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Apply Gandhi's leadership lessons.
IN MOST LISTS OF THE 'greatest leaders of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi is ranked at or near the top - and yet few leaders adopt his style, considering it idealistic, impractical, and out of step with today's realities. The facts don't support that conclusion. Gandhi engaged in a set of practical leadership actions and behaviors that are appropriate anywhere.
In the 1990s, I coined the term valuesbased leadership to define the philosophy of leadership behavior that is both effective and ethical, proving that practicality and morality can be melded harmoniously in the realpolitik of leadership, even in a competitive, profit-oriented world.
And yet many leaders believe that Machiavelli, not Gandhi, offers the most useful philosophy of leadership. Machiavelli made the case for realism over idealism, and for situational ethics over morality, arguing that leaders must manipulate their followers.
When executives mention the political leaders they admire - Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher - I ask them to identify the specific characteristics that they admire. Ironically, these avowed "Machiavellians" invariably single out ethical traits: the leaders they most admire are principled, having integrity, displaying moral courage, making personal sacrifices, and inspiring trust among followers. In essence, what people admire in a leader are the traits we most associate with Gandhi.
In 1915, when Gandhi stands atop a third-class gangplank near the stern of a steamship docked in Bombay, India, poised to descend onto his native soil for his first extended home stay in 25 years, intent on leading his nation to independence, he is 46 years old, and has spent nearly 21 years in South Africa (after studying law in England).
We might well wonder how he can possibly lead a people so divided against a foreign power so formidable. He is just one frail man without any traditional sources of power, financial or positional. Although he is known to the leadership of the Indian National Congress, the masses have never heard of him. And, being neither handsome nor a strong speaker, he lacks charisma.
The situation Gandhi faced in 1915 can be instructive for today's leaders. The most daunting challenges confronting leaders today...