Leadership training has a lot to gain from observing Greece deal with the crisis of its finances

The country is a member of the European Union and its monetary arm, the Euro zone, enjoying solid grounding in one of the most prestigious and prosperous alliances in the world. It sports some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, including hundreds of breathtakingly beautiful islands, attracting millions of visitors every year. Its ancient origin means that the nation has a strong cultural background, rock-solid identity and another advantage it can present to holidaymakers. Not so long ago, Greece had been complimented for its successful organization of the 2000 Olympic Games and outstanding achievements of its sports team, notably footballers who stunned the world by winning the European Championships in 2004 (playing defensive, painful game, but it is who remembers this now). Much of this enthusiasm is gone now and what seemed to look like an asset before (tourism) is often talked about in terms of a major burden. What has gone wrong?

There is no denying that it is a question of failed political leadership. Evidence is abundant that wrong-headed decisions had been taken, sprinkled with a fair share of, well, dishonesty. Greece rushed into the European Union and it was largely a success story, energizing the economy of the small nation and providing it a security it badly needed, having been in a state of perpetual conflict with Turkey and Macedonia. It was also dragged into the Euro zone, abandoning its own currency and giving up the control over monetary issues, on the assumption that the step will mean more investment, less hassle for traders and tourists and a more stable currency.

The problem here is twofold. To begin with, at no point in history did Greece meet entrance requirements, so it effectively adopted the euro owning to tinkering with financial data it had supplied to Brussels. When the fraud had come to light, it was too late to do anything than lambaste the political leadership for playing illicit games with a serious organization. Being honest needs to be the first tenet of leadership training anywhere and you never have enough highlighting this, whether it is in business or in political governance. Stunningly, doctoring and papering over the fact have continued until today, Greece gaining a notoriety for deceiving its own investors, auditors and sponsors.

The second angle to this problem is that Greek consumers and the country's government have jumped on the opportunities that presented themselves as Greece adopted the euro. Interest rates went down, inflation stabilized on a low level, which means that it was easier to take on debt and prices were at no risk of spinning out of control. As the financial crisis undercut the foundations on which prosperity was built, drying up supply of credit and screening debtors more accurately, the country had a rug pulled from under its measly feet.