ROLE OFTHE

VIBRANT LEADERSHIP

The role of leadership has a natural significance in the life of nations. Apart from its rise and fall, failure or success, objectivity and subjectivity there is some spiritual relation of a leader and follower. In Hegel’s view, the world-spirit (Zeitgeist) uses the actions of men to achieve its goal. In order to understand leadership, it is a must to have a firm grasp of the philosophy of history.

INTRODUCTION

Philosophy always arrives too late. To quote Hegel’s famous dictum, “The owl of Minerva takes its flight when the dusk is falling”. Knowing that we can philosophies only after history has taken place; nevertheless it is also true that philosophy provides us a compass to find our way through the maze of history, while balancing the determination and free will.

Subjective and Objective view of Leader and History

Leaders make history, but before that, they are made by history. The objective and subjective factors are dialectically linked i.e. they act and react upon each other. In fact, following factors make history objective and subjective.

Objective SubjectiveThe objective factor consists of the economic, political, and cultural environment in which the leader finds himself, at a particular moment of history

The subjective factor consists of the leader’s feelings, thinking and striving

The objective conditions must be mature for the historic event to come to pass

The event will not occur by itself

The leader must grasp the opportunity offered by objective conditions and act appropriately

To bring forth the event from the womb of history

Self-actualization of the Leader

Self-actualization being the hallmark of ultimate personality development is the prime requirement of a leader. This includes courage, initiative and drive besides the lucid expression and sense of history, as under.

• He is not the begetter but only the midwife of history.

• He is an instrument of great historical forces on whose currents he rides to his place in history.

• Owing to the specific qualities of their minds and characters, the leaders can change the specific features of events.

• They cannot change the basic general trend of the historical force.

A Deterministic View of HistoryBismarck, the maker of modern Germany, sensed his own insignificance before the awesome forces of history and exclaimed: “The best a statesman can do is to listen to rustle of god’s mantle through history and try to catch the hem of it for a few steps”. When objective conditions have

matured, the rule of the leader becomes crucial. Hegel calls these moments as turning points when leadership may alter history for better or for worse.

The Role of Leader to ChangeA true leader affirms the hopes, aspirations and yearnings of his people through replacing the old order by a new one. What is leadership if it is not the capacity to inspire and mobilize people to struggle for the historically ordained change, the change which brings more freedom, democracy and social justice. Following points are inevitable as a course of action for a leader and follower, both:

• To destroy an old order with force may at times be the last resort for a society entrapped in a hopeless jam.

• Having the sense of history that violence is not a sensible way to transform society.

• The membranes of civilization are fragile, once ripped asunder, they are difficult to restore.

• The visionary dream of a new order inspires masses of people to heroic action and sacrifice.

• No leader can ever lead people without having a vision of the new order for whichpower is sought.

• Every leader needs to be reminded of this harsh fact at regular intervals that leadersare neither demigod nor are infallible.

• Unquestioning submission corrupts leaders and demeans followers. “Great men exist,” says Emerson, “that there may be greater men”

Legendary Leadership

Leaders are always born not made because the performance of leaders cannot be substituted ordinarily as they are special and perform extra-ordinarily. Few glorious examples are as under:

• Prometheus defied gods and brought fire from heaven for the mortals, but chained to a rock an eagle plucked away at his liver

• Johan of arch was burnt alive for leading her nation

• Ho Chi Minh could not see the independence of united Vietnam

• Karl Marx died of hunger

• Muhammad Ali Jinnah did not disclose his tuberculosis till independence

The fights against reactionary, undemocraticforces are often thankless. Yet, in the model ofPrometheus, Johan of ark, Karl Marx,Muhammad Ali Jinnah; the true leadercontinues to struggle against the tyrannicalgods. He justifies his role insofar as he ultimatelysucceeds in destroying the hegemony of oldgods .But, this can be only made possiblethrough the support of enlightened masses.

The Need of Dynamic Leadership in World

World is passing through the most difficult timesof her life, seeing the societal violence, politicalchaos, economic stagnation, and wars resultinginto all round instabilities. Therefore, in suchcircumstances a vibrant leadership is the onlyhope to address all the following needs:

• World has never needed great leadership more urgently than it does at this crucial hour

• Leadership has never more urgentlyneeded the collaboration and criticism ofan ardent and informed people

• We can avert disaster only if leaders listento followers as carefully as followers listento leaders

• The true leader always remembers the fate ofanother Greek god. Anteus, who was the sonof Gaea, goddess of the earth; and Poseidon,god of the sea. Anteus was invincible,because, whenever hard pressed by anadversary, he would touch the earth, themother who gave birth to him and regainstrength. Hercules came to know about thesecret of Anteus’ invincibility. Hercules kept,him suspended in the air. Anteus lost touchwith the earth and was easily vanquished.

• The true leader must never lose touch withthe people and he has every chance ofwinning the final battle

The Role of Masses

Since the French Revolution (1789), the masses have been playing an increasing role in the making of history, climaxing in the October and the Chinese Revolutions and masses played role in independence movements in America, Africa and Asia like Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and USA etc. either through war or peaceful resistance.

The 20th century will go down in history when millions of heavers of wood and drawers of water stood up, took the destiny into their calloused, bruised, bony hands and molded it according to their will. Therefore 21st century is the century of enlightened masses supporting the national strategy made by President / Primeminister and chief of army staff.

Direction in the Lessons of History

Woodrow Wilson, who was himself a maker ofhistory said, “When I took back on the processof history, I see this written over every page thatthe nations are renewed from the bottom, notfrom the top; that the genius which spring fromthe ranks of the unknown is the genius whichrenews the youth and energy of the people.”History is a vision for direction seeking anddirection keeping, through understanding thefollowing inevitable musts:

• The vitality, the utility, the fruitage of life does not come from the top to the bottom; it’s, like the growth of a great tree, from the soil, the trunk, the branches, the foliage and the fruit.

• Whether the march of history is linear, circular or spiral-like its movement and movement in it is must.

• The march of history is not linear i.e., history does not move along a straight line, always in a forward direction without any setback.

• History does not repeat itself, therefore it’s not circular, and moreover, mankind is not doomed to go round and round a circle.

• History moves along a spiral – a curve which seems to be going down, but actually goes up after a short downturn

• History moves two steps forward and one backward

• All great movements had a spiral-likeevolution

• Movements start off with a tiny spark and gather momentum so that the spark set a prairie on fire

• History’s downward, dull and dreary movements if have the force of the masses behind it, will always emerge with triumphantfrom an apparent defeat

ConclusionBlessed are those who do not lose heart at the downward trend of the spiral but keep an optimistic eye on the inevitable upward trend: they are thegreat leaders of the day.

Not gold, but only men can make,

A people great and strong,

Men who for truth and honor’s sake,

Stand fast and suffer long.

(Emerson)