Leadership failure or a failure of leadership?

(by Branislav Cika, participant in the University of Liverpool's Online MSc Information Systems Management Programme and with kind guidance and edit from Dr. Ashok Banerji, Ezana Assefa, and Akefetey Ephraim Mamo.)

"As soon as we have accomplished our mission, we expect that the situation will return to normalcy...” ('Zimbabwe military's statement after seizing power’ 2017).

As Mugabe’s 37-year rule comes to an end this turbulent November 2017, one must wonder if the ‘coup d’etat’ – or ‘bloodless transition’ – is really ‘popular’ or only an act of a disgruntled few who fell out of favor of President Mugabe and his famous and infamous wife Grace? Could the real root-cause for ‘the fall of the mighty’ be his latest policy to remove his revolutionary compatriots clearing the space for the ascension of his wife Grace?

Some anthropology, politics, and sociology scholars draw parallels between the southern-European patron-client social relations model and the current reality in tribe, and nation-oriented governments of South-Central Europe, South America, Asia and Africa (Kaufman, 1974). In this mode, people develop social ties based on a self-identification model grounded in group, ethnicity, language, and religion (Scott, 1972). If that indeed was the case with Zimbabwe, and the group-based patron-client system was to blame, can we assume that political system that pervades Zimbabwe’ current politics is due for a replacement? And, more importantly, is this largely traditional system an issue only in Zimbabwe or is it affecting the political leadership worldwide? This is an interesting question that begs further investigation.

Do modern day politicians really serve the people?

"To command is to serve, nothing more, nothing less." (Andre Malraux)

Whatever the Zimbabwe case, the question of political leadership in the world is one that has plagued political establishments of the developed and the developing world alike. While cases of Zimbabwe’s Mugabe, Libya’s Gadhafi or Serbia’s Milosevic are widely published and taught at schools, the cases of the more perfidious failure of political leadership, such as corrupt political-elite ‘meltdown’ in the United States, or the upsurge of intolerance and bigotry around the EU, raises the question of the deterioration of worldwide political establishment. Are these world-wide political elites also largely fitting the patron-client model of politics – serving nobody but themselves – and is this increasingly causing peoples’ dissatisfaction as Pew Research Center, (2017) observed?

Are leadership and politics compatible?

"The supreme is its unquestionable integrity." (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

Politics is all about negotiation and leadership is all about integrity so can one be a leader and a politician at the same time? According to Jim Sniechowski, yes – but rarely! (Sniechowski, 2013)? Politicians lead by consensus while leaders lead by the strength of their ethics, morals and the power of their convictions (Sniechowski, 2013). Are the two compatible at all? While the worldwide political establishment is soul-searching, we have seen many cases of revolutionary leaders – who fought the fight against corrupt systems based solely on the strength of their conviction – collapse under the pressures of nation management becoming tyrants and dictators (Biography Online, n.d.). Can we have leaders and politicians wedded into a single individual or do we need to separate the nation management from party politics and leadership, much like the judiciary must be separated from the political power (Friedrich, 1941)? Or, is the way forward perhaps, an idea of a “benevolent dictator” as proposed by John Stuart Mill where nations – much like children – require firm but benevolent guardians where “a ruler full of the spirit of improvement is warranted in the use of any expedients that will attain an end, perhaps otherwise unattainable” (1998)?

We all fall for the power of conviction, for charisma!

"People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." (John C. Maxwell)

The reality is that we the humans - we like charismatic leaders! There are so many examples where we have willingly overlooked the bad traits “pseudotransformational” leaders had and followed them into wars and atrocities (Bass, 1998). There are so many cases where the majority would swear by the leader but minority suffers horrible crimes – Hitler, for an example, readily comes to mind as an inspiring leader that is completely “self-serving” (Christie, Barling & Turner, 2011). In that case, do we really need leaders in politics – or, do we need politicians? And, more importantly, is the power of conviction truly a trait of leaders without ethics, i.e. can one be an “authentic transformational leader” without “uplifting morals” (Zhu, Avolio, Riggio & Sosik, 2011)? The reality is we, the humans, are a lot better at identifying and avoiding leaders like Hitler. Yes, we still fall into the traps of charismatic but self-serving individuals, but we are a lot faster at sobering up and a lot faster at casting them out! As Alex Forbes points out, while there is no evidence of dictatorship trend ending worldwide, their reign is largely brief (2014).

The pitfalls of absolute power!

"Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men,..." (Lord Acton)

I’ve written a lot about absolute power. From my own personal management and leadership experiences to the worldwide dictatorial politics of the day. Power corrupts – period! Nobody is immune! I don’t care how balanced the governance system or how lovely our ‘checks and balances’ are, power will corrupt and the absolute power will corrupt…, well, absolutely! So, what are we doing to change that? Are we trying to find new governance systems? Are we educating against it? Are we influencing the young minds and the people around us? If we are not we certainly must! And, there are some excellent examples who have done so and made us all feel great and proud to be humans! How about scientists like Newton, Einstein, and Marrie Currie? Or, authors like Orwell, Tolstoy, and Austen? Or leaders like Mandela, Gandhi, and Lincoln? There are so many examples of great influences, amazing humanity and accomplishment out there! There are so many shining lights to follow!

A need for wisdom?

"For the be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." (Nelson Mandela)

Is it sad or funny – I don’t know which - that most hunter-gatherer societies had both politicians and leaders in their midst but most important decisions were taken democratically and by the elders, a good example would be Oromo Gada system of government (Baissa, 2004)? Elders always fulfilled the role of wise people who would contemplate and soul-search on important issues and pass on their verdicts (Stiegelbauer, 1996). In modern societies, we tend to sideline the elders and in some cases even rob them of their dignity, as if being old isn’t already hard enough. Do modern societies need the WISDOM and the insight of the olden-day elders? And if so, let us go back there and create these councils of the oldest and wisest humans and let them guide us! I mean, is it so difficult or shameful to admit: “I don’t really know”?

Going forward or going backward?

"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way!" (George S. Patton)

We are faced with global warming, overpopulation, hunger, depleting resources and increasingly toxic environment on a daily basis but we are yet to learn, as a species, to characterize and prioritize the important aspects of our lives (Vitousek, Mooney, Lubchenco & Melillo, 1997). Nowadays we tend to pay so much interest in how we look but disregard what we eat or drink, we all discuss what we watch but very few care what is being said or done, we worship the gods of consumerism and pay nothing but ‘lip service’ to sustainable and justifiable. We sell billions of dollars or arms then pay dictators to stop the immigrant ships from reaching our shores! The human society is like a toddler who gives mommy a hug one moment and thrashes all the ceramics the next – we are both amazing and appalling at the same time. So, how do we grow up? How do we survive and how do we change? Where are the leaders ethical enough to be followed, and humble enough to step down?

Being Humane!

Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways." (Dalai Lama)

Current societal pressures of economy, politics, and religion are further exacerbated by the worldwide pressures of pollution, war, and famine. Both types of pressures are very real and very dangerous, however, the societal pressures get by far more significance than the worldwide pressures and only because we are educated to look inwardly – at our national politics, economy, and society.

To counter this, we need leadership that isn't about politics, nation, and religion – we need the kind of leadership that is all about the human race! The leadership that understands the world is our only home and actively strives to preserve it!

Most of all, we need to invest in the leaders of the future, in our children and our children’s children! Not only will they be living in the world full of problems we have created, but they will be solving them daily! We need to educate them to think and act as one, as a whole – not in the little boxes we have created! We need to educate them out of our myopic views and help them embrace the full potential of this amazing human race!

We need to educate them to be humans and to be humane!

References:

Baissa, L., 2004. The Oromo Gada system of government: An indigenous African democracy. Ed. Asafa Jalata, State Crises, Globalisation and National Movements in Northeast Africa, p.101.

Biography Online, n.d., Famous Revolutionaries, Biography Online, viewed 16 November 2017, <https://https://www.dhirubhai.net/redir/invalid-link-page?url=www%2ebiographyonline%2enet%2Fpeople%2Ffamous%2Frevolutionaries%2ehtml%26gt%3B%2e

Friedrich, C.J., 1941. Constitutional government and democracy; theory and practice in Europe and America.

Christie, A., Barling, J. and Turner, N., 2011. Pseudo‐transformational leadership: Model specification and outcomes. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(12), pp.2943-2984.

Forbes, A. 2014, How Long Do Dictators Last?, viewed 28 November 2017, < https://summitlake.com/wp_1commentary/?p=534>.

Kaufman, R.R., 1974. The patron-client concept and macro-politics: prospects and problems. Comparative studies in society and history, 16(3), pp.284-308.

Mill, J.S., 1998. John Stuart Mill's Social and Political Thought: Freedom (Vol. 2). Taylor & Francis.

Pew Research Center 2017, 1. Many unhappy with current political system, Pew Research Center, viewed 15 November 2017, <https://www.pewglobal.org/2017/10/16/many-unhappy-with-current-political-system/>.

Scott, J.C., 1972. Patron-client politics and political change in Southeast Asia. American Political Science Review, 66(1), pp.91-113.

Sniechowski, J. 2013, The Difference between Leaders and Politicians, LinkedIn, viewed 15 November 2017, <https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/20131130020040-85816712-the-difference-between-leaders-and-politicians/>.

Stiegelbauer, S.M., 1996. What is an Elder? What do Elders do?: First Nation Elders as teachers in culture-based urban organizations. Canadian Journal of Native Studies, 16(1), pp.37-66.

Vitousek, P.M., Mooney, H.A., Lubchenco, J. and Melillo, J.M., 1997. Human domination of Earth's ecosystems. Science, 277(5325), pp.494-499.

Zhu, W., Avolio, B.J., Riggio, and Sosik, J.J., 2011. The effect of authentic transformational leadership on follower and group ethics. The Leadership Quarterly, 22(5), pp.801-817.

'Zimbabwe military's statement after seizing power' 2017, Al Jazeera, 15, November, viewed 15 November, 2017, < https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/zimbabwe-military-statement-seizing-power-171115061457199.html>.