Authoritative and Bossy. Oh really? I Hadn't Noticed.

Susan Riley has a great column today about Stephen Harper and his handling of the RCMP controversy.

By the way, you can buy the T-Shirt here. It is part of Canadians Rallying to Unseat Stephen Harper, so be sure to join and show your support.

Apparently Stephen Harper is on vacation. Poor boy is tired out from watching replays of the mess he made in Toronto. Too much excitement watching innocent civilians being pounded to the ground.

But Riley is speaking of the mess he made of the RCMP.

Is it too late for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make an emergency booking at that Arizona company that provided troubled RCMP commissioner William Elliott with leadership coaching a couple of years ago?

Canadian taxpayers would probably be happy to pay the $44,000 fee, if the prime minister would sacrifice some well-earned holiday time. It would be a bargain, if it produced mature and effective national leadership -- instead of the petulant style on display in recent weeks.

... But he is not the central problem in Harper's Ottawa; Harper is. Anyone even vaguely familiar with the vast literature of management studies will recognize the prime ministerial style: bossy, bullying, cold -- or, in academic jargon, "exploitative-authoritative."

This kind of leader, say the experts, "has low concern for people and uses threats and other fear-based methods to achieve conformity. Communication is almost entirely downward ..." Examples abound.

Thank you Susan. That was awe inspiring.