Steven de Waal talks about an important element in his latest book (Amazon 2018): how the same technologies that caused disruption in markets are now also threatening to disrupt democracy, and especially what this means for current politics and politicians and why we need to answer it with a new kind of (public) leadership, Civil Leadership. The main issues he addresses in this interview are: 
• The public opinion is now of and by the public itself
• The Misreading by Political Junkies, who were part of the inner circles of old politics and now also compete with the direct channel and the new public opinion 
• Disruption: Runner-ups who know better how to use the new technological platforms win elections 
• The new medialandscape leads to another strategic arena: Battle for the Eyeballs. This leads to much more theatre, actorship, rhetorics and personality in the public arena. It causes everyday campaigning for public support and attention. It means that all people who used to have, routinely and often only based on their formal position, public attention, like CEO’s, mayors and ministers, now have to compete for attention on the direct channel towards their audience, citizens and voters. 
• The need and claim for more Direct Democracy 
• The best strategic answer is Civil Leadership. It is characterized by three elements: 1. The right attitude, as ‘one-of-us’- citizens, 2. The right purpose and passion about public and societal issues and 3. The rhetorical skills to address the permanent public grandstand and the power of the third channel.  
• What is Think Tank Public Space Foundation? Its main mission being to promote active citizenship and social entrepreneurship.

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Steven de Waal on the (threatening) Disruption of Democracy

Who is a good Civil Leader? What are the effects of the Digital Civil Revolution on Democracy and Political Parties? An interview about Steven de Waal’s book ‘Civil Leadership as the Future of leadership’ (Amazon 2018) 

Part I. What is Civil Leadership?

After a short explanation of his new concept of ‘civil leadership’ - a unique concept from the dissertation of Dr. Steven de Waal: ‘The Value(s) of Civil Leaders’ (Eleven 2014) - the interview follows with the search for examples. One of the main examples De Waal mentions is Jacinda Ardern, the current prime minister of New Zealand, in which country he recently lectured about his book. In her handling of the massacre in Christchurch, empathetic and emotional on the one side and using the power of her position by prohibiting the weapons that were used on the other, she showed this modern leadership. 

Civil Leadership means showing your personality and personal emotions (‘empathy’ and an attitude of ‘one-of-us-citizens’) in combination with using your position and power to change things (‘delivering’). 

Part II. Disruption of Democracy

The same technologies that disrupted markets (internet, apps, social media, online platforms) are now disrupting democracies: newcomers from outside politics and classic political parties now win elections. Main topics addressed about this new strategic context are: 
-	The explanation of the success of the campaigning and ascendance of Trump (president USA) and Macron (president of France) 
-	The importance of the new Battle for the Eyeballs: How scarcity of attention is now the main economic and political strategic factor in all public competition, including elections. 
-	How this changes the public arena fundamentally: more drama, theatre and personality. 
-	How this strategically changes the media landscape: all journalists now have to follow the agenda on social media and this also helps them to know and to further investigate what ‘the people’ are worried or attentive about 
-	That this disruption of democracy starts with the disruption of the main function of political parties: recruiting and selecting people for government jobs. The new media create a new public arena in which newcomers can publicly gain attention, adherence, followership and show that. This way they already have done the public battle and this success gives them power against (or a strong partnership with) current political parties, who want to win elections. 

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Steven de Waal about Civil Leadership

Lessons for all public leaders: The new public arena demands a personal and theatrical style. A conversation about Trump, the new Medialandscape, the Battle for the Eyeballs and Lecturing.

We are going to talk about Trump and his leadership and strategies in the new public arena. How is it possible that this person who is legally challenged now in Washington DC is still so popular amongst the citizens of the USA? In the analysis of Dr. de Waal this is because he personally and intensely uses the new digital direct media channel, which is from, by and for the citizens themselves, like internet, social media, Whatsapp etc. This third channel, as it was analyzed in the book of Dr. de Waal, Trump uses to directly communicate with his voters. That is the reason he is now often called ‘Twitter-in chief”. 

He is a disruptor of democracy: coming from outside politics and then immediately winning elections because he better knows how to use the new technological platforms and new media channel than his competitors. He further shows that now as president. He still uses his own voice and messages on Twitter directly without the normal mediating role of spokesmen or information officers. Every day he keeps interested people informed of his whereabouts. He talks personally and directly to them. He even uses this personal connection with them as an argument in his decisions, like in his conflict about the Mexican wall: that ‘he promised it to his voters in his campaign’. Which politician anywhere in the world uses that argument after he is appointed as president or minister? And most importantly: he speaks their language, so they understand each other. It’s what Dr. de Waal called the behaviour and attitude of ‘one-of-us’ – citizens that is now necessary on these new media channels and increasingly in the public debate in general. That is also the consequence of this new public arena: public personality and style of and (the feeling of) personal connections with politicans are now more important than their messages, policies, plans or even their misdemeanours from the past! 

In this interview we talk about Trump because he shows in his political style (these observations to let us learn strategically from Trump are certainly not meant as any support for his often very right-wing policies and decisions or his divisive style!) many of the conclusions in the book of Dr. de Waal:
•	Any person aspiring to become public leader, should use actively and personally this third digital mediachannel of, by and from citizens themselves
•	As a public leader you should have an attitude of ‘one-of-us’-citizens
•	You should directly relate to ‘your’ voters, they now want to be informed and related to on the spot, immediately and personally as it happens, and not in the long run or only around elections
•	The new public arena asks for a permanent campaigning, almost every day or minute.

These are all reasons why politicians around the world can learn from Trump. Old characteristics of ‘good’ leadership are no longer an argument in this new public arena. He already showed that he is not a good executive in the White House. He certainly is not a connecting or empathetic or protecting leader. So he is all kinds of things not, but he shows how modern politics will and must deal the coming years with this new media landscape and the permanent public grandstand it creates, as Dr. de Waal analyzed in his book. 

We are also going to talk about Steven de Waal’s talks in America and Finland. He is giving information and his analysis to the audience, but what does he get back in return from these lectures?

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Steven de Waal on the Need for Public Dialogue

The #digitalcivilrevolution leads to a fundamentally different public arena and media landscape and so to a totally different battle for public leadership and public authority. In this video Steven de Waal reflects on his lectures and debates in Canada and Finland and also on the current unrest in the Middle East to explain this new public arena. 

The basic analysis is how the new third channel of and by citizens themselves, usually called social media, besides the classic mediachannels of Television/Radio and Press, is fundamentally changing the medialandscape. In this new competition, the #battlefortheeyeballs, this channel will win, leading to a dominating influence on agenda setting, political debates and persons to listen to (public authority). This is the new disruptive power of citizens. Proof of this is shown by persons who complain about this new power, often being the ones who used to have (or thought so!) public attention and authority, like experts, commentators, executives, public administrators and politicians. 

The more fundamental question people ask Steven de Waal in his current international debates, acknowledging this strategic analysis, is if this is not leading to a success of persons who do have the rhetorical skills and personality to win this new battle, but not the individuals who are best in leading the public cause? He thinks we are now in the middle of a learning curve, both of citizens themselves to acknowledge their new power, as of persons with the right attitude and character to lead our society and public issues, to learn the skills to perform in this new medialandscape. 

He reflected on this international lecture tour in a separate paper that further develops these thoughts and comments: https://publicspace.eu/the-new-public-arena-and-the-need-of-civil-leadership-reflections-on-international-lectures-in-2019/ 

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Steven P.M. de Waal, PhD