Great men and true leaders were salt of the earth, eschewed false vanity and hypocrisy. Despite being revered as esteemed and very important persons among their followers and the human society, their virtues of transparency and down-to-earth manners catapulted their colossal stature even to a greater height that remains beyond one’s ability to emulate.
There are several examples in history demonstrating that great individuals and good leaders were salt of the earth, avoiding false pride and hypocrisy. “Immaculate Image is the Soul,” they say, despite the fact that no man is flawless.
Despite being respected as valued and highly significant individuals among their multitude of followers and the human civilization, their qualities of transparency and down-to-earth manners pushed their huge stature even to a greater height that one can never imitate.
A notable example is Mahatma Gandhi, whom the then-English Prime Minister Winston Churchill and eminent Britisher Frank Morris mocked as a “half naked fakir” because Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, as an exemplary leader of the Indian masses, gave up his English suit, boot, and necktie despite being a qualified barrister from England during India’s colonial rule.
During India’s Freedom Movement, Gandhiji even successfully persuaded the educated and aristocratic Jawaharlal Nehru to adopt a “simple living and lofty thinking” lifestyle.
Such a distinguishing feature of Mahatma Gandhi prompted prominent physicist Albert Einstein to make the following remark: “Generations to come will hardly believe that such a one as he ever in flesh and blood walked upon this world.”
“Nobody ever argued that he was corrupt, or ambitious in any vulgar sense, or that everything he did was prompted by fear or malice,” said Englishman of letters George Orwell of Gandhiji.
Needless to reiterate that Mahatma Gandhi has been an apostle of “Truth” and “Non-Violence” and a glorious lighthouse not only for towering personalities like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and scores of great world leaders who have carved a niche as harbingers of “Peace” and “Universal Brotherhood”.
Despite being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose has left everlasting imprints as a classic leader of all time.
The designations “Mahatma” and “Netaji” are most appropriate for the public veneration bestowed upon such saintly individuals in flesh and blood in our mundane world. Other honours, sobriquets, and epithets are a misfit lock, stock, and barrel.
According to contemporary researchers, “effective leadership isn’t necessarily about being flawless, but about being real.”
According to the study, followers of such real leaders enjoy “higher well-being” and naturally place their trust in movements or organisations led by those leaders. Such an atmosphere pumps up the morale of the followers or workers of a corporation to “perform better” and “work harder”. Even leaders’ openness and democratic beliefs motivate followers/workers to “make more ethical judgements” in the common interest as well as the success of the organization/firm.
“It’s fine to be important, but it’s more essential to be good,” as the saying goes.
And the Golden Rule states, “Do unto others as you would have others do towards you.” (In everything, treat people the way you would like to be treated.)
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