Ideal Leadership by Dada Maheshvarananda
Ideal Leadership by Dada Maheshvarananda
Ideal Leadership by Dada Maheshvarananda
Dada Maheshvarananda
The knowledge of leadership has greatly developed during the last few
decades, both in activist circles and, especially, in the business
world.1 A position of leadership gives one an unusual degree of
influence over others, but that influence may be either positive or
negative. Studies in capitalist enterprises show that the actions of
the leader account for up to 70 percent of employees' perception of the
climate of their organization.
There is a way that you can look for this tendency in yourself. Think
of someone or some people with whom you have the greatest difference of
opinion. They may have done something wrong; you or others may have
felt hurt by their actions. But if you feel emotions of hatred or anger
or superiority when you meet them, then that is a problem that you have
to confront and overcome. While we may disagree with someone's actions,
and while we should fight against immorality and injustice, we must not
confuse the actions with the person.
PR Sarkar the founder of PROUT counseled that, "Even while dealing with
persons of inimical nature, one must keep oneself free from hatred,
anger and vanity." The feeling of jealousy should be overcome by
super-imposing the idea of friendliness towards that person. Hatred
should be overcome by compassion and forgiveness, envy by praise and
encouragement. This is certainly not easy, but it is fundamental.
Most people communicate more easily with others from the same cultural
background. Yet in the struggle to change the world, we will have to
live and work with people from different races, cultures and nations.
Cultural clashes, translation difficulties, misunderstandings,
disagreements about values and different ways of seeing the world are
very real phenomena that many leaders must confront every day.
Neohumanism teaches us that we must overcome false superiority based on
geo-sentiments and socio-sentiments. Ideal leaders treat all people as
their brothers and sisters, dealing fairly with everyone based on
principles and individual merit.
Field Marshal Mackenshaw from the modern Indian Army says something
interesting. He advises what is also appropriate for revolutionaries:
"If you push yourself even harder than your soldiers, and if you don't
take yourself too seriously, they will follow you anywhere." Another
important principle for all leaders is to set an example by individual
conduct before asking others to do the same.
Leaders who are insecure are threatened by the success of others. Some
men feel threatened by the achievements of women and may even try to
put obstacles in their path to diminish their success. Insecure
leaders, both men and women, often become fiercely competitive, viewing
the progress of another project as a humiliation of them. Though
healthy internal competition can inspire people to work harder, we also
need the spirit of coordinated cooperation. Insecure leaders are also
afraid of losing control. They are afraid to hear complaints or
criticism, of doing things a new way, of challenge and change. They are
afraid of failure. They do not realize that we can learn from every
failure, that every unsuccessful effort is an opportunity for our
personal and collective growth. They fear that admitting a mistake and
apologizing for it will mean a loss of face. On the contrary, an honest
apology for an error along with a willingness to make up for it,
whether it was done knowingly or not, heals hurt feelings and often
increases our esteem in the eyes of our peers and the public.
How can I inspire new people to join this struggle? How can I inspire
my fellow activists to carry on? And, most important, how can I inspire
myself?
4. Actively Collect and Communicate Good News from Around the World:
>From the dawn of our species, human beings want to belong to a big
group. Being part of a popular movement gives a feeling of success and
security. Yet our humble efforts sometimes seem too insignificant to
have any effect on our local community, what to speak of changing the
world.
It is only when we expand our vision to see all the efforts and
projects in every country of the world that we can realize how large
the global effort to make a better world is growing. By hearing and
telling others of the successes of our movement, we can realize how
strong we really are. This is an ongoing, life-long process.
5. Invite Creative Expression: Our collective struggle demands that we
use all the potential we have. Recognizing that different people have
diverse experiences and abilities, we should invite them to express
their talents in a creative way. When people are allowed to discuss
freely and frankly, to ask sincere questions to their heart's content,
they can learn and develop more in the spirit of Neo- Humanism. New
ideas and new ways of doing things, if carefully planned, breathe fresh
life into tired activists and generate enthusiasm. And the resultant
new experiences will challenge and empower people to take risks and
overcome their fears.
6. Laugh Together: There is an old proverb, "If you take yourself too
seriously, no one else will." A good sense of humor is one of the
loveliest qualities that spiritual leaders can have. Those who spent
time with Sarkar remember well how often he lightened our feelings with
a funny story or sweet joke. Sometimes he made us laugh so hard that
our sides hurt and tears came to our eyes. Always his jokes were an
invitation for everyone to relax and laugh together as one family.
Endnotes:
1 See Rules for Radicals by Saul Alinsky (Vintage Books, New York,
1989); Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for
Activists by Kimberley Bobo et al (Seven Locks Press, 2001); Primal
Leadership by Daniel Goleman et al (Harvard Business School, Cambridge,
2002); The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey (Simon
and Schuster, New York, 1990).
2 Ibid.