Sycophancy can cause narcissism and omnipotence

Apr 16, 2014 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

If you give a leader your honest opinion on something he/she solicits you on and you are abused for your candour, then only one course faces you – don’t offer any view anymore. But then again, suppose you are in the employ of the leader and your bread is threatened by his/her annoyance at your refusal to offer an opinion?
I know Forbes Burnham and Cheddi Jagan were not like that. They would listen, debate you, then you would be politely told that the leader will choose to go the way he wants. Mrs. Janet Jagan was not like Cheddi. You were in trouble if you didn’t tell her what she wanted to hear. Desmond Hoyte and Robert Corbin would listen and take your opinion on board. Sam Hinds is the kind of politician that would thank you for showing him that he was wrong.
In the WPA days, Walter Rodney, Clive Thomas, Moses Bhagwan, Eusi Kwayana and Rupert Roopnaraine were keen listeners and respected your differing opinion. In the AFC, the four big names are similar. Moses Nagamootoo, Khemraj Ramjattan, Nigel Hughes and Raphael Trotman are leaders that want your input. They would gladly welcome your opposing proposals.
I don’t know much in this context about David Granger, but I believe he is a gentleman who will be glad that you submitted your frank viewpoint, even if it differs from his. Ramotar is too weak a leader to think for himself, so he would run with the advice he asked you for. The exception was Jagdeo. In the end, his people, his personnel, his underlings had to tell him what he wanted to hear.
The trouble with a powerful leader who is full of himself is that the risk of descent into narcissism and omnipotence is always there when you continue to shower oceans of praise on them. If you are not beholden to them then you should call it the way you see. This was the grave mistake of Ralph Ramkarran.
Except for doing legal work for the Jagdeo Government, Ramkarran was too financially independent to fear Jagdeo’s reaction if his opinions were not on the same wavelengths with his president.
It comes as a huge surprise to me to read a description from Ramkarran that he openly dissented in 2006 with certain attitudinal directions of the Jagdeo Government and he was rebuffed, with Jagdeo being the most vociferous rejecter. I believe Ramkarran, but Jagdeo’s narcissism and omnipotence were certainly encouraged by subsequent behaviour of Ramkarran.
Months before the elections, Ramkarran penned a Chronicle column in which the panegyric of Jagdeo was excessively sycophantic. It was a servile piece that was too fawning. Ramkarran went overboard in actually saying that Jagdeo was the best head of government Guyana ever had.
The Jagan admirers were probably annoyed at that description.
Ramkarran obviously was strategizing. He knew he wanted the presidential candidacy for the upcoming national election, so he was eulogizing Jagdeo to get his support. He knew that whoever Jagdeo favoured would be the choice. But Ramkarran’s strategy backfired.
We can go to Forbes Burnham of Guyana and Adolf Hitler of Germany to show how Ramkarran failed. Strong, tyrannical leaders live in a closed room of irony. They want slaves to run after them, but they lose respect for such people and tend to dismiss them as foot soldiers. The one person who defied Hitler was Albert Speer.
In a weird example of psychological contortion, Hitler only admired Speer within his inner circle and would have done anything for Speer.
Burnham detested fawning people and saw them as persons he could not rely on. So he chose to confide in those who were not afraid of him or not intimidated in telling him when he was wrong. There were three such persons. His school friend from QC that he made Works Minister, Steve Naraine; Guysuco CEO, Harold Davis and DDL CEO Yesu Persaud. When Yesu Persaud’s autobiography is out, I suspect we will hear from this iconic Guyanese how strange a leader Burnham was.
If Mr. Ramkarran was more familiar with the psychology of tyrannical leaders, then he would have known that he shouldn’t have written that column. Obviously, Jagdeo said that he even got the great Ramkarran bowing to his feet; that even Ramkarran thinks that he, Jagdeo is a better leader than Cheddi Jagan.
Ironically, instead of securing Jagdeo’s patronage, Ramkarran was treated as just another slavish foot soldier. When it was time to select the presidential candidate for the 2011 general elections, Jagdeo didn’t even bother to host a debate. He chose Donald Ramotar.

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Sycophancy can cause narcissism and omnipotence

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