Margaret Thatcher was a transformative leader who had a clear vision of making Britain great again through individual freedom, free markets, and limited government. She communicated this vision clearly and repeatedly despite facing adversity and implementing controversial reforms. While her style was often confrontational, she achieved results through perseverance, courage in challenging orthodoxy, and a willingness to take advice and make concessions when needed. Her successes demonstrated the importance of vision, communication, courage and focus on results to effective leadership.

1. Margaret Thatcher:
A Study in Leadership
By
Noel Sloan

2. Course Program
Reflections on Leadership
Six Dos
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Have a Vision
Communicate the Vision
Show Courage
Persevere
Focus on Results
Take Advice
Two Don’ts
– Don’t Let Personal Feelings Affect Professional Relationships
– Don’t Let Events Overtake Your Leadership Style
Conclusion
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3. Reflections on Leadership
“Never do things because other people do. If you lead, others will follow.”
Alfred Roberts to his young daughter, Margaret
“If you want to change the Party, lead it.
If you want to change the country, lead it.”
Airey Neave, MP, to Margaret Thatcher, in the film The Iron Lady
“This we believe. This we will do.”
Margaret Thatcher’s definition of leadership in a speech given to the Conservative Central
Council in 1986
“Being Prime Minister is a lonely job. In a sense, it ought to be: you cannot
lead from the crowd.”
Margaret Thatcher reflecting on her time as Prime Minister
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4. Have a Vision
Margaret Thatcher’s vision was so powerful and so personal that she gave her
name to it: Thatcherism.
The key elements of Thatcherism were:
– Britain could be great again
– Individuals should be able to run as much of their lives as possible - from this
sprang her commitment to limited government and low taxes
– Free markets and private enterprise are the way to generate prosperity.
The vision sprang from:
– her reflections on Britain’s failures in the 1970s
– her discussions with her political mentor, Sir Keith Joseph
– her exposure to free market ideas from various think tanks.
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5. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Vision is an essential part of leadership
• Leadership includes inspiring others to see a future that is more attractive
than the present
• Maintaining the status quo is not inspiring
• It is easier to have a vision when times are bad; when times are good the
status quo looks attractive
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6. Relevance to the Corporate World
You don’t have to be a Prime Minister or CEO to have a vision
Examples of having a vision in the corporate world:
– an idea for a new product or service
– an idea for entering a new market segment
– an idea for improving client service with a view to winning more
business
– an idea for improving a process with a view to cutting costs
– an idea for making a team more productive.
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7. Communicate the Vision
Margaret Thatcher communicated her vision with:
– conviction
– repetition
– simple, direct language.
She was a good communicator because she:
- thought clearly
- took advice on improving her presentation.
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8. Examples of Clear,
Direct Communication
…a property-owning democracy…
Explaining a key element of Thatcherism in four words
You turn if you want. The lady's not for turning.
Explaining that the government would not change its economic policies
We have ceased to be a nation in retreat.
Assessing the significance of victory in the Falklands War
..all attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail.
Comment after surviving an assassination attempt
No, no, no.
Reply to proposals to increase the role of the European Community
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9. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Communicating clearly shows you are in command of your subject
• Using jargon and complicated terms gets in the way of communicating
clearly
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10. Persevere
“It's easy to be a starter, but are you a sticker too?
It's easy enough to begin a job, it's harder to see it through.”
Alfred Roberts, as quoted by his daughter, Margaret Thatcher
In the early years of her time as Prime Minister, Britain was in a recession,
unemployment rose to the highest level since the Depression, and there were
riots in the inner cities. She became the most unpopular Prime Minister since
records began.
Even in this especially difficult time in her Premiership, Margaret Thatcher
showed the direction she intended to take:
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her government cut the top rate of income tax
her government lifted controls on the free flow of capital
her government privatized some companies
her government passed some reforms of trade union law.
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11. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Even in difficult times you should find improvements which you can
implement
• Doing this shows:
– the direction you intend to take
– commitment to your vision
– ability to handle adversity
– perseverance.
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12. Show Courage
Margaret Thatcher was widely regarded as a courageous leader.
The evidence of her courage was extensive:
– intellectual courage: she challenged the political and economic orthodoxy
which had prevailed in Britain since 1945
– political courage: she pursued policies which she believed in even though they
were initially unpopular
– political courage: she took Britain to war over the Falkland Islands because she
thought it was the right thing to do - even though the prospect of success was
very unclear
– personal courage: she faced an assassination attempt calmly and with
defiance.
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13. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Examples of courage in the corporate world:
– challenging the status quo
– disagreeing with your boss
– holding colleagues to a higher standard
– reporting inappropriate behavior.
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14. Focus on Results
“There is no point in embarking on a battle unless you are reasonably
confident you can win.”
Margaret Thatcher to an adviser in 1981
“I had learned from hard experience that you must never allow yourself to
be manoeuvred into taking drastic action….when a steady, low-key
approach will secure what is needed over a somewhat longer period.”
Margaret Thatcher in her autobiography
Margaret Thatcher was perceived as a leader who set her course and stuck to
it whatever the obstacles. But her methods were more complex than is often
realized. She focused on results, but she knew that this sometimes required
an indirect approach, making concessions and acting cautiously when
needed.
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15. Example 1: Making Concessions
In 1981 Margaret Thatcher insisted on making concessions to coal-miners to
avoid a strike.
These concessions included making investments in the coal industry, limiting
imports of coal from overseas and providing public money to convert power
stations from oil – exactly the opposite of what her free market policies would
suggest she do.
The concessions made in 1981 provided the time to stockpile coal near
electricity-generating plants – and because of this there were no black-outs
during the miners’ strike.
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16. Example 2: Acting Cautiously
Militant trade unions and poor industrial relations were two of the major
problems facing Margaret Thatcher when she became Prime Minister.
The initial approach to reforming trade unions was especially cautious: the
minister charged with introducing the new laws was selected because he was
acceptable to trade union leaders.
It was only after the initial reforms were made that Margaret Thatcher
appointed a more radical minister.
But even then the approach was incremental: the reforms were implemented
over many years and it was only toward the end of her Premiership that the
“closed shop” was outlawed.
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17. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Focusing on results does not always require a “straight line” approach
• Making concessions and acting cautiously can sometimes achieve goals
more effectively than engaging in a direct confrontation
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18. Take Advice
Some of the key achievements of Margaret Thatcher’s Premiership were the
result of acting on advice, sometimes in opposition to her initial instincts.
• When Britain was preparing for the Falklands War, Margaret Thatcher
asked for the advice of a former Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan.
• Her second Chancellor of the Exchequer persuaded her that selling off
state-owned businesses should be carried out on a massive scale.
Privatization became a key part of Thatcherism.
• Her second Chancellor of the Exchequer also persuaded her to cut the top
tax rate to 40%. She thought 50% was sufficient. The reduction to 40%
became a signature reform of her time as Prime Minister.
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19. Relevance to the Corporate World
• Taking advice shows:
– open-mindedness
– willingness to build a team
– awareness of your limitations.
• You don’t have to take advice from everyone but you should take advice
from people whose judgment you respect
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20. Don’t Let Personal Feelings Affect
Professional Relationships
“...the gap between us was as much a matter of personal antipathy as policy
difference....we found each other's company almost intolerable.”
Margaret Thatcher in her autobiography on her relationship with Sir Geoffrey Howe, a senior
minister and one of the architects of Thatcherism
Margaret Thatcher let her feelings show, and humiliated her Deputy Prime
Minister in front of colleagues.
When he resigned, his statement in the House of Commons was devastating
and it set off the chain of events which led to Margaret Thatcher’s
resignation.
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21. Relevance To The Corporate World
• Letting your personal feelings show can:
- undermine your leadership
- lead to complaints about your behavior.
Footnote: Years later Sir Geoffrey Howe paid one of the most astute tributes to
Margaret Thatcher’s leadership: “Her real triumph was to have transformed not one
party, but two, so that when Labour did eventually return, the great bulk of
Thatcherism was accepted as irreversible”.
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22. Don’t Let Your Leadership Style Be
Overtaken By Events
Margaret Thatcher made concessions and at times acted cautiously to
achieve her goals – but overall her leadership style was regarded as
confrontational.
Toward the end of her time as Prime Minister it was clear that she had
achieved much of what she set out to do: militant trade unionism had been
tamed; most of the nationalized industries had been privatized; tax rates had
been cut dramatically; above all, Britain’s economic decline had been
reversed.
Margaret Thatcher thrived on new challenges and she found new opponents,
principally the European Community and high-spending local authorities. But
many people had wearied of the confrontations and the apparently
permanent revolution she was pursuing.
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23. Relevance To The Corporate World
• Be prepared to modify your style of leadership to handle new challenges
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24. Conclusion
“I don’t think there will be a woman Prime Minister in my lifetime.”
Margaret Thatcher in 1973, six years before becoming Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher became the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th
century
Privatization has been adopted by countries around the world
The Labour Party under Tony Blair adopted key elements of Thatcherism
Margaret Thatcher had no idea that the Soviet Union was on the verge of collapse
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