Leader Analysis Paper #4

Leadership Analysis Paper 3

MGMT 560

Harrisburg University of Science & Technology

Submitted to Prof. Robert Sweeney

Submitted By,

Mohammad Arbaaz

Specifically, how did your leader display (or not display) aspects of Leading and Managing Change (unit 7), Problem Management and Decision Making (unit 8), and Consensus Building and Negotiation (unit 9).

1. Leading and Managing Change

Mahatma Gandhi contributed a lot to the independence of India. He displayed high quality leadership even when he was faced with tough and trying circumstances, during a time when India was faced with injustices. There is so much that one can learn from the leadership qualities of Mahatma Gandhi, in his leadership he displayed qualities such as being a good strategist, being an economist, he was intelligent emotionally and socially. Mahatma Gandhi was a role model, a person who believed in upholding ethical standards and maintaining oneself principles. He believed in inclusivity, peace, equality which was core to his leadership.

Almost every Indian is aware of his public image as a freedom fighter to end colonialism. He sought to end the longstanding Muslim-Hindu divide and caster-based discrimination in India. Mahatma Gandhi was a visionary and revolutionary leader, he was a strong believer of non-violence resistance, he went ahead and pioneered the Satyagraha and he taught all Indians to adopt the non-violence resistance. The leadership of Mahatma Gandhi showed Indians that they should have pride in themselves, their culture and civilization; he brought about a new spirit of rejuvenation and a feeling of self-worth among Indians (Blanchot, 2012). He brought change to everything he did and he envisioned on changing the unjust system, and since he was a man of action, he used enabling, empowering, envisioning, and energizing approach throughout his life. His most remarkable ability was leading by example; he was a man that walked every word he spoke, he even went by spinning the yarn to make him clothing. 

Mahatma Gandhi displayed flexibility in his leadership, a very desirable aspect of leadership. Among the most incredible displays of his ability to adapt to change is when he decided to live a simple life just like millions of Indians that were in abject poverty when he was struggling for freedom. He had to become the change he wanted to see. As Mahatma Gandhi used to say, "A, no uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a yes merely uttered to please or worse to avoid trouble," showed that he always stood for his principles.  

He further displays his ability to manage change after visiting South Africa, after his gesture of wearing a suit and a tie successfully launched his protest (Toit, 2008). As soon as he returned to India, he began the non-violent khadi protest; he was always ready for change and improvement. It brought him the credibility, trust, and intellectual understanding needed to lead the Indian Independent Movement.

2. Problem management and decision making 

Mahatma Gandhi displayed aspects of problem management and decision-making in the most challenging circumstances (Iodice, 2017). This incident was described in his autobiography, where in South Africa, Indians were labeled as coolies. In this instance, Indians faced so many injustices and insults diminishing them as people and Mahatma Gandhi wasn’t left out from the insults and injustices. Once a white barber denied him service, since he was a ‘coolie’ and that he could not shave a coolie’s hair. Since Gandhi knew that arguing with the barber would lead to violence, he decided to be self-dependent and shaved his hair; the result wasn't appealing. Still, he dared to go to court and tell his colleagues why he had a bad haircut (Williams, 2016). Mahatma Gandhi also talks of his meat-eating habit as a young boy whose background was of vegetarians. He got an idea from his friend that a robust and well-built body was the only way to conquer the British. The only way to have attained this was through a non-vegetarian diet, so young Gandhi got into a meat-eating habit and would eat in secret without his parent's knowledge. He would constantly question his actions and thought that it was alright if his parents didn't know. For about a year, the behavior carried on. He faced himself honestly and decided to take a stand that he would never eat meat again in his life, as described in his autobiography. He never blamed this on his friend, age, situation, or background; he takes complete responsibility for his actions (Nanda, 2021). This experience provided him with powerful insight into his ability to introspect, question himself, and decide about his behavior and life. It also built his tolerance for other people's weaknesses.

3. Consensus building and negotiation

Negotiation is a strategic discussion between two or more parties trying to persuade each other to agree with their perspective. Before the negotiation, one needs to develop a plan containing a clear objective of how low or a high one can go. One also needs to have a negotiation tactic to request something else if you cannot get what you initially wanted. It is best to also be prepared to answer questions not asked (Robert N. Lussier, 2014).

Being the figurehead for India's nationalism, Gandhi employed a non-violence method called "satyagraha" to pursue India's independence through the Indian Congress Party. India’s independence negotiations were begun among two parties that had substantial gap between them for leverage. The parties were the leaders or rulers, the people of India and the British government. The biggest challenge for Mahatma Gandhi was to bring unity in all of India so that they can work together to gain their independence. Mahatma tactics in the struggle for justice was to employ Satyagraha as solvent for injustice that was also universal. 

He also used strategic symbols of communication, like when he chose to use salt as a medium to communicate with the ordinary Indian and to mobilize the masses by levying the salt tax. In this case, Gandhi used salt as a strategic symbol since it resonated with all people much more than any other abstract that could be used in the need and struggle for greater political rights. With time, this ended up conveying the vital need for complete independence from the British and to the Indian people it reminded them the need for complete independence. The freedom to collect salt became the standard authoritative classic abstract that united Indian masses across castes, religions, beliefs, and regions (Nanda, 2021). 

Mahatma Gandhi negotiated for Indian freedom by meticulously mobilizing the masses, exchanging information to create leverage against the British government, commitment, implementation, bargaining, proposing, and concession making. Mahatma Gandhi did not achieve everything he demanded through negotiation, but for the Indians who were used to receiving orders from the British government, negotiation outweighed all the shortcomings. (EDITORS, 2019)  

How can you apply the conclusions of your assessment and analysis to leadership roles and responsibilities in your organization? 

There is a lot to be learned from Mahatma Gandhi. Among the leadership lessons are;

i. Being the change that we want to see. 

As a leader, I will always lead by example and equally emphasize the same to my colleagues. Often leaders give orders and then expect the team to remain honest to the work and maintain project deadlines, but the leaders fail to accept actual results from the group. Suppose a leader is not forthcoming with his or her action. It makes it hard to achieve the objective, and I will encourage the organization to apply honesty in every action because true success lies in openness. It is essential to be true to oneself for an organization because it will be known for its stand no matter the consequences as long as it is standing for what is right and just; this will always lead to success.

 

ii. Open-mindedness

As a leader, being open-minded is a crucial aspect, as we can learn from Gandhi. He was always a firm believer in accepting others for whom and what they were. I will deploy this leadership approach and further encourage the organization to always take people for who they are and appreciate the nature of diversity.

iii. Good listener

Being a good listener is very vital for great leaders. Looking at Gandhi's leading role, his biggest strength in influencing others was his ability to listen to both what was spoken and interpret the deeper meanings that went unspoken. For an organization to attain success, we must learn to listen and understand each other (Robert N. Lussier, 2014). I will fully embrace continuous improvement and teach others to do so in our organization because thinking we are perfect will only invite failure. Accepting our mistakes as an organization and learning from them will lead to improvement and positive change, which the organization requires the most to progress. 

iv. Non-violence approach

I will encourage the organization to adopt non-violent ways no matter what incidence we have to deal with, and a true leader will always avoid violence. 

v. Emotional Intelligence 

I will also practice and encourage the organization to deploy emotional intelligence in all our undertakings. The organization needs to be able to relate to society. A leader who is familiar with others' feelings can feel what others feel, enabling the leader or an organization to facilitate positive outcomes by giving guidelines based on their shared principles. Emotional intelligence will allow the organization always to know that it controls every action and move it may decide to take.

 References

Achua, L. &. (2014). Leadership. United States of America: CENGAGE Learning.

EDITORS, B. H. (2019, JUN 6). Mahatma Gandhi. Retrieved JUL 30, 2010, from HISTORY: www.history.com

Nanda, B. (2021). Britannica. Retrieved from Mahatma Gandhi: www.britannica.com

Robert N. Lussier, C. F. (2014). Leadership: Theory,Application & Skill Development. United States of America: Cengage learning.

Williams, K. (2016, June 29). Gandhi: "No Indian is a coolie by birth". Retrieved 5 11, 2021, from Media Diversified: https://mediadiversified.org/2016/06/29/gandhi-no-indian-is-a-coolie-by-birth/

Blanchot, M. (2012). Mahatma Gandhi. Journal for Cultural Research, 16(4), 366-370.

Iodice, E. (2017). The Courage to Lead of Gandhi. The journal of values-based leadership, 102.

Toit, B. M. (2008). The Mahatma Gandhi and South Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 34(4).