Gandhi: A Leader of Lifetime

Mahatma Gandhi had a vision regarding the fundamental rights of each and every human being. He worked for the same rights when he was in South Africa and was thrown out of the first class of the train on the Johanesburg station as he was Indian. He worked for equality of the rights of the Indians in that country for number of years. He prepared followers, made them work for the cause, gave a path to work on the cause. Finally, he could bring in the change and created a better status for the Indians there.

During his life at South Africa, he changed his life to match with the cause. He established an aashram – Tolstoy Farm near phoenix. He prepared followers and inculcated the values in them. He wrote the Hind Swaraj – (of his dreams) during his time there in around 1910s. He took the vow of celibacy to be the actual worker of society. He left the country once the work in South Africa was over. He came to India. Here there were people waiting for him so that he could give some solutions to the movement for the freedom.
Once he was in India, he was again working for the Equality of everyone. The first mission of him was to serve the farmers of Panchmahal region. He used the slow process but gave the best results. He roamed the entire country in the third class of the trains to understand the demographics of the country. He wanted to understand the people and sentiments and also the situation of the country before dwelling into the work of freedom movement. One example of being firm on means (and not only Goals) was when he stopped the entire movement because of the Chaura Chauri incident of violence. This shows the perseverance towards the Goals and the Means to achieve them. This shows the long term strategic thinking and the ethical behavior of Gandhiji as a leader.

There is one sentence from Mahatma Gandhi which shows the openness to ideas as a leader. You can discuss my beliefs and challenge them but at the same time you have to convince me hard if you are challenging my fundamentals. He was open enough to accept the changes in his ideologies but he had reasons to believe in them. You have got to convince him if you want to change him. This is a trait a leader really needs. The other thought from him was: “I am not here to defend what I said previously. If you find discrepancy in two of my opinions, please follow the later one.” This shows the way he introspected and articulated his ideas. He did not have an ego to defend his own ideologies when he could understand something requires a change. This shows the quality of leader in which he is focused on the goals and means and not his inner beliefs. He is ethical in this but at the same time, open to criticism and change.

In 1942, Gandhiji started two missions: Hind Chhodo (Leave India), Swadesi Apnavo Andolan (major in this was Burning of Foreign Cloths). This showed the nature of courage and the practical understanding of the repercussion of the impacts of his decisions. He understood that people need some support to earn and at the same time the British corporate should be stopped from exploiting the Indians. This is the way they will have no reason to enjoy on the money of Indians when the Indians do not spend their money on British Products. He understood the DNA of problems and directly attacked them. He understood that as Indians we do not have technology and power to fight on physical strength at the same time, it is not ethical so he moved the country with Truth and Ahimsa. That was the unique concept altogether and needed a lot of visionary thinking to achieve that. He created an honor in the eyes of the British where they respected him even though he opposed them only. This is his message to tackle your problems.

A leader requires an inner circle (Soul mates to pass on his ideas). He had an inner circle and in them the closest were Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Both of them knew him well and could always behave more than spokespersons. They understood him so well that they could dynamically advertise Gandhiji’s Ideologies at the same time keeping their individuality.

We can understand any management theory by Gandhi’s life. We can also see the concern for people at the same time, the passion to achieve what he aimed for in his life. Gandhiji, said one thing very often. “Let my life be my message” and it truly is a message in itself.