I learnt years ago that it’s often the meeting after the meeting which delivers the most value. Those chats after the formalities are over, when the recorders have been switched off and everyone is more relaxed.
It was like that yesterday when Western Cape Premier Alan Winde extended our late afternoon chat well after the microphone was switched off. He’s one seriously passionate and dedicated public servant, and like his administration, a role model his counterparts elsewhere in SA could learn so much from.
The conversation drifted onto my question of how he keeps in touch with constituents – a common problem for those elevated to positions of power. The concept of isolation from normal life that results in what HBS prof and author Richard Tedlow describes as ‘derangement’, something I wrote about in this letter during September.
While MEC for Economic Affairs, Winde opened his office to all from 5pm on the first Thursday of the month. That’s been expanded to the entire provincial cabinet – all of whom are available on that day to meet with anyone who bothers to walk into the Wale Street offices. Winde says it’s first-come-first-serve and the politicians don’t leave until everyone has had their say. He says it keeps him in touch. Also an antidote to derangement methinks.
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