Ideal Leadership by Dada Maheshvarananda

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Ideal LeadershipDada MaheshvaranandaThe knowledge of leadership has greatly developed during the last fewdecades, both in activist circles and, especially, in the businessworld.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 theclimate of their organization.Great leaders are forged through great struggle. Oppression andimprisonment have molded great leaders of modern times, such as MartinLuther King and Malcolm X from the United States, Andrei Sakharov fromRussia, Anwar Sadat from Egypt, Vaclev Havel from Czech Republic, AungSan Suu Kyi from Burma, Rigoberta Menchú from Guatemala, Xanana Gusmanfrom Timor and Nelson Mandela from South Africa.The path of revolution is the most difficult path of all, and on it wewill encounter greater and greater risks and challenges. However, thegreatest enemies that we will face are our inner enemies and bondages:our complexes, weaknesses and fears. We are all afraid of failure andof looking bad in front of others. On this path, we will eventuallyfind ourselves confronted with whatever things we fear - we need tocourageously face these fears and overcome them.Our inner work of a leader is very important. The process of auto-analysis is essential to our inner progress, evaluating our mistakeseach day and struggling to overcome our defects.The downfall of many revolutionaries is the desire for small comfortsand security. The powerful spirit of spiritual struggle can help toovercome such desires. Rather than avoiding physical and psychicclashes, we need to confront them and embrace them for our personaltransformation and development.There is an ancient truth that what we despise in others, the qualitiesthat we hate, are actually within us. Every human being has the samemental propensities. People naturally tend to project what they hatewithin themselves onto others, seeing those who disagree with them asenemies, and getting into heated arguments and bitter conflicts.Projection is a trick that the mind plays to avoid facing the enemieswithin.There is a way that you can look for this tendency in yourself. Thinkof someone or some people with whom you have the greatest difference of opinion. They may have done something wrong; you or others may havefelt 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 haveto confront and overcome. While we may disagree with someone's actions,and while we should fight against immorality and injustice, we must notconfuse the actions with the person.PR Sarkar the founder of PROUT counseled that, "Even while dealing withpersons of inimical nature, one must keep oneself free from hatred,

anger and vanity." The feeling of jealousy should be overcome bysuper-imposing the idea of friendliness towards that person. Hatredshould be overcome by compassion and forgiveness, envy by praise andencouragement. This is certainly not easy, but it is fundamental.True leaders empower others to be great. They encourage and praisetheir accomplishments. Such leaders know that "who I am" does notdepend on "what I do", or on titles or positions. As loving parents areproud of the accomplishments of their children, these leaders show joywhen others become great, too.Emotionally Intelligent LeadersEffective leaders must develop what Daniel Goleman calls "emotionalintelligence". This concept explains how some people may be brilliantintellectuals, with vast knowledge and skills, yet still be unable tounderstand, or be sensitive to the impact of their actions on others.Those who lack emotional intelligence are unaware of how others feel.Ideal leaders are "visionary," "coaching" and "democratic," and rarelyuse the less effective "pace-setting" and "commanding" styles.2Most people communicate more easily with others from the same culturalbackground. Yet in the struggle to change the world, we will have tolive 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 arevery real phenomena that many leaders must confront every day.Neohumanism teaches us that we must overcome false superiority based ongeo-sentiments and socio-sentiments. Ideal leaders treat all people astheir brothers and sisters, dealing fairly with everyone based onprinciples and individual merit.Field Marshal Mackenshaw from the modern Indian Army says somethinginteresting. He advises what is also appropriate for revolutionaries:"If you push yourself even harder than your soldiers, and if you don'ttake yourself too seriously, they will follow you anywhere." Another important principle for all leaders is to set an example by individualconduct before asking others to do the same.Unfortunately some leaders become arrogant. They feel that becausetheir cause is the greatest, therefore they are the greatest, too; butthis is not necessarily so. Arrogant leaders lack sensitivity, caringlittle for the feelings and values of others.True leadership means that instead of developing ego, we develophumility. A leader who is humble gives joy and inspiration to others.Everyone likes and respects a humble person, but nobody likes nor respects an arrogant person.Leaders who are insecure are threatened by the success of others. Somemen feel threatened by the achievements of women and may even try toput obstacles in their path to diminish their success. Insecureleaders, both men and women, often become fiercely competitive, viewingthe progress of another project as a humiliation of them. Thoughhealthy internal competition can inspire people to work harder, we also

need the spirit of coordinated cooperation. Insecure leaders are alsoafraid of losing control. They are afraid to hear complaints or criticism, of doing things a new way, of challenge and change. They areafraid of failure. They do not realize that we can learn from everyfailure, that every unsuccessful effort is an opportunity for our personal and collective growth. They fear that admitting a mistake andapologizing for it will mean a loss of face. On the contrary, an honestapology for an error along with a willingness to make up for it,whether it was done knowingly or not, heals hurt feelings and oftenincreases our esteem in the eyes of our peers and the public.How to Inspire Others and How to Inspire Yourself Inspiration is vital for revolutionaries. We receive no materialcompensation at all. The only fuel we can get to serve others and tosacrifice for a noble cause is inspiration. Without it we feel likegiving up.How can I inspire new people to join this struggle? How can I inspiremy fellow activists to carry on? And, most important, how can I inspiremyself?There are several ingredients for inspiration.1. Intuitional Practices: Daily meditation strengthens our mind andopens us to the source of all inspiration and wisdom. The more time wedevote to it, the more we feel inexplicable peace and joy. The companyof other spiritualists also helps immensely to keep the mind inspiredand growing.2. Positive Outlook: From a spiritual perspective, all obstacles anddifficulties help us to reach our goal. Both individually andorganizationally, we learn more when things go wrong. We should never allow ourselves to become discouraged when we suffer a loss. Byredoubling our efforts, we can make it up.3. Enthusiasm: To inspire, we must be dynamic, cheerful and full of energy. When we speak to others in an exciting and dramatic way, we cantransfer some of the thrill and exhilaration of this incrediblemovement to change the world. There is an old French saying: "Miracleshappen to those who believe in them." We need to open our eyes to thefantastic adventure that is taking place all around us everyday.4. Actively Collect and Communicate Good News from Around the World:>From the dawn of our species, human beings want to belong to a biggroup. Being part of a popular movement gives a feeling of success andsecurity. Yet our humble efforts sometimes seem too insignificant tohave any effect on our local community, what to speak of changing theworld.It is only when we expand our vision to see all the efforts andprojects in every country of the world that we can realize how largethe global effort to make a better world is growing. By hearing andtelling others of the successes of our movement, we can realize howstrong we really are. This is an ongoing, life-long process.

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