people in elected office, and be inspired by their leadership because those environments are so rife with partisanship, polarization, people seeking leadership offices not necessarily to do good things, but to acquire or maintain office … that creates a disillusionment within the electorate.”

Danesh, who lives in Nanaimo, B.C., says that people responded positively to Wilson-Raybould’s SNC Lavalin stance because “she didn’t act like how they expected a politician to act,” and added: “I think this book then becomes a bit of an explanation of why she acted the way that she did.”

In The Inbetween Leader, out Sept. 29, the B.C. pair says effective leaders need to create interconnectedness through environments where people feel valued and are engaged.

“An in-between leader is somebody that can bridge between divides. Somebody that recognizes the visible and invisible silos that exist between and among us,” said Wilson-Raybould. “An inbetweener is somebody that is courageous that stands up against societal norms and seeks to break down those silos and transcend them to bring people together to learn from each other and understand each other’s experiences, different world views.”

Wilson-Raybould and Danesh draw on their personal experiences as well as expert advice from 85 different voices to offer a tool box of actionable steps to help people become better leaders. And help them to decide what kind of leaders they want to support.