Mahatma Gandhi is considered to be one of the greatest leaders the world has have had. He is the father of the Indian nation and was a key player in seeing India freed from colonialism. Numerous authors have cited him as one of the most influential leaders in the entire human history. The reason behind this is deduced from the high level of devotion and the success he amassed in areas where many leaders in India had failed in the course of convincing the British colonizers to liberate India (Rawson, 2018). Also, he portrayed a high level of transformational leadership style which is a leadership style that I prefer. Numerous characteristics can be drawn from his leadership which makes him be considered as an exceptional leader. Therefore, this essay will present the characteristics of a great leader and showcase how Mahatma Gandhi portrayed these characteristics.
Some of the outstanding characteristics that a leader should have for them to be considered great comprise of Visionary, devoted and committed, problem-solving skills, a good planner and strategic, leading by example, confidence in self and course being pursued and having high degrees of integrity (Eitel, 2018). Through the history of Mahatma Gandhi, it is apparent that he possessed these leadership qualities. First, if the world has ever had the greatest transformational leader, it is none other than Gandhi. Transformational leadership refers to a leadership style whereby leaders encourage, inspire and more importantly motivate their followers to come up with the change that will help in the course of shaping the future. It can also be explained as a leadership style whereby a leader transforms the community or rather the society through their visionary nature. The essence of being visionary is strongly found among the leadership qualities that Gandhi had. He was a charismatic leader who could inspire and also motivate his followers to believe in a course of putting their level best efforts into fighting for change (Rawson, 2018).
A good leader has to be devoted and committed to the vision that he is fighting to attain. Drawing from the life of Gandhi, it is clear that he had devoted his entire life to serving his nation and its people. When evaluating Gandhi’s success, it is imperative to consider his problem-solving abilities. It is recorded that he was able to cease fighting between two worrying religions; the Hindus and Muslims in India without the use of any form of violence. In his strategy, he understood that for Indians to win, the only way was to ensure that they were united (Rawson, 2018).
Hundreds of leaders before Gandhi had tried to free Indians from British slavery but failed. This implied that a conventional method of solving the issue was not yielding desired results. During his campaign, Gandhi noted that solving the issue conventionally was not the appropriate mechanism. As a result, he opted for a different approach unlike the other leaders before him. He evaluated the reasons that made the British colonies continue staying in India despite having taken all the treasures they wanted. He then noted that the British were interested in India because the Indians were largely depending on them. This was an outstanding discovery that many people could not have thought of thus making Gandhi a strategic and problem-solving leader which are qualities at the core of good leadership. After the discovery, Gandhi knew that war was not a solution and thus he came up with a plan to cut the economic ties that the British had with India (Rawson, 2018). From this, it can be deduced that for one to be a great leader, they have to be good planners who are also strategic.
Another characteristic of a great leader is leading by example and becoming the change that you want the people to see. Any great leader ought to live an exemplary life that showcases his ideals (Krasnoff, 2015). Drawing from the case of Gandhi, he sacrificed his profession that was thriving and chose to lead a simple life just like his followers. Before starting to fight for the people of India, he was a successful lawyer. The ability to sacrifice is a concept that is largely lacking among contemporary leaders that is why the world barely has great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi. Peace was a rare commodity in the era that Gandhi lived, it would have been impossible for him to instill peace in India if he did not demonstrate peaceful acts of kindness in his life and teachings. He was very disciplined and committed to attaining his set of goals for the Indian people. By being disciplined, he showcased the people the character that he wanted and was able to easily convince the masses that war was not a solution but rather they should remain peaceful and disciplined (Rawson, 2018). By leading as an example, a leader reflects the purpose of his leadership thus showcasing a definite purpose and a clear set of goals.
For one to be an outstanding leader, they must show high levels of confidence. Being confidence helps a leader not weaver in a course and also manage to command unwavering following. When a leader is not sure of their decisions and purpose, it is very challenging for them to convince their subordinates and followers that the vision they have is attainable (Krasnoff, 2015). Great leaders should ooze confidence and assertiveness to amass the respect required from their followers. However, it is also imperative that leaders take care not to be overconfidence since it will be dangerous to their leadership. Being overconfident will make followers feel like slaves while in the real sense they should feel included in the purpose and vision being pursued (Eitel, 2018). Gandhi always depicted himself as a very strong and confident leader who did not allow anything or anyone to get in the way of attaining his dream. First, he was firm that he will one day become a lawyer and was confident in himself that he became one. His confidence is depicted in how he fought for the Indian people. Several times he would go into hunger strikes without fearing just to see that the rights of all Indians especially the poor are respected. He valued equality and always dismissed people who strived to promote inequality in India. At one time, Gandhi was against the use of vaccines and many people did not believe in his line of thought. However, he continued to propagate is ideals thus showing that he was very confident in his research. Also, this was a strategic move that he came up with to cut the economic ties that India had with Britain. He was confident that if he kept holding on to his theory, it was only a matter of time before other people will start believing in him and finally he managed on convincing the people of India (Rawson, 2018). This example clearly shows the advantages of confidence in leadership.
Integrity is another quality that any great leader should possess. The United States 34th president, his Excellency Dwight Eisenhower asserted that the utmost quality of an outstanding leader is having an unquestionable level of integrity. Lack of integrity in a leader makes success very hard to be attained. Therefore, honesty and integrity are components that all leaders should have regardless of the niches they operate. Many great leaders succeeded by always abiding by their set of values and beliefs which were reinforced by practicing integrity (Eitel, 2018). Mahatma Gandhi being a leader of civil rights, history has it that he had a great aggregate of integrity. The fact that he chose peaceful means of bringing resolution to his country is a sign that he had very strong moral principles. If Gandhi would have chosen war to bring liberation in India, many people would have died which is very immoral but rather resolved to employ peaceful negotiations (Rawson, 2018).
From the essay, it is apparent that the core characteristics of a great leader are Visionary, devoted and committed, problem-solving skills, a good planner and strategic, leading by example, confident and having high degrees of integrity. Mahatma Gandhi in his civil rights movement depicted all these characteristics and attributes that saw his vision come to reality. His success is a demonstration that he is the greatest transformational leader in world history and that is why he is remembered even in the present moment. Current leaders must learn from leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi for them to impart change within contemporary society.
References
Eitel, K. (2018, April). Six characteristics for becoming the leader they want to follow. In BSAVA Congress Proceedings 2018 (pp. 350-351). BSAVA Library.
Rawson, C. (2018). Evaluating Mahatma Gandhi: The Qualities of an Effective Leader. Print.
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