Oman National Day: Style of Leadership

(On the occasion of the 49th anniversary of Oman National Day, we salute His Majesty, Sultan Qaboos of Oman and the Omani people wishing them more progress and prosperity.)  

“The difference between a politician and a statesman is that a politician thinks about the next election while the statesman thinks about the next generation.” - James Freeman Clarke*

I have never been interested in politics nor have I been a follower of any politician. I have always been an independent academic with a sort of very skeptical mentality. I do not believe most of what politicians and government officials say until there is some strong evidence to support what has been said. In fact, I find most politicians nowadays to be corrupt, big liars, and dishonest people. You see and meet all of them during the elections but you hardly see any of them after that. They just need your vote to get in but they will not have enough time to see you or listen to you when the elections are over. Decisions are taken by most governments without listening to their citizens. They may listen to them only when there are problems, troubles, or “violent” demonstrations that can threaten their positions and their privileges. They often break their promises. This usually happens in democratic countries where politicians seek elective positions within a government. In non-democratic countries, they use other means to reach power through appointment, bribery, intrigues, and corruption. This is on one hand.

On the other hand, there are leaders who are real statesmen. They know all the skills and tricks of politics, but they do not practice these skills and tricks for selfish or partisan gains. They practice leadership styles that suit the building of a nation. They respect their people’s wishes and aspirations for a decent human life. They do everything they can for the common good of the people they rule or represent.

 “A statesman or stateswoman is respected, skilled and experienced political leader or figure. In most respects, a statesman is the opposite of a politician. Politicians are thought of as people who will say or do anything to get elected or to gain power. A statesman is someone who does everything for the common good of the people he or she represents. To call a person a statesman is a mark of high regard for that person's integrity. To call someone a politician usually implies the person is worthy of very little esteem.” (Wikipedia)

A statesman has certain national and human core values and will not give up these values just to advance a political career or to achieve political gains. If it becomes necessary to change a policy for the good of the people, the statesman will change his policy regardless of any criticism for this change. The interests and the good of the people will be above politics.  

For almost five decades, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of Oman has proved himself one of the statesmen of the Middle East and the world. The leadership style he has always adopted to build his nation is to always listen to his people. In order to fully appreciate the effectiveness of His Majesty’s style of leadership, let us quote something from the Washington Times about how Oman was in 1970 when His Majesty took over:

“Symbolic of Oman’s standing in 1970, it had a grand total of two electricity generators, two hospitals, three private schools, and six miles of paved roads. Slavery was legal; smoking in the streets was not. Not a single newspaper or movie house existed. As one visitor put it, “The clock of history was stopped somewhere in the Middle Ages.” (Daniel Pipes, The Washington Times, Tuesday, March 14, 2017)

 So in 1970, Oman had: 1.a grand total of two electricity generators 2. Two hospitals 3. Three private schools 4. Six miles of paved roads. Slavery was legal; smoking in public was not. The country was actually living in the Middle Ages!

 It was, therefore, a mammoth and daunting task to transfer Oman from this unbelievably underdeveloped state to a modern country living in the 21st century. The leadership style of listening to his people has enabled His majesty to greatly understand the actual needs of the people and to set up priorities guided by a deep understanding of the demands of building a nation and preserving the social fabrics and cultural heritage of the nation. So a necessary balance has been struck between a traditional culture and modernization demands:

 “For the leader of any developing nation, there is always the problem of combining progress with conservatism. His Majesty maintains a delicate balance between preserving the traditions and culture of his country and introducing the modernization needed to keep pace with the changes taking place in the rest of the world.” (Oman Ministry of Information, 2000, p. 15) (Richard K. Common, International Journal of Leadership Studies, Vol. 6 Issue. 2, 2011)

This explains very clearly why Oman has avoided many problems usually associated with the transition period of transfer from a very underdeveloped country to a modernized state. The leadership style of listening to the people, which His Majesty has always adopted and emphasized, has been remarkable. This style has emphasized the human-social dimensions of management and has helped His Majesty to be a relentless modernizer who personally oversaw the building of Oman, from its first oil refineries to a very modern opera house. Listening is not for the sake of listening but for the sake of building a nation.

Leaders who listen are able to create trustworthy relationships that breed loyalty. People highly appreciate the leaders who have their subject’s best interests at heart because they listen to them and do not take their decisions in an arbitrary fashion.

As a leader of a country or a business, it is of vital importance to really know what your people or employees are thinking about, what is worrying them or how to offer them help, guidance, and inspiration to get on with life and improve their job performance, especially when there is uncertainty or there are on-going changes taking place.

Listening is both a leadership skill and a leadership responsibility. Leaders who embrace the high art of listening to their people are destined to be successful, more compassionate, and more understanding leaders. A good leader is able to see the world through the eyes of his fellow citizens. Listening helps him understand different kinds of opinions and see the big picture. This also helps him in leading people with different levels of education and outlooks towards the common goal of building the nation.

As a strategy to improve leadership skills, listening can encourage stronger communication between the leader and those he leads. Knowing that their leader cares about them and appreciates their existence and their efforts as citizens makes each one of them feel valued as an individual, and an important factor in driving citizen engagement. One who strives to be a successful leader has to be honest, inspiring, intelligent, and stand firm for his beliefs and vision, and above all, he needs to be a human being.

His Majesty’s style of leadership has great significance and great implications for the science of management and for all those who have to deal with management, public relations and leadership be they businessmen, top executives, politicians, government officials, or national leaders. Leaders and public servants have to listen to people in order to understand their needs, problems, and aspirations, and to build up a bond of trust and a bond of human-social relationship far stronger than the traditional relationship between a ruler and his subject.

 This humanistic approach of listening applies to both the public and private sectors inside and outside Oman. Those who have assumed high positions of responsibility need to be honest and humble and open their doors to all citizens and expatriates when they need to see them for any problem or to assist them in life or in doing their jobs. To threaten people and look down on them or to close the government’s and the company’s doors before them is not part of His Majesty’s approach to leadership.

 The Middle East is now in turmoil. Life is actually on hold in different areas of the region. There are big problems, tensions, and violent demonstrations in many countries because of the big gap between the leaders in these countries and their peoples. One of the main reasons for this big gap is that these leaders do not sincerely listen to the people they are supposed to respect and care for. These leaders either listen insincerely or they are completely detached from reality and live in isolated “ivory towers”! They are strongly advised to follow the leadership style followed by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of Oman, a style characterized by wisdom and a humanistic approach to management and building a nation.

 _________________________________________________________________________

 *“James Freeman Clarke was an American theologian and author. Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, James Freeman Clarke attended the Boston Latin School, graduated from Harvard College in 1829, and Harvard Divinity School in 1833. Ordained into the Unitarian church he first became an active minister at Louisville, Kentucky, then a slave state, and soon threw himself into the national movement for the abolition of slavery. His mild theology was unusual for the conservative town and, reportedly, several women walked out of his first sermon. As he wrote to his friend Margaret Fuller, "I am a broken-winged hawk, seeking to fly at the sun, but fluttering in the dust.” (Wikipedia, Marshall, Megan. Margaret Fuller: A New American Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013: 77). Clarke was a champion of human rights and the abolition of slavery in the United States.