My Favourite Leader

Lala Sadigova

BAPA2020

COM110

December 19, 2016

Final Examination, Essay 3

My Favorite Leader

According to Yukl (2010), "Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives". There has always been a tendency to believe that a leader is the one who knows how to suppress, manipulate others, to engage them in some business against their will. I tend to believe that all of us see at least two or three individuals each day who try to be the first in everything; they are trying to assert their leadership with power and shout. Sometimes it works, but not for a long period of time. The real leader is the one who is truly respected by everyone around him or her.

There have been many leaders who have led this world differently. Some of them have used psychological ways to the people’s minds, some – social reforms and many worked for social awareness. For my perspective, it is Mahatma Gandhi of whom I am impressed. He was the greatest man of the 20th century and was respected by the whole world. He came to the believe that self-improvement is the only main tool for a peaceful victory. Mahatma Gandhi worked hard to eradicate the social evils from Indian society. Gandhi and his followers traveled to India, speaking at mass meetings for the fight against the British rule. After India’s final proclamation of independence on August 15 1947 year, Gandhi did not want to take part in celebrations. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was killed on January 30, 1948 - a prominent leader of the national liberation movement of India, thinker, politician and public, and went down in history of modern civilization as Mahatma ("Great Soul"). As Einstein once stated, the coming generation would not easily believe that such a man ever lived on the earth. The greatest thing about him was that he was a human to the core and had a loving heart for the poor and the homeless. He felt for all and wished well to the entire humanity.

Since that day have passed more than four decades, but interest in Gandhi has not weaken. I tend to believe that Mahatma Gandhi had all five principles of ethics in himself, but the main one was that he served others; was his main aim throughout his life. He was not just a politician in the narrow sense of the word. At all stages of the struggle for the independence of India, he served as the spiritual leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), even without being its official head. As Weber (1947) stated, charismatic leaders are more likely to emerge in crisis situations. As was in the movie “Gandhi” (1982) , India was suffering from the atrocities of the British rule for decades, causing widespread distress. People were wretched to end the suffering, but were unable to find a solution. Gandhi provided the vision of "Independent India", and led various movements from the front. India's social crisis provided Gandhi with the perfect stage to rise from amongst the masses and lead India till independence. According to Yukl (2010), leaders are more likely to be viewed as charismatic if they make self-sacrifices, take personal risks, and not afraid to incur high costs to achieve goals. Actually, there were various moments throughout movements, when Gandhi sacrificed something for the sake of ordinary people. For example, he stopped wearing western clothes and donned a simple 'dhoti' to blend with the masses; he led a simple life without materialistic pleasures; and even got beaten on occasion. He was trying to show people in India that he is one of them and by that to gain their trust.  Rabindranath Tagore found it possible to compare Gandhi with Buddha, and stated the following: "He stood at the threshold of the huts of thousands of destitute, dressed just as they. He spoke to them in their language – to show that it is truth, rather than quotes from books. In response to the calls of Gandhi, India again opened for great things, just as it was in earlier times, when Buddha proclaimed the truth of empathy and compassion among all living. " A leader also needs to be influential, and so was Gandhi. As was shown in the movie, Gandhi primarily used the process of "internalization" to influence his followers. In truth, Mahatma Gandhi was able to motivate people to fight against the British by influencing them with strengthening their values of freedom, justice and self-respect. According to the movie, an overwhelming majority of masses were demonstrated as wearing western clothes. But after Gandhi's influence on them, they opted for Indian fabric (khadi), thereby boycotted English garments in their support of Gandhi's view.