✅ Why Rachel Reeves' tears matter more than we realise
In a political and media system shaped by masculine norms that resist vulnerability, Rachel Reeves showed that credibility and leadership can coexist.
The response to Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, tearing up in Parliament last week was instant and revealing.
Pundits speculated about her future. Traders watched the bond markets. Some feared she was on the brink of resignation. But those attuned to the demands of modern leadership saw something else: resilience, emotional intelligence and clarity of purpose.
Breaking the armour of leadership
For decades, the image of a corporate or political leader has meant one thing: unflinching command and control. The myth of the so-called hero leader has shaped our institutions: unbreakable, decisive and emotionless.
But that myth is crumbling, accelerated by the pandemic. And that's a good thing.
Hortense le Gentil, writing in Harvard Business Review, argues that effective leadership today isn’t about technical expertise or having all the answers. It’s about being human, showing vulnerability and building genuine connection.
Reeves’ quiet moment of emotion didn’t signal collapse. It came from a place of extraordinary strength. She was carrying the weight of political instability, fiscal crisis and relentless personal scrutiny. She didn’t break down. She broke through.
Gender and vulnerability double-bind
There’s also a gender dynamic that can’t be ignored. Women in leadership are routinely caught in a no-win scenario: accused of being too emotional or too cold. Show too much feeling and you're labelled fragile and high maintenance. Show too little and you're dismissed as distant.
We need more human leadership, not performative vulnerability, but genuine expressions of care, fatigue and conviction. These are not signs of weakness. They are signs of being fully alive to the weight of responsibility.
Rachel Reeves is still in her job. She’s still steering the country’s economic future. And the moment of vulnerability that some feared might define her downfall may be what defines her as a leader.
We need to stop asking whether vulnerability is a liability. The better question is: can we afford leadership that pretends to be immune to these very human qualities?
Rachel Reeves just showed us a different way. That’s leadership.
Have a good week ahead.
💼 SALARY SILENCE: Just a quarter of leading UK public relations agencies list salaries in job ads, with the figure dropping to nine per cent among the industry’s biggest players. Critics argue this lack of transparency fuels inequality and undermines trust. It’s also a double standard in an industry that criticises clients for a lack of transparency on budgets during the procurement process. Source: PR Week.
🎓 CHARTERED PROGRESS: The CIPR awarded Chartered status to a record 128 practitioners in 2024 according to its annual report, bringing the total to 773. It’s an encouraging step towards a more credible and accountable profession, though progress has been slow over the past 20 years across the UK industry’s estimated 100,000-strong workforce. Source: CIPR.
Media
🧠 NEWS HABITS: AI is now central to how UK decision-makers access news, with 81% using tools such as ChatGPT. However, trust remains firmly with traditional sources, such as The Guardian and the BBC. Portland’s latest research urges public relations practitioners to rethink strategies for reaching both human and algorithmic audiences. Source: Portland.
📈 REACH RACE: UK news websites saw a strong May, with two-thirds of the top 50 growing their audiences, and The Sun leapfrogging rivals to become the top commercial news brand behind the BBC. Regional titles, particularly from Reach, dominated year-on-year growth. It highlights the power of hyperlocal and niche content in an increasingly competitive digital landscape. Source: Press Gazette.
Technology
👁️ VISUAL FUTURE: Google Lens co-founder Lou Wang says visual search is becoming second nature, enabling users to interact with the world more intuitively. 1.5 billion people use it to search for what they see every month. Lens grew 65% year-over-year, with more than 100 billion visual searches already completed this year. Source: Google.
🎧 AUDIO SHIFT: News podcasts are gaining traction with younger, more educated, and wealthier audiences, but uptake remains modest in the UK at just 7% per week. Reuters Institute’s latest research urges publishers to tap into this growing genre, especially via video platforms like YouTube, to better connect with hard-to-reach demographics. Source: Reuters Institute.
Thanks to Alan Morrison, Sarah Waddington CBE and everyone who shares and debates the stories in the newsletter via our Facebook and LinkedIn communities.
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