A Historical Perspective of Leadership

A Historical Perspective of Leadership

History is replete with innumerable examples of success as a result of vision coupled with the right action. Warrior kings known for their successful expansionist exploits had to bring together large armies who were loyal and willing to sacrifice their lives for achieving the vision of their masters. While they were also suitably rewarded upon being victorious, it was a huge risk that they were willing to accept while signing up for being part of the warfare. Warrior kings had the tough task of selling their dream, which seemed impossible to realise, and packaging it such that it resonated with the soldiers and the people at large. They often aligned their vision to religious or mythological symbolism to gain the acceptance of their subjects.

In Greek mythology, the gods and kings drew inspiration from divine forces and set up seemingly impossible goals, as described in The Iliad and The Odyssey.1 They goaded the people and rallied them around to work towards the achievement of their vision, which was often aligned with avenging insults or such other personal missions. Agamemnon, the hero of the Trojan War, inspired the people and the rival kings of the Greek city states to wage a ten-year war to eventually achieve Greek victory. Similar examples of valour, bravery and heroism to achieve lofty goals can be found in the vision of Odysseus, the king of Ithaca; Theseus, the king of Athens and other heroes from the Greek mythologies.

The Roman Empire had several leaders who had grandiose visions similar to that of the Greek mythological heroes, aimed at Rome transforming from a city state into an empire. Julius Caesar’s famous quote ‘Veni, Vidi, Vici’2 encapsulated his vision and was the thrust to the reforms, the public games and all forms of communication. Augustus’s vision was similar, the glorification of Rome, and encouraged the preservation of traditional Roman values, thus creating the gold standard for the Roman rule. Constantine’s vision was for Rome to become the seat of religious leadership for Christianity for the entire world, and he led efforts in the conversion of the pagan population to Christianity.

The Indian epics Ramayana3 and Mahabharata4 offer valuable lessons on how the visionary leadership of warrior kings enabled them to tackle complex moral dilemmas and accomplish extraordinary feats. They offer useful insights into their decision-making processes and strategies to overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges and achieve their lofty ambitions. Rama’s vision for Dharmarajya was demonstrated through his personal conduct—of upholding the promise made by his father to Kaikeyi and rescuing his wife, Sita, from the demon king Ravana despite several odds. Rama was a source of inspiration because of his visionary leadership and the ideals embodied in Maryada Ram for Hanuman, Sugriva and his monkey brigade who supported him in his battle across the ocean with Ravana to free Sita from his clutches. In the Mahabharata, Krishna lifts the veil of confusing principles and guides Arjun to fight the war with clarity and purpose. Krishna propounds his vision of Svadharma (one’s path) and answers other questions of morality and righteousness through the compendium of his teachings on the battlefront, the Bhagvad Gita, which acts as a guiding light for all, even today.

Alexander the Great created one of the largest empires at the young age of thirty-two in the 4th century BCE and led his army over difficult terrains over a distance of over 22,000 miles to create a vast empire comprising Eastern and Western cultures.5 In the 13th century, the ruler of Mongolia, Genghis Khan, invaded several countries and created a huge empire stretching from the Pacific Ocean to eastern Europe. He managed to convince the nomadic tribes that were part of his army that he was ‘destined by the eternal blue sky’ to rule the world.6 In the 19th century, Napolean Bonaparte inspired his army to commit to his vision to restore French glory by creating a modern European empire under French rule.

In the 17th century, Shivaji Maharaj managed to bring together peasants, warriors and nobles under a unified banner and made them part of his guerrilla warfare to put up a stiff resistance against the Mughals and Europeans to achieve his vision of Hindavi Swarajya (Indian self-rule).7 Simon Bolivar had a similar vision of self-rule in the 19th century and had the vision of freeing Latin America from Spanish colonial rule. His efforts led to the independence of several countries in South America, namely Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia and Ecuador, which led to the new trajectory of possibilities for the continent.8 Leaders also emerged based on philosophical or religious guidance and influenced kings as well as the masses. The pope, as the head of the Vatican, has wielded enormous power, wealth and influence over many countries whose kings were Catholics and encouraged them to exert influence on the population of countries they conquered to become part of the Christian fraternity. The pope continues to influence over 1.1 billion Catholics around the world, who account for 17 per cent of the global population.9 Guru Nanak founded Sikhism and challenged ritualistic and caste-based approaches. The ideas of the philosopher Confucius on governance, family and ethics shaped Chinese statecraft for centuries. Religious leaders and social reformers drew strength from their inner self, and their personal vision became the vision for the community or society that they were part of. In many countries, the hereditary leadership or leadership based on the religious order prevalent in the society resisted scientific quests and innovations and suppressed any effort made to change the status quo. Gautama Buddha, who was born into a princely family in the 6th century BCE, at a time when social inequality and hierarchical rigidity were rampant, gave up all his worldly possessions and went through a journey of personal experimentation and inner transformation. Buddhism, the religion he envisioned on the principles of simplicity and righteous conduct, is thriving and has found millions of followers around the world. His legacy and teachings have influenced later-day leaders such as Ashoka, Ambedkar, Gandhi and others.

In the 7th century, when there was tribal warfare, slavery and lawlessness in Arabia, Prophet Muhammad articulated his vision of universal brotherhood. He founded the new religion Islam, which has almost 25 per cent of the world’s population as its followers as of 2025.10 Promoting a society centred on justice and compassion, Prophet Muhammad’s leadership model has continued to influence several countries over the centuries. During the early part of the 8th century, at a time when a significant part of India’s population had embraced Buddhism or Jainism, and Vedic traditions and ritualistic practices of Hinduism were being discarded, Jagatguru Adi Shankaracharya came forward to rejuvenate the religion.11 He envisioned bringing back people into the fold of Hinduism by getting rid of complex and archaic practices. He succeeded in a short span of time, travelling across the country, addressing people along the length and breadth of the country and emphasising the significance of Vedic philosophy. He set up four mathas12 and appointed four gurus whom the local population could look up to for spiritual guidance and tenets of moral living. His vision, coupled with thoughtful action, has withstood the test of time until now. In addition to the mathas and the successful lineage of the gurus continuing to be the torchbearers of his teachings, the Hindu religion and the traditions are thriving. Later, in the 10th century, another Hindu philosopher, Ramanuja, advocated for an inclusive and personal relationship with God to counter casteism and rigid practices and worked for the proliferation of Vaishnavism in South India. He expounded his vision for a new branch of spiritual practice through his prolific writings, social reforms, institutional leadership and promotion of vernacular language as the medium for hymns and chants. Ramanuja’s vision and Vedanta discourses democratised spiritual life, inspiring large communities to follow his spiritual guidelines and practices. His teachings have also influenced several other spiritual leaders like Swami Vivekananda and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the subsequent centuries to follow his principles.13 Imbibing the principles of inclusivity and moral righteousness from the spiritual and religious domains into the sociopolitical context, Mahatma Gandhi unveiled his vision for securing the freedom of the country from the clutches of the colonial ruler, Britain. Against the might and wealth of the rulers and their representatives, Gandhi inspired the nation to rise as one and use non-violence or Satyagraha as the method for expression of protest or disagreement, which eventually helped India win its freedom. Gandhi’s principled approach influenced other nationalistic leaders such as Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King to develop their own vision to use the non-violent approach to focus attention towards the problems of inequalities and social injustice and lead their masses towards their transformation journeys. While there are several examples of vision leading to positive outcomes, there are also some examples of it leading to outcomes that may be of interest to the followers of the particular doctrine for some time and no longer relevant or compelling enough for them to continue to support such leaders at a later stage. In recent decades, the world has seen many leaders who were dictators who suppressed societies with draconian power through totalitarian rule and withdrawal of civil liberties.

Adolf Hitler’s narratives of Aryan supremacy with the promise of national revival after the defeat in the First World War using Nazi propaganda appealed to the Germans, who started believing that loyalty to Hitler was the same as loyalty to the nation.14 Aligning himself with Hitler, Mussolini promised Italians a return to Roman imperial glory by promoting anti-Semitism and suppressing the opposition.15 Joseph Stalin articulated a vision of a utopian future through communist ideology, eliminated political rivals and projected himself as the father of the nation.16 Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution, which led to the death of millions of people (estimate ranging from 500,000 to 2 million), was based on the promise of liberation from feudalism and imperialism.17

The key takeaways from these examples of leaders from the socio-religious-warrior spheres would be that for a leader to be successful, there has to be a clear vision with ethical intent and inclusive values. The success of the leader lies in the adoption of the vision, as we have seen in the examples cited, where a large number of people have been inspired to become followers. The rate of adoption is based on how the vision is translated into action by the leaders propagating the vision and how they relate to people in solving their problems. When all of these dimensions are aligned and lead to a demonstrable outcome, these individuals who embarked on their missions are recognised as leaders.

For translating vision into action, impactful communication and periodic reinforcement through narration of success stories has been found to be essential. Warrior kings, spiritual leaders, social reformers and business leaders have all understood the importance of this and have found different ways to address their stakeholders. They used the medium of discourses or books or lectures to get people to appreciate and reflect upon their visionary ideas. Often, they have had to set personal examples to inspire the people. Whether it was leading from the front in the battlefields or spiritual leaders walking the talk or socially conscious leaders demonstrating their conviction through personal acts, creating the appropriate culture and norms have been important for all the leaders to get people to believe in them and imbibe their ideas. This enabled the creation of a bond and identity among the leaders and the followers.

Shivaji Maharaj is remembered as the people’s king even today for not only fighting for the pride of the people in the battlefields but also treating them as his equals. Mahatma Gandhi’s followers, hailing from various religious and socio-economic groups, lived with him in his ashram as he became synonymous with non-violence and simple living.18 Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa lived the life of a Muslim for several days to be able to enunciate the universality of religious themes, and thus, his philosophy found appeal with people from various walks of life in different parts of the world.19

Institutionalising the vision was found to be crucial in the proliferation of the central themes for transformation and sustainability over a period of time. The apostles of Jesus Christ are possibly the finest examples of founding a new faith against all odds and inspiring a large number of nations and people to become part of this movement. Today, 1.1 billion people in the world are followers of Christianity, making it one of the most widely practised religions on the planet. It has been possible to build solidarity within this fraternity and reaffirm its beliefs because of the systematic codification of the teachings of Jesus through the Bible and the tireless efforts of the apostles in the initial phase and later on through the institutionalisation efforts of the churches for the spread of Christianity.20 The simplicity and the impact of messages conveyed with clarity, as found in the example of the Bhagvad Gita, have continued to be the guiding light for people of all walks of life for centuries.21

Political leaders also carried out institutionalisation efforts through formal structures and hierarchies and communication channels to effectively implement their vision and policies. These systems and processes were put to use in anti-Semitic activities during the Nazi rule and were also found to be positively beneficial in undertaking large-scale protests against British rule by Gandhian followers through a series of initiatives such as the Swadeshi Movement or the Quit India Movement. The mathas established by Adi Shankaracharya have been following the institutional code for functioning even after hundreds of years as the fountainhead of knowledge dissemination for spiritual quest. Literature, speeches and rituals are the essential tools that have continued to act as the medium for communication of messages aligned with the vision.

Warfare, arsenal and ammunitions empowered the people to achieve the goals of the mission as much as literature, poems and various inspirational artefacts. Capture of forts, ships, slaves and precious jewels were symbolic wins that were also considered as booty and part of the mission. Places of worship, communal baths, grandiose statues and other buildings marked significant milestones and acted as reminders for the journeys undertaken. These interim and eventual rewards and milestones were important in motivating the people to remain committed to the vision.

Notably, the vision of the leaders resonated with their target audiences as their messaging and the value propositions were relevant during the specific time periods and were distinctive in addressing the challenges faced. We can draw several examples of how innovation worked for leaders over the centuries. The erstwhile chief minister of Tamil Nadu K. Kamaraj introduced the innovative mid-day meal scheme in schools in the 1950s to encourage children to attend schools, reduce drop-outs and improve nutrition.22 This was one of the factors that contributed to Tamil Nadu becoming one of the leading states with an educated workforce that attracts investments in new-age sectors such as automobile and electronics. Gautam Buddha’s innovative eightfold path to enlightenment toppled the rigidities of caste-based Vedic rituals. Guru Nanak’s vision to spread the principles of equality in the society materialised through innovative methods such as kar seva (selfless service) and community kitchens.

Swami Vivekananda’s unique message of blending modern science and nationalism helped place Indian philosophy on the world stage.