Essence of Good Leadership

Columnist Col (Retd) SYED TAHIR HUSSAIN MASHHADI makes an excellent analysis about the essential factors for good leadership

Leadership has played a vital role in the affairs of men since the beginning of time. Leadership has been traditionally viewed as the art of influencing and winning the support of other human beings. We have become socialized and educated into a system that views leadership within this narrowly defined concept. The accepted perspectives are that our leadership has become inadequate to respond to the modern demands, in the context of our rapidly changing socio-economic, political, spiritual, cultural, social, traditional and even professional values. As with all scientific and artistic endeavours, one should always begin with basics. We strive for the required inspiration, capability and ultimately the effectiveness in our leaders and are thoroughly disappointed disenchanted when we find none forthcoming from the leaders around us. Motivation, spirit, mutual trust, pride, spiritual strength and faith in the rightiousness of the cause are the real force multipliers. They are basically the essence of good leadership. While the mechanics of human motivation and the hierarchy of needs must always be borne in mind, they have to be intervened with the need for disciplined and mission oriented organizations for both pragmatic and moral reasons. While the leader needs to be sensitive as possible to the legitimate needs and expectations of the led, the real objective before the leader, at any level, is to get any mission which may be entrusted to him completed efficiently. Whatever the task or whatever the objective the leader has always, been required to exhibit the highest ethical standards.

The characteristics, values and expectations of the would-be leaders as well as the led have undergone revolutionary change in the past few decades. The traditional, historical and organizational elements of leadership have also undergone similar change. There is now an added dimension in our concept of leadership, encompassing the ability to deal with the changing socio-economic, cultural, spiritual and even the political environments in the country as a whole. The new dimensions require the broadening of the leaders intellectual horizons and scope of leadership. The leaders must have a legitimate concern at every level and for every contingency. The leadership must, therefore, be developed from a new concept and be conditioned by our changed environments and relevant political, social, culture, spiritual and economic considerations. The decreasing competence and capability of our progressively unmotivated leaders who are the product of our present day society poses a need for reassessment and is a cause of alarm. We as a people are societally complex and getting more so all the time. We are going through a period of crises in our political beliefs concerning the future. Consequently, our leadership roles require to change and become more dynamic so that they can meet the demands of the times. Within the prevailing environment, the art and skill of leadership must be viewed in a constantly changing perspective. The authority to rule is based on law. The mantle of leadership is bestowed upon one by those who are led. The fabric of good leadership is woven from many threads such as spiritual righteousness, justice, piety, technical or professional competence, compelling presence, charismatic qualities, confidence of the followers, integrity, honour, bravery and many other qualities. There is a long list of qualities required in a leader. In fact, Napoleon listed 115 contributing qualities in trying to define the essentials of leadership.

Every system must operate in accordance with the ideology of the political system, interacting with other considerations within that prevailing system. The degree and character of the interaction is determined by the values embodied in the ideology. The pluralistic nature of our socio-politic characteristics allows no opportunity to the leader to totally isolate himself from the system. All over the world it will be observed that authoritarian political systems breed authoritarian governments while the democratic political systems breed democratic government. In order to remain legitimate or acceptable - that is , in order to retain the support of the society - the prevalent political system must to some degree, at least, reflect the basic social values and be in accord with the environments. Style of leadership should be appropriate to the instrumentality's, that is:- the faith, the creed, the way of life, the people and the prevalent socio-political and economic context. All these and more qualities are of course pre-requisites and must be held by the potential leader in abundance. It must also be remembered that in any analysis the concept of leadership is an abstraction. If it is isolated from the economic, religious, political or social context in which it is to be exercised and if it is ignorant of the character of those to be led and the purposes for which they are to be led then the leadership becomes inept, corrupt and self-serving. As is being practiced nowadays in Pakistan - for us at the present good leadership is just a meaningless concept.

The prevalent concept and practice of leadership allows consciousness, awareness, rationality and even ethics to be reduced to meaningless mechanics. One to which our leaders simply adjust. They no longer reason, they merely react and manipulate. Our leaders in all spheres and all tiers of our national life are preoccupied with selfish needs and the immediate hedonistic satisfaction of emotions. The self-styled leaders satisfy the emotional needs of the moment and call it good leadership. Whereas, in actual fact the leader in all walks of our life, has become the individual with the right combination of charisma and realism, enabling him to twist reality of leadership through unethical manipulations. The atmosphere is an ethical vacuum in which emotion has replaced reason. There is complete intellectual frustration and blockage causing an ideological abyss. It is obvious that good leadership in its true essence cannot function in such a context. The leader is sometimes considered in vacuum. We disregard the necessary interaction of the leader with the people he leads. The actions of the leaders cannot

be isolated from the led. The basic essence of leadership is its purpose. Almost all economic, social, political and scientific achievements witnessed by mankind owe themselves to honesty of purpose which guided the commendable pursuit of the selfless pioneers of human welfare and prosperity. The breakdown of the economy, unemployment and lack of hope and direction has forced the younger generation especially the disillusioned educated youth to focus in destructive and often criminal pursuits and activities. The general character of the public is of defiance and contempt of state laws, rules and regulations. They, following in the footsteps of their leaders and elite also refuse to pay taxes and avoid paying government bills and land revenue. All are reluctant to return money borrowed from individuals and financial institutions. There is a state of total apathy and indifference bordering on callousness. Our family values have been shattered and culture destroyed. We, as a people have developed an extremely high acquisitive instinct. Even the vast majority of the masses have become selfish, opportunistic and greedy. Moral and religious values have lost their place in our society as a whole. Our values and goals as a nation and our cultural heritage as a people have undergone drastic changes for the worst. The led are quickly picking up the anti-state and harmful tendencies of the leaders. The powerful and the elite, power drunk and privileged refuse to discharge any of their responsibilities or observe and uphold the rule of law.

The entity of what we call leadership is not necessarily found in a single individual. It is to be found in the society or the organization as a whole. In order to understand the requirements of a leader, it is equally important to study the social, moral and spiritual requirements of the followers also. Although leadership principles are universal, the style of leadership in any country must take into account the values and attitude of society. It is necessary to recognize that it is inextricably bound to the social, political, psychological, spiritual, cultural and economic milieu of the society from which it evolves. The fundamental issue before us is how the potential effectiveness and spirit of the person can be harnessed in situations where purposes and roles are complex, contradictory and even at times most ambiguous. We have within our ranks persons of equal quality, leadership ability and even genius that exists anywhere in the world or indeed at any time in history. The problem is not in the quality of leadership so much as the environment in which it must be exercised. Historically the leaders have been imbued with a sense that the task they perform within the society involves a special calling on the part of those who undertake it. This enigmatic phenomenon is that instead of standard of leadership improving in Pakistan it has visibly deteriorated in all shapes and at all levels. The tendency and characteristics of any nation are always easy to see because they are exhibited in the conduct of its people. Individuals which collectively form the nation will only be acting energetically if they are under influence of religion, morality and reason. This cannot come about unless the people as a whole have been molded by guidance and inspired by principles, integrity and practical wisdom. Needless to say, this cannot be so without a great deal of effort on the part of the individuals themselves, by the exercise of constant effort, self-discipline and self-control. No transition or institutional vitality has been permitted to enter into our body politics. All liberal, tolerant, egalitarian or progressive thoughts are suppressed, and not permitted to take root or flourish so that prevalent elitist model of state and governance continues in which a small group of inept political elite continue to rule, dominate and flourish. The greed of the ruling elite has degenerated our society into a visible manifestation of corrupt polity which perpetuates itself by large scale loot, plunder and destruction of our institutions, morals, culture, heritage and values. Without fundamental and revolutionary changes in the nature of our political culture, in the distribution of power and in the mode and style of leadership, no improvement can be forthcoming. The stranglehold of the political elite who thrive on the vestiges of the colonial rulers legacy of absolute authority and power needs to be broken. Bad leadership ensures the unchecked rise and rise in the fortunes and opportunities of the extraordinarily inept, corrupt, greedy and useless set of politicians who rule without possessing the capacity, creditionals, character, integrity or creditability to do so. They rule and retain control over the country and its resources because of opportunities provided by prevalent bad governance at all levels. They do so and thrive on basis of wealth, power, connections and influence rather than on competence or moral authority.

Good leadership must be in conformity with the values of society. The problem is that of finding the basic principles from which the effective leadership can evolve in a truly happy society. To develop and accomplish a balance requires a great deal of thought, study, education and training. This is beyond the confines of the existing system because leadership is a subject that cannot be seriously assessed or revised without reference to its close connection with the society. In our society, every field of endeavour and every individual can profit through the merits of superior leadership qualities. Qualities like judgment, decisiveness, initiative, courage, mercy, faith, comprehension resourcefulness and the long list of other qualities commonly described to explain good leadership are all necessary to be possessed by a leader in the common context but if a leader is to possess the ability to rise above the mundane and to see beyond the narrow interests of an immediate world he has to possess the qualities in a far greater degree and also possess sound moral and Islamic values. No leaders are born. Men are born and leaders are made. It is his ability to lead those around him and to share his vision, to share his commitments and to get each one of his followers to actively participate in the nation-building endeavours that makes a good leader. Experience has shown that much the most effective method of getting the people to do what you want then to do over a long period of time is to combine ideas of ideals with emotion. It is not emotion that makes the fanatic so dangerous, but the fact that he has an idea behind which all his emotion is mobilized. When ideas have emotion mobilized behind them, they acquire unusual stability and persistence. Human beings interpose between stimuli and response and their ideas are derived from social heritage and training. First of all efforts have to be made on the national level to harmonize the divergent wills of all members of the nation and this has to be done in the interest of national unity. Man is the only animal that can will to die, as well as will to live. The proper harnessing of the will of the Pakistani nation is of the utmost importance because only that can bring the requisite harmony, vitality and unity so badly required by the nation. All three are required not just one or two. Harmony without vitality is a unity in death. Rome fell because it had unity but not vitality. Greece fell because it had vitality but no unity and the Islamic empire and people fell because they lost all three. We in Pakistan are in a complete limbo, looking around for all three. A leader must have the ability to understand not only politics but also the people - their motives, problems, dreams, aspirations, their strength and their weaknesses. He has to have the strength never to compromise with truth. He must be imbued with the great spirit, vitality and enthusiasm. There it is no room for a reluctant or half way leaders. It is the responsibility of the leaders, at all levels, to cherish and nourish our spiritual and human resources so that they become the greatest contributing factor in our search for entity, security, strength, development and economic well-being.

No doubt that presently our leaders are leading in a sense that they have managed the acquisition and utilization of the skills and experience of a poor level governance. Our leaders can to an extent, develop the attributes of leadership with schooling, training and use but they cannot harness the masses motivation, their productivity, their ambitions, nor can they ever act as the care-takers of their values, beliefs, morals or work for their spiritual development. Our leaders are products of our environment. It is unfortunate that corruption has become our mode and we have begun to pursue our ownself interests. Until our environment changes into one of progression based on proven performance and estimated potential the attributes needed by nation only then will our concept of 'end justifies the means' be discarded. Integrity always breeds integrity. The time will come when all aspiring leaders will begin to give sufficient attention to the development of ethos of duty, dedication, honour, integrity, honesty, competency, morals and physical courage along with our Islamic tenants and ideals. When we reach that stage then will we be able to meet the demands and challenges in our national lives, climb the mountain peaks of our destiny and reach our destined place in the comity of nations. This can be done if we attain standards of inexhaustible originality and by a deep study into our possibilities, evaluating the facts of reality and then choosing our goals and planning to guide our actions accordingly. The course of the nations progress cannot be expected to be a straight line, nor can it be expected to be automatic. It has to be a torturous struggle, with long detours and relapses into the stagnant night of the irrational. A nation can only move forward by the grace of the human bridges who are able to grasp and transmit across years, the dreams, aspirations and achievements that a nation has to reach. In order to live, we must act. In order to be in a position to act, we must make choices and in order to be able to make these choices, we must have good leaders to correctly and honestly guide us. To do this we must have a clear sense of life and our purpose of life because the integrated sum of a nation's basic value is its sense of life. All we need from our leadership is the proper example, direction, purpose and growth so that we as a nation become proud of who and what we really are and what our achievements and goal can really be.