Introduction
Mahatma Gandhi is a honorific and a surname of the leader of the Indian independence movement, who was an outstanding person in India when it was ruled by Britain and now is known all over the world. His true name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but people from his native country call him the “father of the nation” (Deats & Jegen, 2005). Members of Gandhi’s family were civil servants through generations until his grandfather got the position of the chief minister of the state. Thus, Mohandas gained this profession, however, before this happened, he got an elementary education and worked as a clerk. Being interested in law, he studied it in England and then moved to South Africa, where protected the immigrants’ rights. In 20 years, Gandhi returned home and soon Indian National Congress recognized him as its leader. He encouraged non-violent political resistance for India to gain independence and become free from the authority of the British Empire, as India was a part of it at that time (Dalton, 2013). Indian classic writers produced a great effect on Gandhi’s worldview. The members of his family were eclectics, which also influenced his beliefs. Mohandas’s mother was a deeply religious woman and could not imagine a day without a prayer. This experience got into the formation of his ideas (Deats & Jegen, 2005). The actions made in favor of resistance were not left unnoticed, and Mahatma Gandhi was prisoned more than once. Nevertheless, India won independence in 1947 under his leadership. Unfortunately, Gandhi was gunned down and died in a year.
Becoming a Leader
Once being in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi was traveling by train. He took a ticket to the first-class section, but another passenger became acidulated as he had to stay with a person of a not European race, and Gandhi was made to change the compartment. This event could have been an inconspicuous one, but it turned out to be a starting point, and two main concepts of his program appeared due to it. “Swaraj” embraced an idea of independence, and “Satyagraha” endorsed non-violence. Gandhi developed them while assisting immigrants in South Africa. People fought for the reduction of taxes and the abolition of racial discrimination. They needed good organization and a leader, so he rendered a decision to commit himself to this position. Thus, Mohandas Gandhi returned home with clear thoughts of how to achieve the desired goals and some experience (Dalton, 2013).
Gandhi’s program of winning India’s sovereignty appealed to the Indian National Congress and was approved. This occasion and his contributions to Congress stimulated his promotion to the position of its leader. So it may be said that he became a leader due to his merits. From that time Mohandas Gandhi spiritually and physically directed Indian people. He was the guiding hand of the national liberation movement, who came up with an idea that the only way for India to be independent and to solve its social problems is to expel Englishmen from the country.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Leader Style
Technician leader style is concentrated on showing an example. Gandhi possessed the specific characteristics that such kind of leader should have. He inspired people, made them believe that everything was possible, and used his own example in order to prove his words and share the experience with others”. Technician leaders always have an aim and clearly understand what they will do to make it true. They stick to the way of achieving their goals and refer to it when some changes are needed (McLean, 2014).
Mohandas Gandhi is a great example of a technician leader. He always tried to show the people of India that he was just like them. Gandhi lived in poverty but was ready to help anyone who was in need and inspired people. His attitude made Indians do their best in order to change their lives and their country.
The leader believed that all people have some faults and admitted having them also. That is why he encouraged his followers not to judge others by their mistakes but to emphasize they’re good qualities. Self-awareness and self-discipline were claimed to be vital elements for a person to understand his/her actions and thoughts and to control them. The ability to realize what you are doing and why was said to be an important skill that can alter life. Clear ideas of how to make India independent escalated to a plan with certain steps.
It is extremely important for a good leader to clarify in what way the success can be achieved and how this success will look like. Only in this case he/she can pass the idea to the followers and make them care (Sahadeo, 2011).
Teamwork
Mohandas Gandhi animated Indian people who supported his ideas to act with the full extent of their powers. He implanted aspirations in their minds and improved the chances of future progress.
Being ruled by Britain, Indian people were not confident and had no strength to change the way they lived. Mohandas Gandhi returned to his native country and brought a concrete plan of improvement. He shared his thoughts with citizens saying that they were good enough to have something better than they had and implying the idea of the peasant class being powerful enough to attain this (Rivera, 2006). Under Gandhi’s influence, people put their faith in themselves and started to believe that they were really able to make the world a better place. Mohandas Gandhi underlined the fact that it was impossible for one person to gain independence for the whole country. Each member of the community should have made a contribution to achieving the common goal. As the leader, he empowered his team and claimed that the first step to change India is to change the ideology of its people. Consequently, he proclaimed resistance without any violence.
Nevertheless, Mohandas Gandhi was ready to listen to his followers’ minds and added some of them to the program. He was not a good speaker but turned out to be an excellent listener. The leader proved to be a true member of the movement. He suffered just like his followers while being imprisoned and never cared for better living conditions.
Gandhi believed in continuous improvement. He asked his team to listen to the second idea, if he produced contradictive ones, as it would be an improved version. However, that was not a demand. Thus, he encouraged his followers to participate in the carrying of the resolution. Once non-violent resistance failed to work, Mohandas Gandhi pronounced that they are not ready to take the power into their hands. Fortunately, the message bounced back, and the team decided to stick to their beliefs (Sahadeo, 2011).
During the meetings with his followers, Mohandas Gandhi made everybody feel inspired and implicated the idea of them being the ones he wanted to talk to at that very moment. His speeches were not long and lasted for several minutes, but no one was left behind.
Accomplishments
In his life, Mohandas Gandhi made a lot of decisions that influenced his own life and the lives of others. He peacefully fought to bring different people a better future. The way to independence was long and started with small achievements. In order not to be contingent on Britain, Gandhi convinced the Indians to walk with him for 200 miles and taught them to gather salt. In South Africa, where he protected the rights of Indian immigrants, Gandhi’s success ended with the passage of a bill that allowed Indians to vote. And the greatest accomplishment is the independence of his native country. Gandhi put a lot of effort to reach this goal and all of them were justified (Sahadeo, 2011).
Summary
The way Mohandas Gandhi led the nation is worthy of respect. Some prominent ideas of leadership can be taken from his experience. It is important to believe in yourself, as only then you will be able to get through the thorny path to your goal. When the leader is sure of his thoughts and ideas, he is able to pass them on to his followers. No success can be achieved if a person has no concrete steps of what to do and does not have an image of the result in mind. Never give up, as people who are fighting for something always face the opposition. Resist it and bring your idea to life. Remember that people are not perfect, accept their faults and concentrate on their achievements. It is possible to accomplish one’s ends without violence.
References
Dalton, D. (2013). Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent power in action. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
Deats, R., & Jegen, M. (2005). Mahatma Gandhi, nonviolent liberator: A biography. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press.
McLean, S. (2014). Business communication for success (10th ed.). Washington, DC: Flat World Knowledge.
Rivera, S. (2006). Mohandas Gandhi: A life of integrity. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publication Company.
Sahadeo, R. (2011). Mohandas K. Gandhi: Thoughts, words, deeds. Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation.