Gandhi's Leadership

Introduction

Mahatma Gandhi has been a distinctive leader throughout his lifetime. His leadership characteristics have been recognized, analyzed and praised all around the world. He has become a prime example of a successful leader. In this research paper, I will pick certain theories to analyze Gandhi’s leadership. Then I will choose a “leader” from my circle of family, my mother, and examine her leadership using the same criteria. The purpose of the comparison is to recognize key leadership attributes and behaviors and establish an understanding of the importance of certain fundamentals of leadership. As I was beginning to research information on the topics of leadership and the basic ideas of it, I realized that I agreed with a lot of theories and opinions. However, I decided to take some key ideas and formulate my own definition of leadership that fits my perceptions of life, my cultural beliefs, my background and my personality. In my view, in order to be a leader one must have an open mind. One must have the ability to view situations from different perspectives. One must be able to think logical and free of clichés and acknowledge all advantages and disadvantages for all parties involved. In order to practice those characteristics one must get to know the players of the situation, one must get to know their mindset and their reasoning for action. What inspired me most about Gandhi, and which is also considered his most distinguishable and memorable trait, is that he was willing to be part of the people. He was not just leading them, he was living their lifestyles, living with the conditions that they faced and became completely one with them for as long as necessary. He loved them; he suffered with them; he cried and laughed with them. Gandhi did not put any restrictions on his mind or his body as long as it stayed within his visionary boundaries. As a reference I chose to include a phrase I found on www.mkgandhi.org, which says: “If he wanted to bring peace to a disturbed district, he could walk through it, entering into the minds and hearts…” In my eyes I believe that this is the most important trait to be a good leader.

Servant Leadership

As I was going through the “Individual Dimensions of Leadership” from the Hartwick participant guide for Gandhi by Green I agreed that every leadership style holds some truth and that individuals are able to posses characteristics of not just one but a combination of characteristics taken from those different styles. Without doubt Gandhi was a person who represented the servant leadership style. The servant leadership style qualities include “the ability to listen empathetically, to engender trust through the proclamation of a vision, to see what is not foreseeable, to be aware of the needs of others and to have the internal spiritual resources to sustain a vision and relationships.