Leadership
The people that we consider leaders tend to vary by culture, time, and circumstances. Looking at the history of the world, there have been leaders that fought battles and also leaders that prevented battles. We have made leaders out of people that have run multibillion dollar companies, but also out of people that have lived a very simple life helping the poorest of the poor in third world countries. Mahatma Gandhi is one of those people that breaks the stereotype of what people today often view leaders to be. His non violence movement to resist against the British occupation shows that leaders may be born not only because of their action, but also from their lack of action against the opposing force.
This paper tries look at Gandhi’s leadership role in the non violence movement in India and shows how he is different from most others leaders that we have seen throughout history. It will also define leadership and present a model that might fit most leaders
Leadership in History:
When I think about leadership, the people that come to my mind are the CEOs and CFOs of the Fortune 500 companies that have been successful in running a profitable business. They create niche markets for their products and services, making them stand out from the competition. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Rupert Murdoch are prime examples of such people. I also think about strong political figures like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, who played very instrumental roles in shaping the history of this country.
A search on Google revealed the top 20 leaders that have shaped the political and social fabric of our times. Some of the more famous (and obvious) nominations included Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, Nelson Mandela, and Margaret Thatcher. The list also went on to include some people that I didn’t know, like David Ben-Gurion, Lech Walesa, and Margaret Sanger (Leaders and Revolutionaries, 1998). Among the more controversial names in the list were Adolf Hitler and Ho Chi Minh. All of these leaders have something in common. At some point or the other, these leaders have campaigned for power, trying to convince people to follow their lead. Some used their charismatic qualities while others used force to get people to rally behind them. Mahatma Gandhi, who also made the top twenty list, was different from the rest.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in India on October 2, 1869. He was raised and educated under British rule. Gandhi attended University College London where he studied law. Gandhi spent the early part of his career in South Africa working as a contractor. Gandhi returned to India in 1915 and became involved in the issues and politics of the Indian people. “His causes included gaining independence of India from Great Britain, Hindu – Muslim unity, and the end of untouchability” (Wren, 1995, p. 72).
However, it was not what he did as much as the approach he took to the problems he faced that made him loved by so many people. Gandhi believed that “the politics of passive resistance nonviolence should be effective in any situation” (Rushdie, 1998). He used this nonviolent approach to resist and “fight” against the British occupation and opression. Millions of people were inspired by his example and tried to emulate him. Instead of building onto this success, Gandhi disclaimed followers. He also disliked holding power in an office and asked his people to avoid it unless it was clearly for a greater good (Wren, 1995, p. 75).
Gandhi’s approach is clearly opposite from the advice that we would get from most leadership textbooks and yet he was a very effective leader. So, what really is leadership and what are the qualities of a leader?
In my opinion, a leader is a person who has the power to influence people to make them believe in a shared vision. This decision by the followers has to be made freely without the use of threat or pressure. When a person uses threat to make the people follow him, that person becomes a tyrant and not a leader.
Corporate Leadership:
In a corporate world, a leader is the momentum behind the company. The leader provides magnitude and direction for the company. A good leader also has the ability to make his people think beyond their personal success and work for the greater good of the company. An effective leader also knows how to manage the people below him. A leader needs to know how to work with people, “keeping them bonded and eager to move forward. That means setting a direction, communicating it to everyone who will listen and keeping people psyched when times get tough” (Robbins, 2002).
Leadership and Management skills are hard to separate. Yet, I am of the belief that one is not necessarily a subset of the other skill. All leaders have some form of management skill. Similarly, all managers play, to some extent, the role of a leader. The following diagrams will help us illustrate this better:
Instead of trying to fit one role inside the other, I believe that there are some traits that are shared between the two (Figure 1). An ideal leader, in theory, would contain all the traits of a manager and hence the two circles would overlap. In the same way, an ideal manager would also have most of the leadership skills, so the circles would overlap again (Figure 2).
A leader or a manager is not static. They can also change their roles based on the circumstances. So, it is also necessary to add the circumstance as a variable to the model (Figure 3). Given the right circumstances, the manager or leader can assume more or less of the role of the other person.
Conclusion:
Leaders come in all shapes and forms and there is no list that can describe all the qualities of a leader. Historically, we have seen our leaders using various methods to corral their followers. Though the characteristics of a person’s leadership may vary, a common trait is seen in successful leaders; they are able to motivate others to be a part of their vision. This is seen in a business world when a CEO is able to encourage employees to take action that lead to the financial profitability of the company. It is also seen in the life of Mahatma Gandhi who, despite having no desire to be put on a pedestal, became an inspiration to millions of people who participated in the non violence movement to free India from British rule.
Bibliography
Leaders and Revolutionaries. (1998, December 8). Retrieved January 21, 2008, from Time: http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/#
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2008, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi
Robbins, S. (2002, November 18). Difference between managing and leading. Retrieved January 16, 2008, from Entrepreneur.com: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/leadership/article57304.html
Rushdie, S. (1998, April 13). Leaders & Revolutionaries. Retrieved January 21, 2008, from Time: http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/gandhi.html
Wren, J. T. (1995). Leader's Companion: Insights on leadership through the ages. New York: The Free Press.