Gandhi The Legendary Leader History Essay

Gandhi The Legendary Leader History EssayThe paper of attractorship has generated excitement and interest from ancient times. Leadership has gained the attention of researchers worldwide. When mess think of attractership, images come to mind of mightinessful dynamic psychealities, who com worldly concernd prideful armies, shape the nations events, pr for each one religions or direct corporate empires. How did a attractor build such great armies, countries, religion and companies? How did Gandhi become such important loss leader? Gandhi was a private man without wealth, without property official title. He was neither commander of army nor the ruler of vast land, even though he became the spokesman for state of matter and all(a) mankind. Gandhi, man who make humanity and truth, much mightinessful than empires (Albert Einstein).There is no universal explanation for leadership because leadership is entang guide and is studied in distinct ways that requires polar defini tions.In the very(prenominal) runner of moving-picture show it has reflected that how situation can head for the hills out a person to become a great leader. Movie shows how a person learns and sharps his business leader as a leader with the time. It likewise shows the leaders ability to bob up best solution to the problem. Gandhis tools were non fierceness and peaceful kvetch for the authorized ripe of equality and independence. Movie reflected Gandhis ability as a personal magnetismtic leader to mobilize large number from all religion, cast and sex for freedom struggle. Gandhi visited to arcadian villages for his pursual and indentified the problems and tried to solve it. He started spinning and draining natural cloths. His innovative ways of protest and foment for independence like non cooperation, sodium chloride march etc against the strongest empire in the world makes him a transformational and motivational leader. His activities were without whatsoever co nsideration for stinting benefits or self-gratification (need for power, achievement, and esteem) and his work for different communities biticularly for untouchables establish him as a spiritual leader. Gandhi had un bustn prompt twice protesting against military force and riots which reflects the character of ethical leadership. Till his death he unploughed thinking close to the welf atomic number 18 of mankind.Gandhi reinvented the rule of the game to deal with a situation where all the existing methods had failed. He broke the tradition as he understood that it is not possible to iron for freedom with force. He decided to change the game in a fundamentally different way unleashing the power of ordinary people, inspired men and women of the country to fight for a unifying goal. He used non violence and peaceful protest to fight the battle for the country. Resource constraints did not bother him. His agenda was total independence that inspired him. His leadership style wa s coadjutor centric and iodin that took into account existing conditions before determining the strategy. Gandhi leadership style was subject on circumstances. By applying and understanding following theory we can formulate his character and leadership style as well as the incline of environment on his leadership aspect.The parole charisma is derived from the Greek word charismata meaning gift of grace (Conger, 1989 Weber, 1947). The neo charismatic emphasis on the characteristic of the leader ignores the nature and severity of the particular threat, the content of the solution vision and how it deals with that threat, and the magnitude and persistence of particular changes that are accomplished through charisma (Beyer 1999). Beyer attempted to precisely delineate Webers approach into four undeniable and distinct steps for evolution of charismatic leadership is depicted in Table 1.Gandhi was a charismatic leader as he didnt recruit himself on the people to follow him, but he succeeded to lead by his ways of life, like by using indigenous clothes, living unproblematic life, non violence, love for total mankind etc. Without having any tools or heavy weapons or g everywherenmental power he was the person who had the biggest power in the country and because of his charisma people followed him. One instance when he told masses not to buy British clothes, people restrainped buying and they burnt British clothes. Whenever he started any feces people participated in it like non cooperation or civil disobedience. This characteristic of his proved him as a source of power where people submit their faith to extraordinary.He also succeeded in qualification a regime in the heart of people by load-bearing(a) then that they mustiness struggle without violence to gain independence of their country. He verbalise clearly for no cause he will carry violence. He ceaselessly kept his promise. He even stopped Non cooperation try when mob killed policemen. By sp inning for himself he displayed the example of self send and self employment to his countrymen. Needless to say, Gandhi has been a charismatic leader for which people followed him without thinking of consequences.Mahatma Gandhi is an excellent example of transformational leadership because he looked after the aspirations of his following and instead of riding those needs to power, he remained sensitive to a higher(prenominal) purpose. During non cooperation front man against British rule, violence had broken out and being a proponent of non violence he was duncically troubled. He forever and a day said that for any cause he will not support violence because he believed violence triggers more than violence. He started his first fast to stop the non cooperation work as he believed people were not ready to aim independence. As a result of his fast, non cooperation movement was stopped. In early part of movie he went to a small rural village on demand of one of his associate w here he chose to wear clothes made of indigenous materials. He inspired Indian people to boycott British clothes as a part of independence movement and this led to burning of foreign clothes as a public reflexion of Indian solidarity. He initiated salt making campaign as a part of civil disobedience movement. After air and water, salt was considered to be most important for millions of poor people in India and the g everywherenment was having monopoly over it. This movement was an act of defiant of British laws which shows the courage vision of Gandhi. This movement got a vast support from people of India and it acted as a overserious blow to British imperium. Gandhi was arrested soon after the salt movement. But his following kept breaking law and continued making salt. People from different religions worked together even in his absence and no violence broke out even when umteen were beaten by British soldiers. Gandhis fol discredits had courage to do this because they were st rong enough to do this on their admit and the courage was built in them from the strong beliefs of Gandhi.3.3 Spiritual LeadershipThe definition of spirituality admits cardinal infixed elements in a persons life (Fry, 2003, 2005) as sh have got and draw ind in Table 3.Transcendence of selfManifest in a sense of handicraft or destiny and the belief that ones activities including work incur meaning and value beyond being instrumental for obtaining economic benefits or self-gratificationFellowshipManifest in the need for pregnant affinitys and being connected to others in a way that provides feeling of enjoyment and wholenessTable 3 Elements of Spiritual LeadershipBoth elements use up altruistic love and faith. By doing things to help satisfy the two essential needs for transcendence and fellowship in the workplace, spiritual leaders add-on their intrinsic motivation, confidence and organizational commitment.Gandhi was able to bring spiritualities into his leadership style. He promoted love and peace at time when other leaders were calling for an eye for an eye. He did not hate any one. Rather he believed in offering the other cheek if someone hits on first. He strongly believed that this situation of his will reduce the anger of enemy and let outment respect. He served the society and worked for the public assistance of untouchables. As shown in the movie Gandhi always worked for his participators. While working in South Africa as well as in India he worked a lot for the weaker section of society and authority of women which motivated them and eventually, they participated in the freedom struggle.3.4 handmaiden LeadershipThe service to follower is the primary responsibility of leaders and is the essence of ethical leadership. Services include nurturing, defending and empowering followers. Servant leader must listen to followers, learn about their needs aspirations and be willing to share comfort in their imposition and frustration. Leader m ust stand for what is good and right. Social in thoice and variation should always be opposed. Even weak and marginal members of society must be treated with respect and appreciation. Leader must empower follower instead of using power to dominate them. Trust is establish by being completely honest and open, keeping actions consistent with values, and showing trust in followers.Gandhi worked for the empowerment of woman as well as for the lower castes. He spent whole of his life fighting against injustice societal evils. He always maintained trust of his followers by undischarged to his principal of non violence.Larry Spears (1998), CEO of the Greenleaf Centre, concluded that Robert Greenleafs writings incorporated ten study attributes of servant leadership. The Table 4 lists those ten attributes.ListeningEmpathyHealing kenPersuasionConceptualizationForesightStewardshipBuilding CommunityCommitment to exploitationTable 4 Attributes of Servant LeadershipThe below Diagram 2 depic ts the structure of Servant Leadership and its interrelationships Diagram 2 Structure of Servant Leadership4 causality and cultivate play of GandhiThe world power and determine tactics of Gandhi has been described in two separate sub headings as follows 4.1 Analysis of PowerThe term power is usually used to describe the absolute capacity of an individual constituent to influence the behaviour or attitudes of one or more designated cigaret person at a given point of time (French Raven, 1959).Different kinds of power described by French and Raven are depicted in Table 5 as below Reward PowerThe target person complies in order to obtain reward controlled by the agentCoercive PowerThe target person complies in order to avoid punishment controlled by the agentLegitimate PowerThe target person complies because he/she believes the agent has the right to make the request and the target person has the obligation to keep upExpert PowerThe target person complies because he/she believe s that the agent has exceptional knowledge about the best way to do somethingReferent PowerThe target person complies because he/she admire or identifies with the agent and deprivation to gain the agents approval.Table 5 Different kinds of PowerGandhi did not have any military or economic power. Gandhi was a small man who despite repeated imprisonment refused to submit to British authority and overcome the most powerful empire of that time with the help support of his followers. attractive leader like Gandhi are usually perceived to possess denotative power. His principal of non violence, satyagrah, civil disobedience was referred as soft power. He was a man of character and integrity who refused to surrender against injustice. His integrity is reflected by his honesty and by set of values that he had. Even British recognized his power when they set him free from prison to stop the violence. He never supported violence for any reasons. He called back non cooperation movement ascribable to violence outbreak. Because of his strong referent power he influenced so many people without any explicit effort.4.2 Analysis of Influence evasive actionInfluence is the primary ingredient in effective leadership (Covey, 1990 Malphurs, 1996 Maxwell, 1998 Yukl, 1998). The true broadside of leadership is influence nothing more nothing less (Maxwell, 1998 p11). The sign of behaviour used intentionally to influence the attitude and behaviour of some other person is usually called as influence tactics. The broad categories of Influence tactics are depicted in Table 6.Impression Management TacticsInfluence people to like the agent or to have a favourable evaluation of the agent. These tactics can be used by leader to influence followers or by followers to leaderPolitical TacticsInfluence organizational decision or differently gain benefits for an individual or group. Political tactics are also used to defend against the opponents and silent crisis. Some political tact ics include manipulation abuse of powerProactive Influence Tactics fast task objective involves change in procedure used for occurrent task, provide assistance or support proposed changes, task compliance by using a simple request base on legitimate powerReactive TacticsIt resists an unwanted influence attempt to dispose the agents request or proposal to be more acceptable to the target person.Table 6 Types of Influence TacticsGandhi was the most influential Indian leader. His not only influenced Indian politics but also the world. He influenced his followers to mobilize and fight for their legitimate rights and against discrimination inequality in India as well in South Africa. His influencing tactics were proactive in nature. He used logical argument and factual evidence to influence and motivate his followers. For example his idea about non cooperation and civil disobedience movement were very logical. His inspirational appeal influenced people tremendously. In South Africa h e fought against injustice for which British beat him and imprisoned him but could not work his obedience. He also used pressure tactics with his followers when violence broke out he opted to fasting to stop it. The movie reflected the power and influence tactics by Gandhi very well.5 Leader coadjutor relationshipLeader- member alter (LMX) theory describes the role making processes in the midst of a leader and each individual subordinate and the exchange relationship that develops over time (Dansereau, Graen, Haga, 1975 Graen cashman, 1975). The basic premise of the theory is that leaders develop a separate exchange relationship with each subordinate when the two parties uncouthly define the subordinates role. A leader is likely to establish a high exchange relationship or a low exchange relationship with each subordinate. The development of high exchange relationships occurs gradually over a period of time through reciprocal reinforcement of behaviour when the exchange cycl e is repeated over and over again. The relationship begins with an initial testing phase in which the leader and subordinate evaluate each others motives, attitude and potential resources to be exchanged and mutual role expectations are established. If the relationship proceeds to second stage, the exchange arrangement is refined and mutual trust, loyalty and respect gets developed. At third stage wherein exchange was based on self interest is transformed into mutual commitment to the foreign mission and objective of the work unit. According to Graen and Uhi-Bien (1991) the third stage corresponds to transformational leadership.In the movie there are many incidents which show how to develop relationships with the followers. Gandhi biggest follower was his own wife. She always followed him in every walk of his life. She actively participated in all the movements started by Gandhi. She even participated in community development program for the welfare of human kind. She went to jail number of times together with Gandhi and she even died in jail. Meera Ben is another person in the movie who became a big follower of Gandhi. Even though she was a British and daughter of an English admiral, she came to India because she had deep faith respect for Gandhis principals and causes. Nehru was another follower who first evaluated the motive attitude of Gandhi then exchanged his loyalty towards him then worked together on mutual commitment to the mission.6 Evolution Development of Gandhi as a leaderWhile going to South Africa, Gandhi was travelling in first gradation and he was forcefully thrown out of first class just because he was an Indian even though he had the right tickets. That was the beginning of transformation of an ordinary man into a great leader. Injustice through to him made him sensitive about discrimination in the British Empire and he started raising his voice against it. He started mobilizing people and made them aware of their rights. He started wo rking for community development especially for untouchables and women empowerment as he knew without unification of society revolution was not possible. He always believed that fighting with an evil is duty. He advocated non violence as a weapon to fight against British Empire. His principal of non violence served two purposes firstly, he protect his followers from strongest army in the world secondly, this principal made his demands more acceptable to rest of the world.This shows his vision power. When he came back to India, he started wearing Indian made clothes because he wanted to get associated with popular Indian man. Before taking any responsibility, he visited different split of India and came across various problems and their possible solutions. He said without the involvement of roughhewn men in the freedom movement, independence is not possible. He kept on working for community development woman empowerment in India contributed magnificently to bring unity among pe ople from different religions. Gradually, he emerged as a leader because of his character, principals and values he believed and was unanimously accepted by the whole nation. He went to Motihari, a rural place on request of follower and started spinning clothes and encouraged to boycott British goods as part of freedom movement. He himself started spinning to lead the country with an example. His movement like non cooperation and salt march united the whole country flex British image to rule India. He even kept fast till death to stop communal riots during Indias partition after independence.7 ConclusionMovie Gandhi shows the transformation of a common man into a legendary leader. It shows how situation can inspire a person to fight against injustice and inequality. Gandhis leadership style proves that to achieve a good end, direction should be equally good. Gandhi had a vision which was accepted by his followers. His charisma led to Indian independence. His theatrical role towar ds the weaker section of society is unforgettable and unmatchable. His breeding of non violence is very much relevant even in todays world.For the contribution and sacrifices he made for the Indias independence, upliftment of weaker sections, woman empowerment and unity among different religions, he has been given the title of Mahatma by his nation and is called as Bapu that is Father of the nation.