I have written elsewhere about our obsession with ‘Strong’ leaders. As a people we seem to deliberately seek out certain qualities in our leaders. Perhaps it is an unconscious expression of the desire for a ‘parent figure’. And when we do find such a leader who conforms to our image of being ‘strong’ , our devotion to such a figure is almost religious and our adoration borders on the mystical. We seem to be in possession of a huge capacity to give up our own agency, in a sense, to follow said leader. We attribute superhuman qualities to the leader. He /she attains omnipotence in our collective psyche. In that respect, this reflects the worst aspects of religious experience because this seems to parallel how many of us look to God.
When everything is fine and things are going smooth, such an attitude towards leaders-while not ideal, may be doesn’t do much harm. The trouble begins when trouble begins (pun intended). Because even in a crisis, we find it difficult to criticize someone whom we had put on a pedestal and worshiped. We find it difficult to ask questions, because so far, we never asked questions. The entire basis for our adoration was the omnipotence of said leader. In the process of following the leader and raising him/her to superhuman status, we gave up our rationality and agency. This person was our panacea to everything and our final hope. This person was supposed to lead us into utopia and we had all packed our bags to follow him there to take up permanent residence. But when all this person does is lead us from crisis to crisis, what do we do? We cannot start questioning, because that muscle atrophied hopelessly a long time back. How do we criticize someone we had raised to the status of a ‘God’? I guess we cannot, short of admitting that we have been worshiping a false god till now. That our superhero turned out to have feet of clay. The trouble with such an admission – it is more an indictment of ourselves than it is of the leader. We are admitting to a horrible error in judgement, which a lot of us are loath to do.
The second problem to such an admission – a God/hero has to be replaced by another God/hero-surely humans can’t seat themselves on the vacated throne. So before admitting to have been worshiping a false God, we have to identify a new God to take that place. And gods of course are hard to find. It may have something to do with the fact that they don’t exist. So in the absence of a new hero/God we continue worshiping the old God. True, we are a bit cross with said God and not happy, but it is God after all and whatever God does, it is always for our good.
Perhaps such is the dilemma that many ‘Bhakts’ find themselves in. Despite finding ourselves in the midst of a horrible, avoidable human tragedy –may be that is why many supporters of the current ruling dispensation, find it difficult to criticize and withdraw their support. Now I am not talking about the people and institutions with a vested interest who support the administration for obvious, self-serving reasons. I am talking about ordinary supporters, as ordinary as you and me. We are afraid of losing hope and the vacuum that a vacated throne creates. And perhaps this is what is behind refrains like –“but what is the alternative” and “whatever is being done, must have been fully thought through”.
In a sense, the problem is not the leader per se, but us. And the qualities that we seek from leaders. And this desire for a strong leader and the willingness to give up our own agency is not limited to the political realm. I have seen it multiple times in the relatively boring environs of the corporate world also. We have very specific definitions for ‘Strength’ as well. We typically look for charisma, decisiveness and the ability to brook no dissent. In that sense we seem to revel in being steamrolled ourselves. We also end up making certain assumptions – that this person can solve all problems and as an extension solving for problems requires only a strong will. We typically tend to underestimate complexity of the problems being solved and conveniently ignore the fact that the problems facing us are far too complex and have far too many implications for one person with a strong will to satisfactorily solve for. The ancient shibboleth – Where there is a will –there is a way- needs revisiting. Having a will is a necessary condition but not always a sufficient one.
In our search for strength, we also unconsciously define a ‘negative’ list. We don’t say or admit to this openly or even consciously but it is tacit. We frown upon a consultative leader. We frown upon anyone who displays even an iota of self-doubt. We neither look for empathy nor set too much store by kindness. We elevate our search for strength to such heights that ‘Will’ replaces expertise. We perversely revel in ‘one person’ shows and do not give too much thought to what it does to the culture of the organization or society. We enjoy ‘displays of strength’ – the no brooking of any dissent and the active discouragement of ‘questioning’. Everything becomes ad- hominem. And when questioning dies- with it die scientific temper and rationality.
By defining leadership so narrowly and by elevating our leaders to such stratospheric heights, we do ourselves disservice. Despite being disappointed we keep setting store by this. In fact disappointments seem to strengthen this behavior further.
May be what we need today across the corporate and political realms are ‘weak’ leaders. Leaders who understand that the problems they are solving are far too complex for any one person to solve. Leaders who set store by expertise, who consult widely and who, once in a while, display self-doubt. Leaders who encourage questioning and see that as a sign of their strength. Leaders who are human.
We need such ‘weak’ leaders who can build strong institutions and processes. We hanker after ‘strong’ leaders and weak institutions.
To get there we need to give up seeking certain qualities in our leaders to the exclusion of everything else and take back the agency that we have so willingly given up.
In a sense, it is like giving up religion. Difficult at first, but liberating once done.
REALLY RANDOM RAMBLINGS 