This article appears as part of the Unspun: Scottish Politics newsletter.

President Harry S Truman once said, “It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit”. It’s one of my favourite quotes and it’s one that’s defined my approach to leadership, not just in politics, but in my previous careers in business and as a professional athlete.

Leadership comes in many different forms. Whole libraries have been written about the attributes of a good leader, but no-one has ever come up with a definitive answer.

I have worked for, and alongside, many talented leaders. I’ve been a leader myself. I’ve learned there are certain things that all good leaders share.

Leadership is about hard truths and hard choices. No-one can please everyone all the time, but it’s too easy for politicians to opt for what’s popular over what’s right or necessary.

When our leadership contest begins in earnest, we should remember that we need a leader who’ll say not only the things we want to hear, but also the things we need to hear. It’s comforting to have a leader who spends their time telling us why we’re right and everyone else why they’re wrong, but it doesn’t persuade voters, and it doesn’t encourage us to adapt to a changing political landscape. We need a leader who listens, who will challenge others and is willing to be challenged, by opponents and colleagues alike.

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This is our opportunity to choose a leader who doesn’t just want to move the Scottish Conservative Party forward but has the ambition and ideas to move Scotland forward.

Leadership is about having a vision and communicating it. The challenges facing Scotland’s economy, NHS and other public services are serious and complex. If we devote huge amounts of time and energy to short term political point scoring, we lose our ability to think hard about the real issues.

We must also pick our battles. We must have a strategy. We cannot win by endlessly picking fights and losing more than we win. To be an effective party, we need a plan beyond invective laden press releases of outrage at Scottish Government failings. Relentless emphasis on opposition to independence is – as has often been pointed out recently – no longer useful. It isn’t the number of hits we score that matters, it’s making sure that those hits are about the issues people care about and have a resounding impact.

Leadership is about team. No successful leader has ever achieved their success alone. They have had a team behind them. An effective leader knows how to make the most of their team’s skills and give them the confidence to be bold.

We are approaching the start line for the race for the leadership of the Scottish Conservatives. Change brings a certain degree of uncertainty but change also can bring opportunities if approached strategically and with purpose.

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I used to work with companies in developing leadership skills and one of the first questions I used to ask was “Who’s in the team?” It’s a question with a very important answer because it offers an insight into the organisation’s culture. This is an opportunity not just to change our leadership, but our culture and create a better team.

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers; it is about surrounding yourself with the best people. It’s about communicating effectively; it’s about bringing the team together and empowering them. Advisors have a valuable role to play, but they can only advise. When the big decisions are made, the politicians who must answer for those decisions should be a major part of that process. 

Our MSPs, MPs, councillors and members all need to feel that they are part of a team that is unified and has a vision for the future.

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Empowering our Scottish Conservative team will be crucial ahead of the 2026 election. They need to know that their ideas will be heard, and concerns listened to.

Finally, I have worked with three Scottish Conservative leaders each different both in personality and leadership style. There is no formula for a good leader, and each candidate will have their own ideas. However, every candidate that enters the arena deserves credit and respect for stepping forward, and the party should recognise that.