Bapu: Leader of Leaders

- Kavita Shah and Meha Todi

Introduction

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood.”

- Albert Einstein

Few men have ever had as much of an effect on our world as Mohandas Gandhi. He was charismatic, deliberate and analytical. Gandhi was very much a product of his times, yet one of his greatest sources of inspiration was the Bhagavad-Gita. He was a politician, a writer, an intellectual and an orator. Without doubt he was a complex man, believing in simple things.

Importance of Study

Gandhi's leadership role was extremely complex. Knowing that violence only begets violence, he began practicing passive resistance, Satyagraha. Mahatma Gandhi was a leader that brought one of the world's most powerful nations to its knees... by using peace, love and integrity as his method for change.

How could a meek and fragile person of small physical stature inspire millions to bring about a profound change in a way the mightiest had never achieved before? His achievements were nothing less than miracles. His life was a message - a message of peace over power, of finding ways to reconcile our differences, and of living in harmony with respect and love even for our enemy. Gandhi can be considered the most modern political thinker India has ever had. Today, in a polity steeped in corruption, perhaps there is a need to rediscover Gandhi.

Objectives of the Study

To study about Gandhiji is an objective which can never be covered in total. However the study has been briefed out to the following:

1. To study leadership skills and qualities of Gandhiji.
2. To understand the implication of same in today's management

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study on the face of it would appear merely as Gandhiji - an epitome of leadership. But in reality bapu's life has some lesson for each of us. Hence this wide scope has been boiled down to lessons for managers only.

Methodology of the Study

The research is based on secondary data collection from books, journals, Gandhiji's biographies and internet.

Limitations of the Study

The topic itself is not just vast but also includes an ocean of areas. The research is limited to a few prominent issues, styles and topics. Absence of primary data restricts the testimony from the industry people who actually apply these Gandhian preaching.

Bapu's leadership qualities and skills

Gandhi would teach us countless lessons about life, leadership and much more. Gandhi learnt his Leadership skills during his years in South Africa, and honed them in India.

He was naturally charismatic. He had a "feel" for his Follower's needs which was uncannily correct. But he did develop formal tools and methods to become a better Leader over time. He had a rock-solid value system from which all of his activities stemmed, he wanted to make major changes at every turn in his life, and he had a totally interdependent relationship with his followers. As a man of action, he used the 4 E's throughout his life: Envision, Enable, Empower, and Energize. Although there are many traits and behaviors that caused the success of Gandhi, the research has a few picked ingredients:

1. Leadership by examples

Gandhi's greatest ability was to walk his talk at every level and in every way. India continues to be a nation of many diverse nationalities but never did they so unanimously identify with another leader as they identified with Gandhi and this was across classes and communities which were even more sharply divided than they are these days. He practiced what he preached at every possible level. Be it how he dressed like the poorest Indian with a hand woven cotton cloth that barely covered his body and had the simplest of watches and glasses. When it came to personal possessions, unlike today's leaders he had the barest of minimum.

2. Treatment to others

His letters and writings to other great leaders in India, the world and even to young children never had a patronizing or "holier-than-thou" element but always looked at everyone as equals. Leaders who have put their interests over the organizations they created have prospered as individuals but always at the cost of the institution they built or worked for. He made an effort to truly understand his people. He spoke from their point of view...from what motivated them. It has been said that, when he spoke publicly to large audiences it was like he was speaking to you individually.

3. Persistence

A critical success for Gandhi was the support he got across the nation and in the international community. A significant part of this was due to his extraordinary persistence once he had articulated his vision and his methods. His determination in following through on what he preached was often at cost to his own well-being.

4. Constant Growth

Gandhi would understand the importance of continual growth in his life. Despite being an accomplished leader in his community, he continually sought out greater understanding through much study of religious scripture. As a leader, one must also understand the need for constant growth.

5. Strength Is Not Shown Through Muscle Power

Gandhi displayed great strength, not through using his strength to force others to bend to his will, but by using nonviolent means to achieve his goals. As a leader, it is a very simple matter to leverage on your position or your authority to coerce people to bend to your will. However, it is your true strength as a leader that can persuade and convince people to follow you with their hearts. Learn to use respect to win people over, instead of using power to bend people to your will. The force of power never wins against the power of love. Right Against Might...Mahatma.

6. An Eye For An Eye Will Only Make The Whole World Blind

History can attest to the fact that most human conflicts have been as a result of a stubborn approach by our leaders. Our history would turn out for the better if our leaders could just learn that most disputes can be resolved by showing a willingness to understand the issues of our opponents and by using diplomacy and compassion. No matter where we live, what religion we practice or what culture we cultivate, at the heart of everything, we are all humans. We all have the same ambitions and aspirations to raise our family and to live life to its fullest. Our cultural, religious and political differences should not provide the backbone to invoke conflicts that can only bring sorrow and destruction to our world.

7. Become The Change, We Want To See

A great leader always leads with an exemplary life that echoes his ideals. Mahatma Gandhi sacrificed his thriving law practice and adopted a simple life to live among the millions who lived in poverty during his freedom struggle. Today, we see modern leaders cajoling the masses with promises that they never intend to keep - let alone practicing what they preach in their own lives. One cannot bring world peace to all unless a leader demonstrates peaceful acts of kindness daily.

8. Reasonable

Even after stating that India would be divided over his dead body, he realised that partition was inevitable as the only solution to the Hindu-Muslim divide, and accepted it. Although Gandhi was a man of faith, he did not create any specific dogma for his followers. Gandhi believed in the unity of all mankind under one God, and preached Hindu, Muslim and Christian ethics.

9. Strategist

Ideas travel very fast. Gandhi is a fascinating figure. He was a wonderful strategist, showman and leader. He had an amazing public relations network and a very good relationship with the press then. For instance, the Dandi march, if Gandhi had gone there quietly, it would just not have made an impact. He knew he had to create an event to make an impact and so he took his followers on a march that stirred popular imagination of the time. He had a total understanding of the human psychology and used it along with his public relation skills.

10. Discipline

Mahatma believed that challenging his self discipline heightened his commitment to achieving his goals. He was a focused leader that had a "Do or Die" attitude. He 'would free India or die in the process. Mahatma would do extraordinary things to improve his discipline and his commitment.

IMPLICATION OF HIS TRAITS IN MANAGEMENT TODAY

Management is best an expertise. Do what others cannot so you gain authority over them. So, to be a good leader you need to be very skillful to construct bridges of empathy with people. Else one will never be in their shoes and they will not follow... because you don't know them and they can feel it. This is also why most people find it easier to be managers. Management can be taught. Leadership must be cultivated. Mahatma Gandhi was a leader who kept working on himself till he became the man worthy of gaining a country's following. He took a stand on issues. He said, "A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble." A manager would try to please in order to diffuse a situation. A leader will not worry about creating a situation.

1. Reinvent

Gandhi reinvented the rules of the game to deal with a situation where all the available existing methods had failed. He broke tradition. He understood that you cannot fight the British with force. Resource constraint did not bother him. Have the courage to invent the means. Change the paradigm on how we can run.

2. Clarity of Goals and Definite Purpose

He aimed at a common agenda. That was the motivation. He suggests that India needs to fundamentally change the way it can grow. He unleashed the power of ordinary people in the country to fight under a unifying goal. If one can understand the motive of your opponent's leadership; one can find ways to tackle it.

3. Adopt Styles To Suit The Culture (Flexibility)

We keep feeling that models of people in the West are the ones we should follow. In a way, we remain subservient to the leadership values and models of the West. But since the last two to three years these models are being doubted even in the West, and so it is time for India to look within itself for leadership examples. The country today stands divided on whether what he did was good or bad. There was neither a leader before him nor one after him who could unite us all and bring us out in the streets to demand for what rightfully ours. Gandhi advocated having leadership styles that were dependent on the circumstances. When Gandhi was in South Africa, he launched his protests in a suit and a tie. But when he came back to India, he thought of khadi and launched non-violent protests on a greater scale. At times Gandhi had to be quite flexible leader. At times he had to change his plans around to counter British rules and tactics.

4. People's Empowerment

According to him, Gandhi's style of leadership as applied to corporate India would involve making even the lowest person in the organization believe in it and the significance of his contribution towards it. In business, empowerment is all about making sure everyone is connected to the organization's goals. Gandhi has a way of doing that: making sure that everyone in the cause is connected to the goal. Gandhi's example as a manager and leader is extraordinary. There was no one like him who could get people together to embrace his vision as their vision. His belief was probably the most important factor in Mahatma's success. He not only had self belief but he had the ability to inspire the Indian people to believe in themselves and their goal of freedom, even through all the hardships that they faced. One of Mahatma's beliefs was Willpower Overcomes Brut Force.

5. Social Progress

Leadership is a necessary part of the social process. Any group, association, organization or community functions the way its leader leads it. It is truer in the collectivistic cultures like India where people follow the path shown by the great people. Leadership is an integral part of work and social life. In fact in any given situation where a group of people want to accomplish a common goal, a leader may be required. Leadership behaviour occurs in almost all formal and informal social situations. Even in a non formal situation such as a group of friends some sort of leadership behaviour occurs wherein one individual usually takes a lead in most of the group activities.

6. Transcend Adversaries

The first time Mahatma got up to speak in court, when he was working as a lawyer, he could not speak one word out loud due to fear. This caused him great humiliation. Even though he failed miserably, those failures eventually lead to him becoming one of the best public speakers of all time. There were quite a number of times Gandhi failed; each time he used the failure to improve his leadership skills and to improve himself and the task at hand. Mahatma shows us that the even the best leaders still fail and make mistakes. He also shows that the difference between good leaders and great leaders is that the great leaders acknowledge and learn from their mistakes.

7. Inspire and Motivate

Leader must have ability to move the masses; it's not just true for political leaders, but also organizational leaders. Simply lead with your heart and show that you actually believe in the purpose of what you stand for. Emotions are contagious, both that of optimism & pessimism and must be guarded in public. Even in crucial and uncertain times, it's important to keep positive emotions. While it is important to communicate reality, it's equally necessary to give sense of hope. Leaders must encourage a culture of pride in the employees; they should be able to harness the collective creative energies of an organization. A leader must have the ability to bring out the best in others, to enable others to act. When the employees feel that they "only work here", the leadership has typically failed.

8. Credibility

Credibility is single most important quality of a good leader; it is the foundation. A foundation that is build with honesty, integrity, and self-discipline. Employees look up the leaders as the role models, or simply the person who brings meaning to their daily job. If the leaders can't practice the solid values they preach, their ideas will be shrugged off. Every leader must realize that employees are constantly observing and analyzing their actions, evaluating consistency between their work and their deeds, judging their integrity. Leaders must exercise self-discipline by suppressing their own personal egos or emotions.

9. Long lasting relationships

In today's era on communication, relationships are not only important but crucial. Opinion of every person counts. A leaders job is not only limited to planning, creating strategies and organizational structure, but to make sure that they are establishing the kind of personal relationships that employees wish to seek. Employees must find their leaders accessible, they like to hear from them first hand rather than through their managers. The open door policy should not be used as a mere buzz word.

Truly, management is completely different from leadership. Like opposite ends of a coin. While Gandhi might have been 'managing' the Indian freedom movement with a troop of comrades on clockwork precision, he was actually leading a change of mindset that effected change in everyone who participated with him.

CONCLUSIONS AND FINDINGS

Gandhi’s entire life story is about action, to bring about positive change. He both succeeded and failed in what he sought to do, but he always moved forward and he never gave up the quest for improvement, both social and spiritual, and both for individuals and for the Nation as a whole. Today, Gandhi is remembered not only as a political leader, but as a moralist who appealed to the universal conscience of mankind. He changed the world.

Gandhi’s effect on the world was and still is immense. He also gave to the world a way of thinking about and acting upon value systems that profoundly influenced such important figures as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. From a practical viewpoint, his focus on "Swadeshi" formed the core of India’s industrial policy. Gandhi’s success and continued reputation make him a leader worthy to learn from. All of us who aspire to lead ethically may never “be like him”.

Gandhi’s relevance, is more so today as many more are educated, articulate and ambitious. In such times, leaders can lead only if they not only have their content right but are also better people with a vision for themselves and others. While Gandhi might have been ‘managing’ the Indian freedom movement with a troop of comrades, he was actually leading a change of mindset that effected change in everyone who participated with him.

One of his most admirable qualities was that he led by example and never preached what he himself was not willing to do.

He was charismatic, but he was also deliberate and analytical. He was a transformational and transactional leader too.

Mahatma Gandhi taught us that we can bring harmony to our world by becoming champions of love and peace for all.

If all of us do our bit, to be like him in every relationship we forge at work and elsewhere, we have no doubt that our successors will inherit a better world.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

You can manage people but that will only be because you have the authority to do so bestowed upon you. But you can lead from anywhere, so that your influence infects others and regardless of your position or authority, they follow what you say. The leadership skills that he showed stemmed from his focus on a definite purpose, discipline and his belief systems. Business gurus in India are talking about a new role model: Mahatma Gandhi. The Father of the Nation is now being held up as the master strategist, an exemplary leader, and someone whose ideas and tactics corporate India can emulate.

Gandhi's ideas are of particular relevance to India at this juncture to become an economic superpower. So the leadership styles in management that we see with Gandhi famous quotes are distinctively what anyone can evolve into being.

References:

• Defining a great leader, K. Natwar Singh
• Gandhi on Non-Violence, M.K. Gandhi
• Gandhi: Pilgrim of Peace by M.K. Gandhi, John Strohmeier (Editor)
• Gandhi: The Man, His Principles and the Empire, Rajmohan Gandhi
• Mahatma Gandhi & His Disciples, Ved Mehta
• Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action,Dennis Dalton
• The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi by M.K. Gandhi, John Strohmeier (Editor)
• The Essential Gandhi: His Life, Work, and Ideas: An Anthology by M.K. Gandhi, Louis Fischer (Editor)
• The Story of My Experiments With Truth, M.K. Gandhi
• Frontline, Volume 20 - Issue 13, June 21 - July 04, 2003
• BBC News, The Words of Gandhi: Second Edition, Thursday, January 29, 1998
• BBC News, India Inc rediscovers Mahatma Gandhi, April 11, 2003
• BBC News, Coaching, Leadership Development, Sunday, March 1, 2009
• BBC News, Leadership Skills - The Gandhi Way, 30 September, 2009 
• www.forbes.com
• www.freeessays.com
• www.gandhi-manibhavan.org
• www.mahatma.org.in
• www.MensXP.com
• www.mkgandhi.org
• www.Practical-Management.com - Transforming Theories Into Practice
• www.sscnet.ucla.edu
• Shilpan Patel, The Success Soul blog Christ gave me the message Gandhi gave me the method...Martin Luther King

Courtesy: This article has been reproduced from the ISBN Publication - Gandhi in the New Millennium - Issues and Challenges' published by Khandwala Publishing House.