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Learning Leadership from Ghandhi

Copyright 2002 by Arupa L. Tesolin

 

Equipped with the global reach of internet technology, media, and an educated populace, what would Ghandhi have been able to accomplish today? In Canada Ghandhi is remembered as a great humanist and saint. In memory he is imaged most often as Ben Kingsley in a dhoti, owing to his venerable portrayal in the epic film "Ghandhi". 

 

What Ghandhi accomplished is truly amazing. More surprising is how a country bounded on three sides by ocean could ever have been held hostage by its salt commodity, having virtually an unlimited supply. But that view only accompanies the luxury of looking back amid our technology, analytical bent and intellectual prowess. To say that we have clarity in the present moment would be a denial of reality. What we really need to ask is what form does our "salt" take today? Is it energy? Wealth? And to recognize that though the future bears itself forward with certain program and knowledge, we are the ones who lead the future to a solution.

Janice Stein, professor at the University of Toronto, says that leaders like Ghandhi were masters of "soft power" - the power to influence through ideas, culture and example. The result is a lasting transformation of society and, no doubt, one that we are still learning from today, more than 100 years later.

 

The average workplace here would bear little evidence of his values. Workplaces and businesses themselves, though claiming to be led by values, are not. Most workplaces still are profit motivated and care little about the plight of others, unless they are not for profit humanistically or socially centred businesses. And even though the marketspeak trend is to align companies with a commitment to environmental or community goals; they are duly performed as an "obligation". Real spirit is most conspicuous by its absence.

 

At the high end of the spectrum, it has become almost a manhood (or womanhood) ritual to work hard, and harder for recognition, though the actual cost of this extra work on family commitments, lifestyle, happiness, if actually measured and accounted for would amount to little gained for much lost. In fact, says a recent report entitled "2001 National Work-Life Conflict Study" published by Health Canada, most salaried employees here are working an average of 40 hours per month of uncompensated overtime, and that most employers have become dependant on this work.

 

Values in business today are represented by the icon of materiality, the $, or, as recent creative accounting practices have shown us, even the illusion of $. This may come as a surprise, but of the people most exploited most these days, beyond culture, religious, racial or gender difference...most are workers. From the hourly paid employee to the salaried employee. In Canada the minimum wage averages between $6.85 - 7.30 per hour. Based on an average 40 hour work week, due to the comparably high costs of living, it is difficult for anyone here to live on this.

 

An obvious parallel in Canada to what Ghandhi did to fight opression in India is the union movement. Workers unions efforts for many decades have led to stronger workers rights. The difference is that, at it's roots, this process was not without past violence. Although Canadians hold the highest value for peace in all aspects of Canadian life, it is true that many courageous men and women died or were injured on the way to secure the rights that today's educated youth take for granted enshrined as legal standards.

 

Indeed when it comes to the potential for modern business to take on a larger vision, and it can be argued that this is not the over-riding purpose of business, the preliminary step would be to treat workers well first and then embrace a larger collective vision to the community, the country, and ultimately the world. 

Today we stand on the shoulders of giants, Ghandhi among them. What Ghandhi had most of we seem to lack most - courage, moral fibre, strength of heart and clear purpose. When it comes to living leadership models in our time, there are hardly any. While the old business models and handshakes were built on one's intregrity and character, modern practices have deteriorated these qualities. 

 

We have a way to go.

Arupa Tesolin is the founder of Intuita, a strategic learning company and "The Intuita 3-MINUTE SOLUTIONS^TM" for INTUITION, INNOVATION, VISION, & STRESS. The Intuita On-Line Learning Institute offers management & employee training programs thru your desktop. She is the recognized author of numerous international articles on intuition in business, a trainer, speaker and consultant. 905.271.7272, www.intuita.com, or email.