Leadership Development for a New Nepal

(Courtesy: Madhukar S.J.B. Rana, former Minister of Finance)

It is universally believed that what retards Nepal's progress is the lack of extraordinary leadership. Be it in politics, business, public administration or civil society. A recent research finding of Warren G. Bennis and Robert J.Thomas, foremost joint authority on the art and science of leadership, states that it has something to do with how people handle adversity.

In the wake of the grave national adversity that Nepal is currently facing, can we now expect the flowering of leadership in all spheres of public life? In their words, " an extraordinary leader is a kind of phoenix rising from the ashes of adversity…". As each and every one of us , be they primary school children or octogenarians, are talking of a 'new Nepal' it is time we asked ourselves whether we have the skills to be the new leaders for the much sought after 'new Nepal'.

These authors believe that one of the best indicators of the likely emergence of extraordinary leadership is the individual's ability to find meaning in adversity and to learn from it. For this to happen each of us need get back to basics: ask who you are and what really matters to you? This way one emerges stronger and more committed to one's mission in life and being able to find effective solutions to the traumatic problems. And in the process transforms oneself creatively.

Experience shapes leaders. These life-shaping experiences. Bennis and Thomas call "crucibles of leadership" that transform individuals: just as the medieval witches, wizards and alchemists used such dishes hoping to transform ordinary metals into gold. There can be many kind of crucibles--- wars, national disasters, violence, injustice, electoral defeats, prejudice, discrimination, major surgical operations, bankruptcy, self-doubt, authoritarian parent/s or boss and many more life changing experiences that force one to re-visit one's cherished values, vision and life's mission. So too the guidance and advise received from powerful mentors and gurus can be transformational.

Whatever be the crucibles of leadership, Bennis and Thomas determined that there are four essential skills possessed by all great leaders that allows them to transform themselves in the crucible of leadership. They are : (a) integrity combined with a strong sense of values , (b) power of communication to engage followers and peers with purpose and meaning, (c) ability to grasp context and (d) perseverance and toughness. It is with these qualities that truly great leaders can turnaround nations, communities, public institutions, business houses, non-profit organizations and, even, informal households from the pangs of despair with new opportunities and a new hope .

One understands that Thomas is writing a book describing how organizations can use crucibles to grow leaders. Undoubtedly, leadership training must be promoted on a massive scale in Nepal if we are to improve not just the critical mass of leaders but also the quality and effectiveness of our existing leaders especially in the political realm, where no educational qualification whatsoever is required. Greater is the need for leadership training where Nepal is to adopt a policy of positive discrimination in favour of dalits, janjatis and women.

Conclusions

To lead in the 21st century will be to live dangerously as terror, violence, anarchy,
conflict and instability will be the order of the day. Leaders will have to adapt to the frenetic forces of change driven by the revolutionary advances in information, communication and bio-medical technologies. They will have understand not just one's own culture but also those of others to be engaged in a peaceful dialogue between civilizations as each individual seeks his and her identity under the sun. The normal tendency of mediocre leaders will be to play the game of maintaining the status quo which will spring disaster for the nation and any organization within it that refuses to change with the times.

Towards this, it would be optimal if all national political parties get involved consciously in organization development (OD) endeavours so that an enabling environment is created for the flowering of leadership and training of leaders. Two dimensions need top most priority, namely system development and devolution of responsibility in pursuance of the parties' broad ideologies and electoral manifestos.

Moving from a highly centrist unitary system of governance to a federal one is not going to be smooth sailing without massive OD exercises by each political party. Even more challenging it will be with the probability of proportional representation in elections. A system must be designed to permit each party to define the objectives, outcomes, if not also the goals, and regional/district and community inputs for the federated parts and sub-parts of the body politic therein.

In this manner, the party leaders would evolve dynamically and systematically and the senior executives could be the targets for the proposed leadership training. Specifically, it may be optimal to have party OD retreats to be engaged in (a) knowing thyself and one's style, (b) knowing the party's mission and communicating it, (c) knowing the broad economic realities —global, regional and national and (d) knowing parliamentary protocol and procedures.