Authentic leadership. Inclusive leadership. Transformational leadership. These are the modern day leadership approaches that are being discussed, adapted and being tipped as the need of the hour.
Leadership has always been a topic of immense interest. In these times there is a grave leadership deficit. Companies and countries are finding it difficult to find leaders with the ability to inspire and bring change.
Day in, day out scams and frauds of the most promising leaders are coming out. Thought leaders are reassessing what the right behavioral frameworks are that define the type of leaders who not only come and get amazing results but also leave behind an enduring legacy.
There is also a confusion on what do we mean when we talk about leadership. Is the world’s richest man the world’s best leader? If yes or no, why is he, or, is he not a leader? This needs to be debated at length.
What has happened is that every star that starts shining on the leadership galaxy is many times just a shooting star. Leaders of yesterday, on whose style and success case studies were written, turn out full of holes.
A recent example is of the Rockstar business leader Carlos Ghosn who was at one time ranked above Bill Gates as one of the most influential business leaders. His achievement in turning around Renault and the group Nissan was a business success imperative. But his fall was equally dramatic. From red carpets receptions to being smuggled out in a music instrumental box, it is a series of corporate romance turning into a screaming horror.
“The Carlos Ghosn story is unbelievable in the sense that it’s a Shakespearean tragedy in which we have an archetypal tragic hero who everybody wants to root for but knows the train crash is coming,” said Sean McLain, a consulting producer and Wall Street Journal reporter. This is the reality of the leaders who become cheaters. That has given rise to the modern day literature of “Authentic Leadership”.
A number of authors have written on the need to have ethics, transparency, and trust. These are the very values eastern thought leaders have been promoting for a long time. The journey of leadership has gone through;
- The Chinese thought process— As ancient as the 5th to 4th century BC the Chinese thought leaders were talking about moral authority as the core essence of leadership. Ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius was among the first to define and record the principles of authentic, virtuous leadership based on ethical decision-making.
The Confucian values include honesty, benevolence, empathy, compassion, education, and personal growth. To improve their leadership based on Confucian principles, leaders can cultivate benevolent leadership intentionally while prioritizing an ethical approach. They can also invest in character development through leadership coaching, promote diversity and inclusivity, and focus on building meaningful relationships.
In the corporate world the Chinese also follow the Bamboo management philosophy.
Bamboo tree’s resilience, interconnected roots and adaptability are seen in many Chinese organizations. These include building flexibility and resilience, maintaining good growth momentum, promoting teamwork and creating social value.
Another outstanding thought leader was Sun Zhou in the 5th century BC. His book ’The art of war“ was originally written for the military strategy but has had huge influence on all types of leadership.
In The Art of War, Sun Tzu characterized leadership as a mix of five traits: Intelligence, Credibility, Humaneness, Courage, and Discipline.
Every organization is characterized by processes and culture that influence the conduct of business. His sayings on each characteristic are famous. He continuously talks about winning without fighting. “The greatest victory is that which requires no battle” as well as “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.”
- The Persian influence— The 11th Century saw the influence of Persian Empire. The Persian Empire was an era of learning, literature, culture, science and innovation. The Persian language produced many poets and philosophers whose influence was global.
One of the most prominent one was the great Omar Khayyam. Omar Khayyam was a famous astronomer, mathematician, scientist, and poet. Born in 1048 in Iran, Khayyam made a name for himself as a prominent mathematician.
He was invited to work at an observatory in Esfahan as an astronomer. As a poet he wrote the Rubaiyat that had a great influence on writers like Edward Fitzgerald who translated them into English. Other writers to be influenced by him were Thomas Hardy and D H Lawrence. He talked about love and empathy. His poetry reflected the cycle of life with a focus on wisdom, social justice and compassion.
In the first half of 13th century, one of the most remarkable philosophers, Jalaluddin Rumi, from Balkh in Afghanistan (died in Konya, Turkiye) made his mark. He lived in the time of great turmoil and constantly raised his voice on the injustices prevailing. His classic teachings on self-awareness, emotional intelligence and transformational leadership are relevant for all times.
- The regional philosophies— The second half of the centuries—15th, 17th and 19th century in particular—witnessed the Sub-continent thought leaders coming into prominence.
The western philosophies were influenced by the European thought leaders. In 15th century came the famous Italian philosopher, diplomat and author, Niccolo Machiavelli, whose book The Prince had great influence on the management practices of more recent times. He rejected idealism and promoted pragmatism. He also believed that the end could justify all means ethical or unethical. His philosophy of power and control is viewed with skepticism, yet practiced widely. Let us go more local in our search.
In the 17th century the province of Punjab produced Bulleh Shah, a mystic, a poet, whose philosophy of inner transformation had a deep influence on the Sub-continent, particularly in Punjabi speaking areas.
He was a Sufi mystic and a humanist, and his teachings were based on a simple yet powerful message: to seek self-awareness and spread the message of love, equality and empathy.
The 19th century in this region saw the great poet and philosopher Allama Iqbal become a transforming voice for “khudi”. His two famous Persian writings “Asrar-e-Khudi—Secrets of the Self” and “Ramuz-e-Bekhudi— Mysteries of the Selfless” woke up the Muslim youth and created the force behind the movement for Pakistan.
Leadership is all about being human. Being human is all about having the character and competence to inspire followership without position, without force, without control. That is what the ancient sages from the east always promoted and that is what the modern writers are supporting. “There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” -Edith Wharton
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
The writer is a columnist, consultant, coach, and an analyst and can be reached at [email protected]
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