Dharma Kshetra

Leadership, inspiring and guiding people towards goals

A leader is a person who is able to set direction for a group of people, and mobilize them towards that goal. Broadly speaking, there are two types of people in the world - leaders and followers. Decide at the outset whether you intend to become a leader in your chosen field, or remain a follower. The choice will make huge difference in your life.

It is no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, it is no credit to remain a follower. Most great leaders began in the capacity of followers. They became great leaders because they were intelligent followers. An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the opportunity to learn from his leader.

There are two forms of Leadership.

• Leadership by consent of, and for the welfare of the others
• Leadership by force for one's own welfare, without the consent of others

People may follow the forced leadership temporarily, but they will not do so willingly. History is filled with evidences that leadership by force cannot endure. The downfall and disappearance of dictators such as Hitler is significant. It means that people will not follow forced leadership indefinitely. We might find such types of leaders, among other fields such as business and religion, who have been dethroned.

Leadership-by-consent of and for the welfare the followers is the only form which can endure! This form of leadership embraces the below attributes of leadership. The person, who makes these the basis of his leadership, will find abundant opportunity to lead in any walk of life.

Major attributes required for success in leadership:

• Courage: Some may misunderstand this attribute to be carelessness or running into problems blindly. Courage comes with clarity about one's field of action. No follower wishes to be led by a person who lacks self-confidence and clarity in his field of action. Gandhiji said "that something in me which never derives me tells me: You have to stand against the whole world, although you may have to stand alone. You have to stare at the world in the face, although the world may look at you with bloodshot eyes. Do not fear. Trust that 'little thing’ which resides in your heart. It says, forsake friends,

wife and all, but testify to that which you have lived and for which you have to die."

• Sense of fairness and justice: A person, who listens only to one side of the arguments and takes sides, will be despised by all. He has to act fairly and give both sides an opportunity of being heard.
• Ability to take decisions: A man who wavers in his decisions, shows that he is not sure of himself. He cannot lead others successfully.
• Planning: A leader who cannot plan but moves by guessing will end up like an aircraft without flight plan. An aircraft manoeuvres several times, in several directions and altitudes to avoid unsafe weather. But it will have a plan of where to land and how to get help from the air-traffic controllers on the ground.
• Humbleness: Successful leaders are willing, when occasion demands, to perform any sort of work which they would ask another person to perform. They accept good advices and constructive criticisms. They are humble to admit mistakes and willing to take corrective actions.
• Wholeheartedness: A leader puts his heart into everything he does and shows one hundred percent involvement. He shows willingness to do more than the followers: A man who works for fewer hours, but expects his followers to work for longer hours, cannot succeed.
• Truthfulness: A person who is not loyal to the men, either above or below him, cannot gain the confidence and support of followers.
• Sympathy and understanding of follower's problems and weaknesses. He knows their strengths and limitations and what tasks to be delegated to them.
• Responsibility - He understands that with great power comes great responsibility. He does not try to escape from his own responsibility. A successful leader assumes responsibility even for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers. If one of his followers makes a mistake, and proves to be incompetent, a leader considers that it is he who failed.
• Cooperation - A successful leader applies the principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do the same.
• There is a proverb saying =familiarity breeds contempt'. If a leader is very closely mingling and joking with followers, they won't respect his orders.

Even though his heart is very soft, he should display and use firmness when orders were ignored.

• A leader should have even minded-ness. Even if beaten down in failures and troubles, he should not pull down his followers but instead motivate them.
• It is important to make only those promises that can be delivered. While communicating saying 'Yes' is always easy. But sometimes one has to say 'No' as well. We have to make the other person to know the situation and should be made to participate in finding a solution. If the solution was not possible that will be his psychological preparation for accepting a 'no' without a rancour.
• A leader should not get influenced by addictions such as intoxication, gambling, hunting and so on. He has to live a good life by cultivating habits such as regular exercise, limited food, association of good people, and so on. A leader who cannot lead his own life, cannot lead others.
• If a leader naively trusts everyone, there is a possibility of getting cheated by crooks. On the other hand if he is suspicious of everyone, good natured people get hurt and stay away from him. Hence a leader should appear to trust everyone, but proceed with caution.
• When a leader puts followers in important positions, he should consider only merit and not factors such a relationships, friendship, community and so on. If unworthy people are promoted by leader they bring disgrace to him through their actions.
• Win-win approach: Make sure the deal is beneficial to both the parties concerned.
• Be pro-active instead of being reactive. Reactive people take a passive stance and believe that the world is happening to them. Proactive people, however, recognize that they have responsibility - or response-ability (The ability to choose how to respond to a given situation).

Power comes in many forms including political or economic. Power by itself is not corruption. When people with motives such as greed and dominance get hold of power, it becomes a source of corruption. If people see that power is a means to look after everyone's wellbeing, then power can be a great tool to serve people.

Major causes of failure in leadership:

• Failure to follow the golden rule of reciprocity - This principle says that we should treat others in the same way we ourselves would like to be treated.
• Fear of competition from followers - The leader who fears that one of his followers may grab his position is practically sure to realize that fear sooner or later. The able leader trains followers and delegates appropriate tasks. Only in this way a leader can multiply himself and prepare himself to be at many places, and give attention to many things at one time.
• Selfishness - The leader, who claims all the credit for the work of his followers, is sure to be met by resentment. A true leader claims no honours. He gives credit to his followers, because he knows that most men will work harder for recognition and satisfaction than they will for monetary benefits alone.
• Intemperance - Followers do not respect an intemperate leader who has no control over his emotions. Moreover, intemperance in any of its various forms destroys the endurance and the vitality of all who indulge in it. A successful leader understands the weaknesses and problems of his followers and improves them by suggestions.
• Emphasis of title or authority - The competent leader requires no title to gain the respect of his followers. The man who makes too much over his title generally has little else to emphasize. The doors to the home or office of the real leader are open to all who wish to enter, either for help or to fight, and his working quarters are free from formality or grandeur.

These are among the more common of the causes of failure in leadership. Any one of these faults is sufficient to induce failure. Study the list carefully if you aspire to leadership, and make sure that you are free of these faults.