Unfortunately strong leadership has often equated to wrong leadership. Arguably, pugnacious Sir Robert Muldoon was our poster boy for strong leadership in the old autocratic mould. Journalists and fellow politicians - even those in his own party - cowered in the wings as he snarled his way along the corridors of power.
Unfortunately this purported strength was dissipated in creating a monstrously indebted Albania of the South Pacific, facilitated by the many compliant Kiwis who thrice voted him in.
However, the various mayors who get to don the mayoral chains after the October elections will not be afforded the same measure of personal hegemony.
Despite their trappings of office, where the rubber meets the road on any given measure, as with elected councillors, mayors get one vote only. And with the party bloc element an ever-diminishing factor at local body level, a single vote may be of little moment in delivering on promises to move particular mountains.
Compounding this inherent impotency is the public servant factor all elected officers must contend with, and unfortunately, as often is the case, rely on.
Largely this is necessity. Elected officials can't be expected to be repositories of all the technical and institutional knowledge oiling the wheels of governance. But it means they can also be at the mercy of these non-elected officers when it comes to decision-making - bureaucratic machinations brilliantly captured in the Yes Minister/Prime Minister series.
Clips of the originals are on YouTube, but one in particular has gone viral in light of Brexit.
In it, Sir Humphrey patiently explains to his political master how it was necessary for Britain to join the EEC (European Economic Community - predecessor of the European Union) to better make it not work.
With the Foreign Office and the British public vehemently opposed to the whole idea of a Team Europe, Sir Humphrey apprises the bemused minister that the best chance of destabilising it is, therefore, to be part of the machinery, but insidiously inserting as many spanners as possible.
This resonates with the Brexit situation, with the UK making public postures of bailing out of the EU before possibly eventually revoking the original referendum, suitable collateral damage to their European neighbours having being inflicted in the meantime.
Similarly, on matters of great moment to Whanganui such as the wastewater treatment plant, hapless elected officials have to navigate a witches' brew of competing technical advice combined with complicated personal sensibilities and agendas, let alone trying to improve collective body posture at council meetings.
When a single piece of anti-Kim Jong-il graffito was found in Pyongyang in 2011, the entire city was locked down for three days. This is the type of stern response that gets results.
On the other hand, apparently the favourite recreational occupation of Pyongyang citizens is to queue and view the embalmed body of Kim Jong-il.
This is possibly to assure themselves that, if not the son himself, at least the father of the current Supreme Leader continues to display the commendably rigid horizontal posture indicative of someone thankfully no longer in office.
