The truest test of character for a leader is a grip on reality. This is tried in politics by their recollection of what’s important by the questioning of those that believe it matters most to their very own lives.
At least, this is what Margaret Thatcher – the former Conservative Prime Minister and first female in the position – said about the duty as she spoke about her time in Number 10 to me over a brief lunch.
It’s not that I admired her at first, but I was able to put together what she said with what I had seen to gather that she was a real Conservative, a true libertarian at heart.
It didn’t just matter if some said it, she felt it was also necessary to reason it through, too, and this point, I considered, had helped her to deepen her understanding of all that she needed to know.
Her gift was for getting to know people well, or at least getting into their company to find them out and start it off.
She had principles – or rules – in mind that helped her to do it. “There is nothing to be gained by being familiar,” she said, “everything is lost in that way, always.” She retained a moderate approach to doing this always.
The practice helped build up a knowledge base of what it is people wanted. It stopped her assuming it and led her into the “realm of knowing,” as she put it. It’s how most of her assumptions were road tested before going to print.