There is a massive difference between leaders and politicians.
Leaders are able to inspire and motivate entire communities to collaborate for the common good, to overcome obstacles and to transform themselves and their surroundings into far better versions of prior iterations. Great leaders enable their communities to overcome fear, uncertainty and doubt on the path to greater achievements. History shows us that great leaders are able to inspire and unite entire continents, transcending territorial borders to affect transformative change.
Politicians, on the other hand, are limited in both capacity and offering. Typically they are warmongers, hate-mongers or just plain rumour-mongers, offering little beyond superficial narratives and sound bytes aimed mostly at fundraising and merchandising. Being aware of their own limitations, politicians do not seek collaboration: “Divide and Conquer” is the strategy of choice for those who are not able to reach out beyond their own demographic niche. The perceived popularity of specific politicians has less to do with their leadership qualities (or lack thereof), it is instead an indicator for the existence of a leadership vacuum.
And how the whole world seems to be truly missing great leaders at this moment in time.
Just look around us – it matters not whether one is in Europe, the Americas, even in Asia or Africa. Everywhere we turn, whether in our own neighbourhoods, in faraway lands or on social media, the world seems full of politicians and aspiring politicians pitching their own version of “The Truth”. Not one of them is able to unite their communities; relying instead on slogans, niche narratives and even outright falsehoods to promote self-serving agendas and religiously applying “Divide and Conquer” strategies. Their actual objectives are never the publicly stated goals because those form part of the pitch to their preferred demographic, their means to achieve desired ends. A politician’s actual motivation, their raison d'être, is far simpler: self-enrichment.
At this point, is it necessary to point fingers and name names? If you know of one example, then you already know them all, because politicians exist everywhere and operate in similar ways no matter what language they speak or what faith they lay claim to. I would go so far as to say all politicians worship the same “supreme being”: portraits of heads of state, national heroes or great monuments printed on coloured paper infused with fibres and other security features.
Where have all our leaders gone? It feels as if an entire lifetime is passing us by without the inspiration, the collaborative spirit and the self-belief that a leader would be able to instil in all of us. The entire world seems poorer because it is lacking great leaders.
It is not a star-spangled shield that makes a leader, nor is it some divine gift or Hollywood-style superpower that anoints leaders.
What makes a great leader, in my mind, is the capacity to transcend limitations: an ability to balance competing interests of various demographics, the inner strength to bear the weight of responsibility and the patience to work with, and work through, a cohort of people. After all, the essence of Leadership is to lead others, to unite and inspire them, and therefore create the necessary collaboration to achieve inclusive and sustainable results for the greatest number of constituents. Therein lies one of the key challenges of leadership: not all constituents might benefit from specific ideas, thus it becomes necessary to address expected gaps with complementary initiatives and additional solutions to create overlapping benefits, further ripples and multiplier effects in the ecosystem that eventually touch every stakeholder in it.
If the above vision of what Leadership entails sounds tough, that is because Leadership really is a tough calling. Being a leader is hard work, and being a leader with the responsibility of governing entire communities or nations is bloody hard work. Nevertheless, I am convinced that leaders are not an endangered species and great leaders are not yet extinct. I am certain plenty of leaders exist across the world, leaders who unite and inspire their communities away from the glare of social media and public attention, quietly doing the work that is necessary for their constituents.
At this point, we can only hope that our community leaders will grow in stature and find themselves able to step up to greater responsibilities. Hope is all we have at the moment, apart from the multitude of mediocre politicians who currently dominate across the globe.
Together we make Tomorrow better than Yesterday.