India lacks proper leadership in every conceivable field fro Politics ,education, sports,science ,sports etc.There are potential leaders but whee are they .Let us go a little deeper into the aspect of leadership in this context .This is a subject which is being studied in all corners of the Earth and nobody has so far said any final word on LEADERSHIP as a concept . Of course there have been great leaders in all parts of the world but not many in the world. All the frustrating things that we see around is the result of lack of leadership in its true sense .
Where have
all the leaders gone ? “
This is the title of the autobiography of IACOCCA ,the
former PRESIDENT of FORD MOTOR COMPANY,
where he created MUSTANG and the CHRYSLER corporation ,which he famously saved
from ruin . The title speaks a lot about the present state of affairs in the
world of business , politics, religion ,education and also in every conceivable
field of human activity. We see many people ( both men and women ) shooting up
to some high covetable position from nowhere and look at him or her in
admiration but within a short time ( before we know what happened ) they fall
down from heights in ignominy proving that they had only feet of CLAY. (Of course some of them survive the heat of
leadership and is showing signs of real leadership qualities suitable for the
future- we will discuss about them later in this article ) The result is that the world which could
boast of GREAT LEADERS like Gandhi, Martin Luther ,Churchill, JRD Tata ,Kennedy
, Abdul Kalam to name a few , lacks living leaders who could inspire and become
role models for the future generations ( GEN : X , Y
and Z ). There is a lack of trust but all is not lost
for the present generation has the ability to produce leaders who can influence
in a sustained manner in the midst of
supersonic speed with which the world gallops forth.
Leadership is ,to a great extent a matter of attitude. There is “leadership’
quality in everybody but the quality of that may vary fro person to person.
John Adar ( Said to be the world’s first professor of LEADESHIP studies has
authored many books on the subjects.)has said that ‘leadership capability can
be developed by anybody with dose of” careful thought , and practice” and of
course adding to it some ability to take risks with a willingness to correct.
In the recent times , the world has seen many people
with tremendous leadership qualities in different countries but they have to
stand the TEST OF TIME to sustain their image . But , for the present
discussion on this subject of leadership let us mention the name of STEVE JOBS
,who in many ways proved to be a leaders in his own right and is sometimes
called as the BEST CEO of the 20th century and also the first decade
of the 21st century. In the book” I , STEVE ( Steve Jobs in his own
words ) “ there is a reference to his Curriculum Vitae which gives an
insight into what could be some of the
main ingredients of leadership.
JOB’S CURRICULAM VITAE :Objective: I am looking for a
fixing upper with a solid foundation. Am willing to tear down walls, build
bridges and light fires . I have great experience , lots of energy a bit of
that VISION THING and am not afraid to start from the beginning. SKILLS: that “
VISION THING”, public speaking ,motivating teams and helping to create really
amazing products.
Job’s idea of leadership is very clear and it has
tremendous optimism and this is driven by a sort of aggressiveness and a clear
sense of direction . Vision becomes the leading light and all other things
follow .This came a person who was called the best CEO of the century
considering his strength of vision, proactive nature built into his character ,
risk taking ability, the skills to motivate people towards great things
,tremendous communication skills with which he could convince people, great
revolutionary ideas and what not !! He could build tams which could work with
high energy and focus despite many odds under which many would have buckled. He
knew the“ was “ “ ..is..
“ , and the “ would be “ of
things .
“Knowing how things work gives the leader more real
power and ability than all the degrees or titles the world can offer” John
Adler ( Jobs was a university ‘drop out
‘!! The magic of leadership depends on mainly four areas : PURPOSE ,
PEOPLE,PROCESSAND ULTIMATE GOAL,AND PERFORMANCE. All these should work in
harmony and it is like a SYMPHONY of which the CONDUCTOR is the LEADER.
Each of the words given in capital letters can be
discussed in depth but it does not fall in the purview of this article. All
these traits do not exist in watertight compartments . They compliment each
other and is driven forward in harmony and power only when they are fired by
the most important thing in leadership “ PASSION” . To a question < what
makes a leader successful “. Charles Handy – the management GURU –in an
interview to BBC replied : PASSION - . According to him leaders should have
faith in what they do.Passion without a sense of direction , personal
integrity, ethical standards will make leaders morally corrupt .All leaders
should have a moral COMPASS within which should guide them in the proper
direction . When an analysis is made of the above traits , it is very clear
that – it is a rare combination and comparatively difficult to achieve without
working upon it with great motivation and passion.
We have a clear dearth of such leaders the world over
in all fields “ where have the leasers gone “ In fact they have not gone
anywhere : they are amongst in plenty but only very few emerge into the
limelight . The ultimate question is whether leaders are BORN or MADE. ythis is
a million dollar question but and there
are conflicting views but we can see that all explanations in this regard are
contextual and never complete and , in fact, there is no ultimate answer to
this question . again CHARLES HANDY ,in his inimitable style viewed this in a
beautiful way” “ I don’t think you can teach the skill, or learn them from
others , but often it is a matter of finding yourself in the right place …So ,
while these skills cannot be taught , they can be brought out under the right
circumstances. I often say that life is like an apple – it falls into your
hands . But it won’t fall into your hands unless you stand under the tree. You
have to find the ORCHARD ,find the TREE and then something may happen.”
When the situation is found the person who has these
traits or who would like make an attempt will jump into the fray and use their
knowledge , experience ,courage , conviction and CREATIVITY to effect a change
in the environment keeping close to his vision. CREATIVITY has a vital part in
leadership which involves imagination, visualization, going the extra mile
,thinking beyond the established conventions and should be ready to face
resistance and be bold to overcome it. All these needs an understanding of the
problem, excellent communication skills to present the problem to the people
and tremendous interpersonal skills and he should have excellent capability to
trust his intuition and should be guided by insights .CREATIVE LEADERSHIP is
the key and an analysis is made we can find that all great leaders had and have
all these qualities and more – right from Gandhi to Abdul Kalam to JRD Tata to
Ratan Tata to Amarthya Sen ( in India )
to many people in business
science , sports , culture and in
all fields of human activity .. the list is long… In fact leaders are
everywhere but they are not seen or they do not know that they have these
qualities of leadership.
Leaderships qualities can e developed through
conscious training people with an inherent desire to become one that means
he/she should have a passion to become a leader in the chosen field .
Creativity forms the core of leadership along with many other qualities which
have to be nurtured with care , warmth and dynamism. Davis listed the main
qualities of the qualities of CREATIVE PEOPLE : THEY WILL BE : curious,
energetic, experimenting ,independent, industrious, flexible, open minded
,original, playful, perceptive, persevering questioning, risk taker ,self aware
,sensitive …. Goldsmith listed the qualities of leaders of the future: Seek
options, not plans, look for what is possible, must be flexible, pursue vision
with intent, tireless, inventive, observant, risk takers who are ever hopeful
builders, challenge assumptions and paradigms, empower the talent ,intelligence
and creativity of others. KOTTER, who has
written much on the leadership, listed
five points on LEADERSHIP AND LIFELONG LEARNING : Risk taking ,Humble self
reflection, solicitations of opinions , careful listening, openness to new
Ideas. KOTTER’S five points have great relevance with what we discussed in
connection with creativity. Since KOTTER’S list of qualities of leadership are
in line with the creative qualities it is highly possible to develop these in
people through a well designed CREATIVITY TRAINING and it will have a
tremendous impact upon leadership development .
LEADERSHIP is nothing but effecting CHANGE and leaders
always think differently and influence people to accept CHANGE and execute it
effectively. Leaders are few and far between but they are there …. Let us
accept that fact. All organizations should open up avenues for development of
new leaders and encourage people to take up responsibilities. There are
millions of MANGERS but hundreds or perhaps thousands ( ? ) of leaders who can inspire people to
DREAM , VISUALIZE AND IMPLEMENT IDEAS … ideas that can change the status quo …
give freedom to others …..and they will surprise you with ideas and tenacity
and the willingness to execute the ideas in a very creative way.
Managers manage within a framework , Leaders inspire
people to take risks and go the extra mile ….and of course take the
responsibility. Search for them ,find them, the will change the world for good
.Trust the true leader , leadership is a matter of choice . You can choose…
