They say leaders are made. This is the greatest delusion ever concocted by man. Any leader who is worth his salt is a born leader. Society presents circumstances that enable one to be fashioned or moulded into a leader. That’s the greatest contribution of society to mankind – it identifies a leader from its surroundings.
A distinction has to be made between true leaders and quack leaders. True leaders know that they are born for a purpose. Society is their laboratory. They experiment and display various leadership skills which benefit society as a whole.
There are also true leaders who are a bane to society. They mask themselves as autocrats, dictators and demagogues. Aren’t they born leaders? Hitler is a case in point. He whipped German society into accepting and carrying out his nefarious activities unto the world. The world nearly came to a standstill watching his atrocities.
Autocrats and dictators who have a complete sway consider society as their playground. Citizens are pawns in a great game of chess – the ‘chess of life’. Use one pawn against another to silence opposition or kill foes. The majority are ‘slaves’ or compliant individuals ever ready to do their biddings. Disgruntled and dismayed individuals utter disenchantment and anger only in private.
Good leaders are hard to find. When society collapses, it naturally looks towards a true leader who can save it from its malady. The appearance of this type of leader is mostly in a time of crisis as society has been ‘ripened’ to accept true leadership.
Quack leaders are aplenty in the world today. They have this foolish notion that they are true leaders. But they don’t seem to lead their stated industry in any new form or ideas. Most of it is just picking up from what their predecessors have been doing.
A born leader is possessed with originality of thought: thoughts that create more benefits to society; thoughts that inspire and teach others to do the same; and thoughts that jolt others to rethink the usefulness of their present worth.
Most of all, a born leader is imbued with unbounded courage to stick to his views and actions decisively.
Quack leaders are the opposite. They follow the trends of society. They don’t want to upset society from its continual slumber. Contrary and sincere opinions are dangerous. That will mean a dip in their earning power and influence. ‘Just do what others do’ is their motto.
Quack leaders have a semblance of courage. Appearing to be courageous, they promote their ideas in the form of advice or suggestions. That’s about it. Nothing of great value actually. Follow the norm and everything is fine. These are some of the hallmarks of quack leaders. Can’t you see these quack leaders peddling their wares everywhere?
Leadership institutes are set up to study the art and science of leadership. Investigations as well as studies are made into ‘how’ and ‘why’ leaders behave as they do; furthermore of what qualities leaders are made of. Studies and findings are compiled for posterity.
The hard truth is that nobody ‘really’ knows how and why leaders behave as they do. Nobody can explain who is a leader from a follower. There are no scientific explanations for discovering and choosing a true leader. At best, only patterns of certain behavioural tendencies exhibited by these leaders are established through these findings.
True leaders spring from every nook and cranny of society. There is no set model to determine which direction they are coming from.
right4education 