A eminent panel of civil servants this week reviewed some of the more disastrous policy decisions taken by both Conservative and Labour administrations over the last few years and published their conclusions that more careful and considered preparation would have avoided the unfortunate consequences to their political masters’ credibility and judgement.
Some of the biggest offenders they identified were Mrs Thatcher’s Poll Tax and Tony Blair’s ‘Dome’ both issues well known to my British readers. However as President Obama found out recently, a politician’s credibility is always ‘on the line’ regardless of personal charisma and an awful lot depends on their support team doing the correct preparation in order to both anticipate and see off the real problems. It is the unforeseen problems and how they leave themselves a route open to resolving them that are the test of a really good statesman, administrator or businessman. The Massachusetts electors have forced Mr Obama to re-examine his policies and the way the have been sold to the US Congress and public. Our Mr Brown is so seriously in hot water on all fronts that it is impossible to contemplate that he will ever reinvent himself sufficiently to appeal to the British public, however much he tries (and boy does he try!).
The fact is that nobody seems to really know what Mr Brown stands for (himself included), he’s been New Labour, Old Labour, Right Wing, Left Wing, tough, caring, penny-pinching and spendthrift - whatever he thinks will earn him a vote or two.
Unfortunately for him the British public can see right through him and even the aptly named Mr Balls (his very doctrinaire and Left Wing Education Minister) possibly has more credibility because at least he is consistently ridiculous, so much so that the policies he was promoting of alienating the middle classes and chasing the traditional Labour vote have been reined in because of the threat of other ministers to unseat Mr Brown if he persists in what is seen as a sure election vote loser.
I expect by now you are wondering when I’m going to get to the point in relation to the diamond industry, OK here it comes – the new contract period is being drafted and has hugely important implications for existing clients. It is absolutely essential that there is enough room in the process that no systemic failures are allowed to occur because that reflects not only on the credibility of the DTC but also on that of the Sightholders. Preparation has to be done now to ensure that any ‘unintended consequences’ can be both addressed and corrected within the process before any damage to reputation and credibility is done.
If I was senior DTC management contemplating committing to a 3 year contract with any company outside of the current contractual arrangements I would certainly consider it imperative, before any final decision is taken, to have a personal meeting/interview with the top management of that company, again, in order to obtain the level of understanding necessary to make a truly informed judgement in relation to the written material submitted. It can be argued that this would also put them on a level playing field with the current Sightholder list who enjoy a personal relationship and understanding with the DTC in addition to their written submission. This would be by far the best way, in our view, to ensure that the process does not throw up unintended consequences i.e. unsuitable or unworthy partners.
Gareth quite rightly said in his address to the Sightholders at the January Cocktail Party, it’s all about ‘relationships and passion’ and how can you enter into a passionate relationship (being serious for once) with somebody who you have never met or have had little regular contact with.
The right type of business with the right level of passion and commitment, in other words those who believe in living up to diamonds, have nothing to fear and everything to gain by meetings which give them the opportunity to position their case personally and the DTC the opportunity to protect its own credibility and the whole Sightholder concept.
The fact is that nobody seems to really know what Mr Brown stands for (himself included), he’s been New Labour, Old Labour, Right Wing, Left Wing, tough, caring, penny-pinching and spendthrift - whatever he thinks will earn him a vote or two.
Unfortunately for him the British public can see right through him and even the aptly named Mr Balls (his very doctrinaire and Left Wing Education Minister) possibly has more credibility because at least he is consistently ridiculous, so much so that the policies he was promoting of alienating the middle classes and chasing the traditional Labour vote have been reined in because of the threat of other ministers to unseat Mr Brown if he persists in what is seen as a sure election vote loser.I expect by now you are wondering when I’m going to get to the point in relation to the diamond industry, OK here it comes – the new contract period is being drafted and has hugely important implications for existing clients. It is absolutely essential that there is enough room in the process that no systemic failures are allowed to occur because that reflects not only on the credibility of the DTC but also on that of the Sightholders. Preparation has to be done now to ensure that any ‘unintended consequences’ can be both addressed and corrected within the process before any damage to reputation and credibility is done.
If I was senior DTC management contemplating committing to a 3 year contract with any company outside of the current contractual arrangements I would certainly consider it imperative, before any final decision is taken, to have a personal meeting/interview with the top management of that company, again, in order to obtain the level of understanding necessary to make a truly informed judgement in relation to the written material submitted. It can be argued that this would also put them on a level playing field with the current Sightholder list who enjoy a personal relationship and understanding with the DTC in addition to their written submission. This would be by far the best way, in our view, to ensure that the process does not throw up unintended consequences i.e. unsuitable or unworthy partners.
Gareth quite rightly said in his address to the Sightholders at the January Cocktail Party, it’s all about ‘relationships and passion’ and how can you enter into a passionate relationship (being serious for once) with somebody who you have never met or have had little regular contact with.
The right type of business with the right level of passion and commitment, in other words those who believe in living up to diamonds, have nothing to fear and everything to gain by meetings which give them the opportunity to position their case personally and the DTC the opportunity to protect its own credibility and the whole Sightholder concept.
1 comments:
Your point of ‘knowing’ or evaluating a potential client is absolutely valid I am sure and even more so of late when BBP etc., have become so relevant, but surely historically this is what a DTC broker’s role was; to only present potential clients to the DTC that they felt met the requirements for a successful relationship. Once they were a client the DTC, no doubt often selecting new clients on a basis of needing to shift all of their stock range, appeared to ‘track’ business and personal details of their clients and occasionally acted to correct practices that they felt inappropriate or take them off their client-list.
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