Ananda Sangha of Portland--Leadership Means Responsibility by Swami Kriyananda

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Leadership Means Responsibility
by J. Donald Walters (Swami Kriyananda)
from The Art of Supportive Leadership

Genuine leadership demands a sense, not of glamour, but of responsibility. The true leader is concerned not so much with the opinions of others as with the truth, with getting a job done, with inspiring others to join him in working toward a worthy common goal.

This concern implies a willingness to assume the responsibility not merely for success, but also for failure; a willingness to take the risks himself, instead of waiting for others to take it (absolving him thereby of any blame!)

Most people are happy enough to take the credit for having been right, but few are willing to take the blame for having been wrong. The genuine leader is indifferent equally to praise and to blame.

There are times, indeed, when he knows that he must shoulder an undeserved blame‑-perhaps because others wouldn't be able to bear the weight of it; or perhaps simply to see an issue dropped as soon as possible, so that everyone can get on with the job.

One learns in the role of leadership that the only way to get a job done is to get people to stop reacting, as they tend especially to do when they are blamed, and to start acting.

In this sense, a leader must be like a good athlete. A skier, for example, hasn't time to think whether he likes a particular rough spot on the slope. His one thought is, "What shall I do about it?"

A captain on the battlefield can't afford to waste time thinking, "If only the enemy would stop shooting at us!" If they shoot, they shoot. He can't change that fact, so why lament it? His urgent need is to find ways for his men to avoid getting hit, while attacking with the greatest effectiveness.

A businessman trying to win a contract knows that it can be fatal to react too personally to his opponents. No one will be impressed with him, if he bases his bid, for example, on a show of resentment of the competition. I remember receiving a letter one evening years ago that threatened disaster for a project I'd been working on for many years, one that was particularly important to me. Well-wishers, seeing the shock on my face, urged me consolingly, "Come on out with us for a cup of tea. It will make you feel better."

"What do you mean?" I replied. "Who cares how I feel about this letter? All that matters is what to do about it!"

My hands were unsteady as I drove home that evening. The unsteadiness wasn't due to fear, however; I hadn't time for that. My concentration was wholly centered in the thought, "There has to be an answer: What is it?"

The crisis, as it happened, was overcome, though with only hours to spare. I doubt that it would have been met successfully, however, if even a small part of my energy during those weeks had been wasted on how I felt personally in the matter.

Leadership doesn't have to be unfeeling! The best leadership, indeed, is rooted in compassion, in kindness, in deep concern for the welfare of others. But to be most effective it must at the same time be liberated from personal likes and dislikes. One's feelings—and even more important, one's intuitions—will actually be the clearer and deeper for being impersonal.

Look to the longer rhythms. Don't let yourself be jostled by the importunities of the moment.

Equally important is it for a leader's actions to be self-generated, and not merely reflective of the actions of others. He cannot afford to be drawn into other people's definitions of the problems he confronts. In this sense, too, creative action is infinitely more important than blind reaction. It implies complete, personal acceptance of the responsibility for getting a job done.

For leadership includes finding creative solutions to problems, which means taking responsibility also for one's creativity.

The mediocre general may exclaim, "According to all the recognized treatises on warfare, our situation is hopeless. What choice have we but to surrender?"

But the great general will say, "The recognized treatises offer no hope. Let us therefore create new guidelines!"

Thus was the Battle of Waterloo won. Thus also, the Battle of Hastings. And thus, again, the American Revolution—which introduced unorthodox tactics borrowed from the American Indians.

Remember, then: Leadership doesn't mean glamour; it means responsibility. And responsibility means thinking in terms, not of credit or blame, nor of how one might feel, personally, in any given situation; it means focusing simply on getting the job done.

It means, finally, taking responsibility for finding creative answers, even when one has every excuse for finding none.

To recapitulate, then:

See leadership not in terms of glamour, but of responsibility.
Be not so much concerned with the opinions of others as with the truth.
Be concerned not with praise or blame, nor with your personal reactions, but with action, with getting the job done.
Concentrate on the longer rhythms in any project, not on temporary ups and downs.
Be as ready to accept responsibility for failure as for success.
Acceptance of responsibility means accepting the duty to find creative answers even when convention says there are none.