This great leader cautioned his followers about a group of highly regarded individuals in the leadership space. He said: “All the things they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they do not practice what they say.” This profound teaching is as relevant today as it was when it was first shared some two millenniums ago. How often have we seen the dislocation between the eloquence in which words spew out of the mouths of leaders and the rather enervated way those very leaders attempt to harmonise their actions with their words?
Leaders must distinguish themselves as the moral conscience of the led. Perhaps that is why the great leader said, “Wisdom is proved righteous by its works.” In so saying, he was inviting all to punctiliously audit his lifestyle and personality, and based on that, objectively determine whether the slanderous accusations levelled against him held water. The great leader was confident that his record would speak in his favour. Is this something that leaders could do? Can they wholeheartedly invite their followers and detractors to examine their record, confident that they cannot be accused of slyly covering ugly cracks with eye-catching wallpaper? The bottom line; leaders must swiftly act to plug the lacuna between high-sounding idealistic slogans and material praxis.
Much as they are human and prone to err, a higher degree of moral authority is rightly expected of all leaders. Followers are not overly demanding when they implore their leaders, “If you’re going to talk the talk, you had better walk the talk.” Leaders are duty bound to practice what they preach. This applies to issues of delivering on promises made to followers, decisively taking the lead in stamping out a culture of corruption and negligence of duty, appointing deserving individuals to exacting positions of responsibility and demanding accountability without fear or favour.
Oftentimes, in a bid to prolong their stay in the good books of leaders, the so-called ultra-woke advisers tend to ingratiate themselves to leaders by shying away from offering constructive criticism. A single-minded orientation towards success demands that leaders should surround themselves with credible advisers, not a dubious brigade of inveterate dissemblers who would only be too keen to disingenuously shout words of support even in cases where the wheels are conspicuously coming off the wagon. A leader who is not self-conceited would be happy to yield when a loyal and trustworthy adviser recommends the flipping of the script to achieve the greater good for his followers. Anything else would surely send the leader accelerating down the perilous slope at a great cost to him and his followers.
The great leader also uttered these thought-provoking words, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” As an endearing attribute, humility is a quality that is scarce in the leadership space. The glaring exiguity of this value has seen the boldest and most confident of leaders drowning in shallow waters. This is exemplified in Adolf Hitler’s persona, a super-articulate man who inspired the nation of Germany with unparalleled demagoguery. Lack of humility emboldened this remorseless snollygoster, who by his actions earned himself the epithet ‘the wolf,’ though affectionately hailed as der Führer by his followers, to enthusiastically incite the nation to launch a pogrom against the Jews and the so-called defective and inferior people. Where is Hitler now? History is replete with examples of leaders who dismally failed the test of humility only to slither into obscurity and shout from places where no one bothered to listen. Contrast this with the humility of the great leader who took the initiative to put water into a washbowl, servilely washed the frowzy feet of his disciples and dried them with a towel!
One of the most despised teachings of the great leader is, “Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other side also to him.” We should never be in a rush to dismiss this teaching as inapt and passé. Many have to their detriment banished this great teaching to the margins of reality. During the mass genocide of the Tutsi in 1994 in Rwanda, this teaching was unduly adulterated to, “If you are struck once on one cheek, you should strike back twice.” The result? One million lives were lost. What was the point of the great leader’s teaching? He was not advocating extreme pacifism. He was simply cautioning his followers to depress their appetite for crude acts of violence and vengeance.
Is there value in this teaching? You need not stretch your memory too far back to appreciate its worth. While no one would ever endorse the violation of the territorial integrity of other nations, reflect on Syria and Ukraine. Had there been a bigger party, retaliation would not have taken place, and tensions would probably not have escalated to the level where so many people have died and so much property destroyed. The great leader also taught, “Be quick to settle matters with your...opponent.” The failure of Russia and Ukraine to make time to settle matters quickly before they flared into a massive conflagration has cost both countries dearly, and to a large extent Ukrainians will be saddled with a crippled economy for a long time. The same problem often haunts countries where current and influential former leaders opt to engage in legal gymnastics and end up taking inordinately long to resolve their differences.
Another practical teaching by the great leader is, “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” People often think it is the recipient of presents who is always happier than the donor.
The truth is, there is a great degree of happiness that comes with giving. As this column has highlighted in the past, “The primary beneficiary of acts of kindness is the person dishing out such acts. A study conducted by the University of British Columbia confirmed that acts of kindness lifted the moods of the giver and reduced anxiety levels. Kindness is known to generate increased levels of happy and love hormones.” If you have tried it, you would have experienced that feel-good factor that comes with giving. You would therefore not confine your acts of giving to moments when you are expected to give. You would spontaneously engage in acts of giving and revel in the attendant goodness and happiness. If you have not tried it before, here is an opportunity for you to dip your toes into the culture of uncoerced giving.
The one teaching from the great leader that has been globally acclaimed as the gold standard for interpersonal relationships is the psychologically stimulating, “All things, therefore, that you want men to do to you, you must also do to them.” This statement does not have an old-fashioned ring to it, and you would be disingenuous if you ever faulted it for being abstract. If we all subscribed to this utilitarian view, the world would be a much better place. Married people would treat each other with love and respect, and thus contribute to a loving and peaceful family environment. Spousal and child abuse would be history. Family members would not subject one another to mentally torturing periods of silent treatment. As strange as it may sound, libel and slander at the workplace would be non-existent and teams would pull together for the common good of their organisations. Everyone would endeavour to live in peace with others.
However, all this remains a dream. Largely because we have fulsomely embraced a toxic brew of debauched versions of the great leader’s teaching and gleefully substituted it with perverted self-indulgent twaddle-infused variations such as, ‘What you do not want to be done to you, do not do to others,’ ‘Do unto others as they do to you,’ and ‘All things that men do to you, you must also do to them.’ These flawed modern-day adaptations would never hold to the slightest scrutiny and are nothing but an intentional and unfortunate twisting of the truth. These ill-conceived versions are by their very nature incendiary and work against the spirit of promoting peace and objectively retiring retaliation.
As we take time off work this long weekend to reflect on the meaning of the death of that great leader, may we take a moment to meaningfully cogitate on his teachings, deliberately traverse the introspection alley and embrace the sobering logic crafted into the great leader’s teachings. Even if we end up only identifying a solitary morsel, may we align our views and actions to his pragmatic teachings. No prize for guessing whom the great leader is!
