No tantrums or phone throwing wanted

Fran O’Sullivan has an interesting opinion piece in today’s NZ Herald. She writes:-

Cabinet Ministers en garde: There’s no room for “phone throwers” or “temper tantrums at the top” in John Key’s eyes.

“When the chips are down, if the person you’re relying on is having a meltdown, they’ll probably make the wrong decision,” he said at the launch of the Sir Peter Blake Trust leadership awards this week.

The Prime Minister has already given his colleagues the message not to “come and yell at him” over political outcomes. Not everything will go their way: But they should work their way through issues in a calm and rational manner.

It’s easy to deduce what sparked Key’s warning. It’s early days, but already two of his Cabinet ministers are showing signs of “phone-throwing” tendencies.

O’Sullivan is of course referring to Nick Smith and Judith ‘Crusher’ Collins.

Adam has noted previously that Smith is in danger of losing the argument by over egging this issue.

As O’Sullivan notes:-

Key is unlikely to dump on Smith in public. But at Monday’s Cabinet meeting he warned colleagues to be judicious in how they represent financial issues.

The warning is apposite. There is a fine line between leveraging the impact of the international recession on the financial health of the Government’s own assets to create what in management speak is often referred to as a “burning deck” to force radical change, and downright chicanery.

More on ‘burning decks’ anon.

O’Sullivan on Collins:-

Collins’ decision to initially ban Corrections head Barry Matthews from defending his department’s performance in the wake of an Audit Office report that found an alarming performance in handling parole issues was knee-jerk. It was also stupid as Collins has not managed to drum Matthews from his job, but has more likely paved the way for a substantial payout on his terms.

Agreed. Collins appeared to have been beaten as she had to back off. The SSC head Mr Rennie having delivered his report on Barry Matthews performance. That report was adversely commented on by Adam in his quote for the day on 12 March.

Adam is of the view that Key will be keeping a close watch on Smith and Collins and how they perform.He thinks that Key’s leadership and management style will be to deal firmly with those whose ministerial performance is not delivering.

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