Session 10 - Perks Of Being Born A Leader

The reading, that this session focuses on, states at one instance that “as society becomes more complex and fragmented, people may increasingly look to the personal vision of individual leaders to give coherence and meaning to the world in which they live”. In the light of this quote, I would like to discuss the potential that leaders as individual personalities hold in the eyes of the governed. According to the fundamental concept of leadership, it can either be understood as a collective term that teems with several oligarchic parties and individuals that exert their influence over the running of a State; or as one individual who solely embodies the silhouette of a leader, possessing the charisma and intellect needed to evoke devotion and submission by the entire nation. The world has seen several examples of such leaders in historical scriptures or otherwise, among which Bhutto dominates the East and Hitler prevails in the West, just as Aristotle said “men are marked out from the moment of birth to rule or be ruled”. Thus, the idea that the Executive has unquestioned authority over matters such as Law and Order, policy making, and others of equal significance, is factually correct but ideologically incomplete since the ruled are to their very basic nature ‘humans’ and what never fails to sway them are the flourishes of ethos and pathos in powerful words spoken by a leader. Hence building up on the herd instinct of the masses, a carefully crafted legislation or strictly monitored law and order can be equally defeated by the charm and charisma of a leader who can rely on his instincts as much as his intellect to lead a nation.