Downing Street disasters | The key to avoiding the mistakes of failed leaders

Updated on Friday 21st October 2022

Headlines will no doubt be rife today with the news that the United Kingdom will soon see its third Prime Minister take to the front benches of the House of Commons within the space of mere months, following the resignation of Liz Truss.

For many leaders, the same issues that ultimately spelled the end of our most-recent PM are also those that are keeping them up at night: the ability to provide stability, both psychological and physical, for their people; the need for a clear mandate to lead; and the skills to scale uncertainty, along with the seemingly impossible hurdles that lay ahead.

However, to find answers to these key issues, let’s move away from Whitehall, and instead explore an individual who managed to achieve what many thought was impossible.

The case of Philippe Petit

On August 7, 1974, a French high-wire artist by the name of Philippe Petit took his position on the South Tower of the World Trade Centre, and looked out at a thin wire stretched over the 131-feet chasm in front of him, to the tower’s twin. He took a deep breath, and confidently walked out over the 1,350 feet tall gap separating him from the street below. He wore no harness.