[Inside Government] The Shock of Resignations: Overcoming Adversity






The Shock of Resignations:
Overcoming Adversity

Written by Istillian




Having someone unexpectedly resign presents as a huge challenge for our leaders, particularly for those not familiar with how to manage the onslaught of tasks involved in the aftermath. With our finite amount of resources in the region, and relying on people power over anything else, losing our citizens can be deeply difficult in not only dealing with the frustrations of change-of-management, but abrupt departures then affecting the mindset of those left to keep things running.

This is not a diatribe on the people that depart our region, it's a recognition of the steadfastness of those that persevere in their roles despite setbacks.

Recently we had seen some downturn in activity across the region, and a significant amount of our leaders that were heavy contributors either departed the region or resigned from their roles. So where does that leave the person left in charge? When you’ve grown to rely on someone to not only do a job well, but to be a pillar of support to talk to when things are difficult it can be very lonely when that support is gone, and with a sudden uptick in tasks to take on, it can be stressful. This region isn’t a normal political landscape; there’s not always the time to say goodbye, no cake or farewell gifts to present as a form of finality, and the impact of something happening so unexpectedly can leave you devastated and unsure.

With this in mind I sought to ask some of our current leaders how they were affected by sudden departures in their past terms. I firstly approached Councilor of External Communication Kuramia, and I was genuinely surprised at her initial response, “For me, this process actually happens during campaigning.” To which she added, “You’re not just setting up your platform, you have to have the “perfect” cabinet as well. I hesitated for a long time not just because I wanted to make sure I was ready, but also because I wanted a good cabinet. I wanted people I knew could do the work and do it the way I wanted it to be done.”

I was interested to see how this affected Kuramia personally in her experiences as a leader, which she explained, “Now when you have that “perfect” cabinet, and real life strikes one of them, your first worry is how you find someone with that work ethic that you need. You still need someone you can work with, but there is a hint of desperation. Citizens expect a replacement fairly soon, and not having one is worrying. If you can’t find a replacement, then you have to think about either running things yourself - - as I had to do with the Navy until HEM saved me - - or folding ministries or councils into other ones.”

I queried Kuramia further by adding, “I like that you’ve mentioned that hint of desperation at times – I know things can get stressful when you’re relying on people. Have you had anyone take you by surprise with either taking responsibilities well, or the opposite of people not performing and it being harder for you?”

Kuramia responded, “I don’t think I’ve ever been disappointed by anyone’s performance. Honestly, just them agreeing was a surprise, but I have to say HEM was the most surprising. He not only called out that the ERN didn’t have direction or a leader, but then once I explained what was up he immediately took it upon himself to correct things. He did that and more. He transformed the ERN into something that makes sense and got a lot of participation.”

I had to agree with Kuramia’s statement here, having personally enlisted into the Europeian Republican Navy (ERN) since joining the region, the structure that HEM gave really increased my activity and motivation to serve for Europeia.

Kuramia continued, “I guess that’s why I picked people so carefully. I watch everyone. I see what they do, and I see what they don’t do. As someone working beside others in cabinets and with others in my own cabinets, I can tell who can handle the workload and who can’t. I always make sure to support people too.

“It’s a fine balance between wanting to do a job and having the ability to do it because of real life. I’ve only ever seen people who’ve worked for me freely able to admit when they need to step back. That’s as important as having a good work ethic.”

I then turned to the current Minister of Interior Calvin Coolidge for a basic rationale behind his approach to people leaving roles. As he was a recently outgoing first minister, that was dealt a few sudden resignations in his tenure, I felt that his experiences would be fresh to draw upon.

“So, sudden resignations are something that occur almost every term in some form or another. As First Minister, President, Minister, or any sort of leadership position, you have to be prepared by having deputies selected, a strong plan in place for whoever fills the position next to be able to step into, and you need to be able to do the job yourself, frankly, while the transition period is underway. If you don't have these things in place before the resignation, you will undoubtedly be frantically scrambling to get them after, and that's no fun for anyone.”

Now, while I had some solid answers, and some logical and rational approaches from these two leaders, I felt that I hadn’t really explored the personal toll these resignations may have had on people. So I decided to rephrase my line of questioning when I asked Supreme Chancellor Lethen about a time when things had been rough for him in a transitional period; for all the political twists and turns we take in Europeia, Lethen's answer seemed to have a lot of impact on me in exploring how resignations effect both the populace, and the leaders managing expectations.

“I've dealt with two different kinds of resignation in my time: sudden resignations and resignations where you at least saw them on the horizon. Admittedly, I've been out of elected office where I had underlings for a very long time, but typically sudden resignations catch you off-guard and force you to re-evaluate your staffing options. In some cases, I've had a relatively deep talent pool like in, say, my tenure as Culture Minister in 2011. In many cases though, you don't have a replacement in mind. That can cause deeper issues than simply having no one to run a ministry or pick up slack. In the early days of Europeia, for example, HEM and I struggled mightily to find, train up, and then keep Grand Admirals. Think of all the time we lost to identifying and training the candidates that were being groomed for leadership. Generally, it can be very frustrating and somewhat draining to address sudden resignations - especially if you keep having to address the same concerns from the public while trying to emphasize following your vision for the term. I think it just takes the wind out of the proverbial sails for a lot of those in charge.”

It is of note, particularly going by Lethen’s comments, the hours of work that go in to the training process for raising people into leadership roles, and the after effect of resignations can leave leaders feeling flat and disheartened if their time has seemed fruitless. However, there is always an opportunistic side, one that I think Kuramia got to the heart of when talking about HEM’s transformation and direction of the ERN. Those that remain strong after departures, and weather the storm of responsibility, are then esteemed for their contributions; those that create new ideas will shape our future; and those that persevere deserve to be rewarded for their abilities and the hope they hold when faced with adversity – even to those that step down, for the brutal overload of work expected of them, they are respected for giving so much of themselves.

Looking back on past terms you can see that those leaders that have had success amongst turmoil usually have a contingency plan, as Calvin suggests, and they come prepared knowing full well that they may have to work hard to get things moving along again; but even with these plans in place I feel that, particularly recently, there are times where you can feel suddenly thrown into disarray and confusion – but thankfully we are starting to see a new wave of citizens in Europeia with fresh ideas, activity building, and the sparks of opportunity flying high once again.



 
Last edited:
Very interesting, good stuff!
 
I think this is a great view of the situation, and a good choice of interviewees. Well done, Ist!
 
In the same vein as Kuramia's comments about HEM, there have been countless times throughout Europeian history where leaders have had to take a flyer on a new or unproven player, and it has paid off brilliantly. I think there are lower expectations and lower barriers of entry for these players; you oftentimes just need to show motivation and understanding of the position to get the job. Putting in genuine effort goes a long way.
 
Back
Top