Perceptions of Leadership and Success.

Gurvinder Singh
1 day ago
4 min read

Leadership is the ability to influence the thoughts and actions of individuals and groups to achieve certain outcomes, usually shared ones. Leadership is crucial for success.

Leadership has been almost analysed to death, but one more from me won't harm anyone.

When we are physically, intellectually and emotionally unready, like children, we simply follow others. Most remain like sheep guided by the shepherd throughout our lives. Then, some of us evolve. and become poised to become leaders.

How does leadership evolve?

Initially, we simply mimic styles, mannerisms, thinking patterns, etc., adopting even the values of others and our leaders. Then there is a churn, as we experience life, we begin to think and analyse. We retain some thoughts and approaches and discard others. In our hearts and minds, even our heroes and leaders do fall from grace as we focus on achieving success and happiness.

Important questions are,

Do I want to be a leader?
How do we identify a good leader?
Am I capable of being a good leader?

If we begin this journey towards leadership without an understanding of ourselves, we can easily get lost. Getting lost often reveals surprises that can excite us and even make us happy. But success will most likely be elusive.

True leadership requires dedication, hard work, usually gruelling and demands a thick skin. Most people are better at following, and some make good team members. Only a few of us have the capacity and ability to last the long haul that leadership demands.

Not everyone is a tiger; some of us are timid pussy cats.

One useful way to analyse oneself and decide what might be good for us. I prefer to look at leadership effectiveness using my 'Passive-Aggressive Matrix'.

Aggressive in personality and passive in performance. (for example, Ukraine's Zelensky and India's Rahul Gandhi).
Passive in personality and aggressive in performance (for example, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed).
Aggressive in personality and aggressive in performance (for example, US President Donald Trump and the interim President of Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Traoré).
Passive in personality and passive in performance. (for example, most of Europe's current Prime Ministers and Presidents and former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh).

Some management preachers recommend we follow the advice of Lao Tzu, the 6th-century B.C.E. Chinese philosopher and teacher. He says,

The weakest leader is one whom the people despise and defy.
Next weakest is the one whom they fear.
A normal leader is one whom they love and praise.
The highest type of leader is one whose existence the people are barely aware of.
The good leader speaks little and keeps himself in the background. When his task is accomplished, and things have been completed, all the people say, ‘We have achieved it ourselves'.

Lao Tzu lived in a time of monarchs. Where there was no media attention, a majority illiterate peasant population, struggling to eke out a living and where public perception had an insignificant impact on the Monarch's leadership.

In a democracy, just being good does not translate into being perceived as being good.

To succeed in a democracy, in government and in the corporate world, etc., optics is crucial. One not only has to excel but also be noticed.

One has to ensure that their vision, plans and achievements receive wide attention and their failures are effectively suppressed to win elections, receive promotions, awards and money.

So if you want to clamber up the ladder of success at any cost, then Lao Tzu's opinion may have to be discarded.

There is no best leader. There are only ordinary people, just like you and me, who become leaders under certain situations.

Leaders and villains are usually media creations, especially Western media.

A comedian renowned for playing the piano with his penis in the bars of Moscow, who was magically transformed into the President of Ukraine and hailed as a modern Winston Churchill, has led Ukraine to total self-destruction.

Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya, ensured that the Libyan people led secure, prosperous, high-quality lives. But vested interests in the West, hungry for Libya's wealth, portrayed Gaddafi as evil, a villain who needed to be destroyed. In October 2011, Gaddafi was brutally killed by puppet insurgents with backing from NATO, and Libya was devastated, except for its oil and gas infrastructure. As of date, Libya is a hell-hole where its citizens are routinely sold in flourishing slave markets.

Leaders are routinely made and destroyed by the media. Managing mass and social media is crucial to success and its perception by the world.

Interesting Links:

Real Reason Why Gaddafi got killed ~ Theafricansuperhero (YouTube)

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