The culture that we’ve been brought up in often asks us very early – “Who/What do you want to be when you grow up?” As a kid, I wanted to grow up to be like my uncles – Well read, fairly accomplished from what I understood, compassionate, progressive yet grounded. Of course, I didn’t understand these qualities then, but I remember being in awe of their overall personalities. As I pushed myself to be more like them, I discovered that we get attracted to qualities in others that we subconsciously want to inculcate. It’s our first point of reference for the kind of leaders we would become or the kind that we would gladly follow. My reasoning, therefore, is based on personal observations and evaluation of the qualities I would put my money on. This analysis is more intuitive than formulaic or academic.[break]
We all have different sets of expectations of the leaders but some traits must be native to or acquired by people who represent the voice of others. More than affiliations and accomplishments, great leaders are marked by their ability to take a stand with what they believe in and work relentlessly towards it despite all odds. The prime examples in our own midst are Sunita Nepali and Pushpa Basnet who have picked causes that people generally shy away from and have brought together groups with common problems to seek viable solutions. As examples of social leaders, they stood against the tide, resilient in trying times, gave inspiration and hope to many, and led by example. They, in my mind, represent truly the kind of leaders whose “actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, become more” (defined by John Quincy Adams). These are leaders who have the courage and the grit to challenge and shake up the established systems and bring refreshing perspectives to age-old problems.
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In any field we delve into, leadership is invariably about bringing together a “team”. In sports, it’s the playing team; in business, the employees and customers; and in politics, the citizenry. Optimal leaders are those who listen to their teams and try to incorporate the overarching points in their decision-making process. For instance, Google employees are urged to keep “users” (who are its primary customers) and not direct profitability at the front of every business decision. Google founders believed that if the company focuses on user needs, reviews and complaints, the company would build trust, loyalty and return visitors which would lead to increased profit margins. These founding principles have led to its strong and sustained growth even when business environment in general is rather unfavorable.
We can draw an analogy from this example for political scenarios, too. If we have leaders who genuinely focus on the needs of citizens rather than on power play, they would listen to them and keep them at the front of decision-making. We’ll have a more interested citizenry that feels and gets more involved. Here again, it’s not just about making lofty promises. What’s important is a result-oriented plan of action. Our leadership in four years couldn’t draft the new Constitution and has postponed the election date twice already. Even if elections do happen and despite not having had the opportunity to exercise my right to adult franchise in a decade of acquiring it, I feel many would abstain from voting altogether for lack of a decisive person to look up to and believe that he/she is truly attuned to the pulse of the constituents. A leader needs to have a thinking mind, be tolerant and in particular, be able to empathize. This is where President Obama’s gesture of reaching out, promising action and promptly moving the review of gun policies during the merciless shootings in America stands out while Dr. Manmohan Singh’s silence for the longest time over the protests in Delhi is reprehensible. While it may be fair to argue that the countries are in different phases of development which calls for varied responses, I believe that a leader should be able to create and raise the expectations by being transparent and available for dialogues.
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While these qualities need to be demonstrated more than articulated, I think a layman’s perspective, which I’ve attempted to provide, can be taken into consideration for political leaders as they hope to create conditions of national inclusion, progress and expanding possibilities for others. For people aspiring to be future leaders in their field of interest, it’s essential to be nonpartisan, able to think out of the box and adopt innovative methods – to not bask in glory of associations or past achievements but build credibility through continued and genuine efforts to impact lives by reaching out, taking risks, taking a bottoms-up approach to building a coalition – and to keep asking themselves if they are living up to their principles and their promises.
The writer has the mind of a maverick and fancies challenging the limits of her thoughts.
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