There’s a historic site in Zimbabwe that was once a great trading area in the southern part of the African continent; archeologists estimate that it took 400 years to build. The Hohenwerfen castle in Salzburg, Austria, located on the top of a great hill, took 600 years to buld. When tourists visit extraordinary places such as these, they tend to gloss over the significance of the timelines involved.

Just imagine someone (or a group of someones) having the vision and courage to start a project that would take hundreds of years to complete. “Well, no, actually, it won’t be your grandchildren who will benefit. No, it won’t be your great-grandchildren. Nope, sorry, it won’t be your great-great-grandchildren either. Someday, though, somebody will benefit—and it’ll be great!”

The strength of character, the wisdom, the tenacious leadership it must have taken to get projects such as these even started is mind-boggling. One has to ask, were such individuals the greatest salespeople of all time? Were they charismatic? Or did they just have people beaten into submission—for centuries?

Granted, those were different times with different political and economic institutions, hardly comparable to today. But you might wonder what could get done on a grand scale if our region’s leadership had a fraction of the vision, determination, and focus to make really big things happen.

The collapse of Canada’s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Halifax is an example of where extraordinary leadership may have made a difference. The grand vision of a successful Games

wasn’t effectively sold. But perhaps the vision was even out of reach of the incumbent leaders.

As a result, it wasn’t widely understood that these Games would have been an economic, athletic, and cultural stimulus to the entire region, not just Halifax. If the leadership had sold the vision to all constituencies, these would have been successful Games—and they could have been easily won. Regardless of the investment required, the returns would have been greater.

The point is, in our current political and economic climate, the long term has no currency. Political leaders are forced to deal with the implications of the next election, and while the history books might reward them for courageous and visionary decision-making, the voters most likely would not.

Progress at every level for any society can only happen as a result of inspired leadership. For too long we have punished elected people with vision and the conviction to achieve future greatness. As a result, we mainly elect people who will govern to meet the needs of the lowest common denominator—those who listen to and react mainly to those who don’t understand what it takes to move forward.

This region has an urgent need for great and decisive leadership in the near future. It must come from business, but it also must come from elected officials. They must work together for the benefit of the whole Eastern region. They have a responsibility to do what’s right for the long term—maybe not for 600 years out, but at least beyond the next election.