Defining Gandhi's Leadership Qualities in My Harvard Management Course

- By Raymond F. Comeau*

Gandhi was successful in much that he attempted because he possessed exceptional leadership qualities. This is the point of view I take when we study Richard Attenborough's award-winning 1982 film, Gandhi, in my Harvard University Extension School management course, "Case Studies in Leadership through Literature and Film."

The course itself is also exceptional in that it is rare to study the liberal arts in a management curriculum, where you would expect courses such as marketing management, operations management, accounting and finance. As the syllabus states, "This course is based on the premise that case studies using the creative vehicles of literature and film can help managers understand the modern complexities of leadership." The literary works we study span the gamut from the classical – Antigone by Sophocles and Julius Caesar by Shakespeare – to 20th-century works, such as In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. In addition to Attenborough's Gandhi, the films we study include Masayuki Suo's Shall we Dance? and two directed by Martin Scorsese, The Age of Innocence and Aviator.

So what are some of Gandhi's leadership qualities that my students and I have identified on the basis of Attenborough's film? I have taken a look at my class notebooks for the past four years and have found the following four leadership traits that were discussed in every class:

Gandhi was a humble leader

A humble leader identifies with his followers and leads by example. The first time we see Gandhi in the film it is as a well-dressed English lawyer traveling first-class in a South African train – from which he is ungraciously expelled for being "colored." Throughout the film we see him gradually change as he identifies more and more with the peasant classes, to the point of wearing a home-spun loin cloth and head covering. He does this because he realizes that he must express solidarity with all Indians if he wishes to succeed in bringing about significant change.

Gandhi was a strategic leader

Gandhi thought before he acted. He knew that his every action had to be carefully planned and serve as an inspiration to his followers. He went to Champaran, for example, to hear the complaints of the starving tenant farmers, and he used students sent by Nehru to compile evidence about the inhumane working conditions there. The landowners eventually capitulated under the weight of the evidence. Many of his strategic actions revolved around his philosophy of passive resistance and non-cooperation. One of the most famous in the film was his march to the sea to make salt, which was a protest against the British monopoly of salt in India. To add to the symbolism, he planned to arrive at the sea on the anniversary of the Amritsar massacre. Another successful attempt was his call for a country-wide cessation of services, for which he was dispatched to prison. Even his many incarcerations served his needs by inspiring his followers to continue to act. It is important to note that Gandhi planned to have members of the press present during most of his acts of resistance because he knew that publicity was necessary to make injustice visible.

Gandhi was a compassionate leader

Although the film does not make a point of emphasizing Gandhi as a spiritual leader per se, it does portray him as a spiritual being filled with compassion for all beings based on his philosophy of ahimsa. Not only did he use biblical quotes (for example, the Christian dictums, "love thy neighbor" and "turn the other cheek"), but he acted accordingly. For example, he repeated on numerous occasions in the film that he wanted the British to leave India as friends and not as enemies, which he finally did accomplish. Viewers will also remember his many looks of compassion aimed at the poor throughout the film, including the tenant farmers at Champaran. Then there were his fasts to stop violence between Hindus and Muslims. Fasting is a spiritual act that brings out compassion by causing those who witness it to identify with the suffering of the person fasting. His fasting worked. I like to remind my students that Gandhi was a compassionate holy man as well as a peace-loving leader.

Gandhi was a determined leader

Notwithstanding his humility and compassion, Gandhi was a determined leader. He was not a quitter. In fact, his fasts, marches, rallies, and incarcerations all increased his determination. A graphic example in the film was his first act of non-cooperation in South Africa, when he led a small group of protesters in the burning of identity cards. Viewers will recall that he continued to try to throw identity cards into the flames even after being forced to the ground by a blow in the face inflicted by a policeman. He finally stopped because he no longer had the strength to continue. Another indication of his determination was his dogged pursuit of Hindu/Muslim cooperation. He did not abandon this dream even though he realized it could cost him his life. Although he joked from time to time about his "stubbornness," Gandhi was serious about his determination to do everything possible to reclaim home rule for India.

It is rare for a leader to possess all four of the qualities above. One leader may be strategic and determined but not humble and compassionate. Another may be humble and determined but not compassionate and strategic. Others might exhibit different combinations of these four qualities, but Gandhi had all four.

As a final note, being a poet as well as a lecturer, I also have been impressed by Gandhi the man and leader, so much so that I was inspired to write the following poem about him. I like the idea behind the poem very much. Perhaps one day, with enough interest and support, the world will have a Gandhi constellation!

GANDHI'S CONSTELLATION

When I think of you
Mahatma
Years since you've been gone
It is lying on a blanket
Fasting
So your pain would heal the earth
But I see you still remembering
Tenant farmers in Champaran
Broken like rusted pipes
And children too meager
In treetops along your march
Especially infernal attitudes
Of hatred over love
So I'll open my thoughts
And imagine four stars
Like corners of a blanket
Dazzling in midnight sky
(Gandhi's blanket children will yell)
For more fasting
As you would want

Raymond F. Comeau, March 2019

* Raymond F. Comeau, PhD, is a lecturer in Harvard University Extension School, where he formerly served as Associate Dean of Management Studies and Director of Foreign Language Instruction. Dr. Comeau's email is comeau@fas.harvard.edu. This essay was written in April, 2021.