Resilient leaders, as John Maxwell reminds us, do not wait for the storm to pass. They learn to dance in the rain.

In an era when crises arrive faster than institutions can respond, this distinction matters more than ever. Anyone can delay difficult choices until calm returns. Leadership demands the opposite: The courage to act amid uncertainty, when the winds are fiercest.

With great responsibility must come great power. As storms intensify, so too must the authority vested in those charged with steering the nation through them. Political leadership is not a static achievement but a continuous process. Our greatest challenge is that the pace of change in the world now outstrips our capacity to adapt.

It is, therefore, my humble view that public welfare and public service must always rank above bureaucracy. Welfare and sound legislation should complement each other, yet when they conflict or stall, leadership must intervene.

At lower levels of government, routine decisions are made daily. However, when issues affect thousands, when schoolchildren continue to die in road accidents, when abductions rise, or when vulnerable families face mounting hardship, many hesitate. Entrenched fiscal cycles, past failed attempts, and competing demands create paralysis. This is precisely when real leadership is required.

Leaders must constantly balance three pillars — the welfare of the people, the demands of good governance and legislation, and the realities of political stability. Dancing in the rain means making decisions that serve all three as effectively as possible.

My initiative to introduce the Rural School Bus System was criticised as being merely political, or lacking legislative or welfare merit. I disagreed then and stand by that decision today. Public service must prioritise the welfare of citizens. Leaders cannot be prisoners of hindsight; they must govern for the future, even when immediate approval is scarce.

The results speak clearly. Since implementation, school attendance has risen, parents in rural Jamaica have collectively saved millions in transportation costs, and not a single child has died or suffered serious injury on these buses.

Children travel more safely and reliably, and the demand for the expansion of the service continues to grow. That is what dancing in the rain looks like. It is pressing forward through electoral storms, media criticism, and political attacks because the decision served the people, governance, and sound policy.

Easy decisions require no leadership. They follow established paths, carry little risk, enjoy broad consensus, and allow bureaucracy to run on autopilot. The decisions that matter most are different. The outcomes are uncertain, political risk is high, existing systems are challenged, and the greatest benefits flow to the vulnerable. For these, transparency, clear communication, and meticulous documentation are essential. Those who make such decisions must be prepared to defend the facts and circumstances that shaped their choice.

Politics and public service have no shortage of people willing to make the easy calls. Real transformation rarely emerges from them. Political decisions, however, require leaders willing to assess the three pillars honestly and still choose the path that best serves the nation’s future.

Jamaica has strengthened its accountability frameworks, and those efforts deserve praise. Yet accountability must not become paralysis. After Hurricane Melissa last year, the Government faced the real tests of leadership: The intervention to provide a loan to Jamaica Public Service (JPS), the disbursement of grants, the choices made in the past regarding disaster risk financing and the subsequent disbursement and use of those funds, the reopening of our ports, and the response and plan of each and every cabinet and political leader in the face of an unprecedented disaster.

Subsequently, the creation of the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) was a bold response. This body will be given special powers to fast-track approvals and procurement, bypassing the slow conventional processes that often hinder recovery. It will coordinate efforts across ministries and partners, embed climate resilience into rebuilt infrastructure, and maintain high standards of transparency in managing international financing.

Some may question granting such authority to a new body rather than concentrating power in the Cabinet. However, this choice reflects the very balance we must achieve.

Similar divestments of power were done with the Independent Central Bank and Independent Fiscal Commissioner and have shown that placing long-term institutional strength above short-term control yields better results for the nation.

NaRRA was proposed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Melissa following devastating levels of infrastructure damage estimated at US$8.8 billion. This disaster exposed deep vulnerabilities in infrastructure, housing, land use, and economic resilience across the country with concentrated focus on rural communities in western Jamaica.

Rather than relying on fragmented, business-as-usual government processes, NaRRA is designed as a specialised, time-bound statutory body with a five-year sunset clause, with the option to extend being vested in Parliament. Its mandate is explicit: Lead, coordinate, fast-track and oversee national rebuilding while embedding long-term resilience into every aspect of recovery.

These measures draw on lessons from earlier initiatives such as the World Bank-supported Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project and Jamaica’s National Natural Disaster Risk Financing Policy, shifting the country from reactive response to proactive, enduring resilience.

The goal is not merely to repair damage but to network projects so they create new economic opportunities in previously underdeveloped or devastated areas, introducing new industries and businesses where none existed before.

NaRRA’s mandate represents a deliberate shift from short-term relief to long-term national strength. By prioritising speed without sacrificing standards, coordination without duplication, and resilience without compromise on economic growth, the authority aims to deliver not only safer infrastructure but also a more robust economy and governance model.

NaRRA is the dance that Jamaica has chosen to do in the midst of not just rain, but in the midst of a devastating storm. For Melissa’s damage did not end when the clouds passed over our island, the impact continued each and every day on our economy and our people.

I am proud to be a part of the Administration leading the rebuild of Jamaica at this time, and feel proud to know that this Government has taken the bold approach to innovate decisively in the effort to recover. An indecisive leader is a contradiction in terms. As a small island developing state, Jamaica cannot afford leaders who merely carry umbrellas. The rains that we will face demand more.

To the next generation of political leaders, there will be very few manuals that you find on the topic, but if I was to offer just this bit of advice as you prepare to assume leadership roles: Do not wait for the storm to pass. Be decisive. Be objective. Be transparent. And, above all, be bold enough to dance in the rain. The future of our nation depends on it.

Daryl Vaz is Member of Parliament for Portland Western and minister of science, energy, telecommunications, and transport.

Daryl Vaz (Photo: Joseph Wellington)