Prof Eric Charoux graciously granted ImmInst the opportunity to repost his article ~ BJK
The Wise Leader
by Prof Eric Charoux
http://www.lexpress....hp?news_id=5107
By the time you read this column, Paul Bérenger will be our new Prime Minister. He takes over at a time of turbulent change with this country facing a host of seemingly impossible challenges. Like many leaders before and after him, Paul Bérenger willl want to ensure that his leadership will always be remembered. He will therefore want to control this change process, to put limits on it, to shape it his way by ensuring that whatever new laws, policies, strategies are formulated remain intact so that one day, he becomes immortalized in this country’s history.
We all want to “make our mark” on whatever organisation we lead. Whether it is a country, a society, a political party, a religion, a company, a department or a small team of individuals, we all aspire to lead it in such a way that we shall “always” be remembered for our enlightened and judicious leadership. We all say to ourselves, “If I can ensure that this new law, new initiative, new improvement, new leadership style can endure, then all my hard work would not have been in vain.” Somehow, it just does not make sense for us to have spent 40 or 50 years of our life struggling to build a country, an organisation, a company, a business for it all to disappear the moment we close our eyes for the last time. We seek immortality, you see, and we do so because deep down we are afraid of death. This is why we build monuments, erect statues or donate vast sums of money in our legacy. We refuse staunchly to accept that life in this world is nothing but transient and impermanent. We cling to hope, to faith, and its never ending rituals – we are convinced that these will somehow protect us from the inevitability of death.
But there is another way to embrace the reality of this transience and impermanence. It’s the wise leader’s way.
Wise leaders are acutely aware that, like the vast majority of us, they are going to be forgotten no matter how outstanding they have been during their lifetime. They recognize, accept and even promote the transient nature of life. They go further: they actually develop insights in how to cope with this impermanence. They realise that any attempt at ensuring that their sphere of influence remains the same after they’ve passed on, is futile – and is no more than a vain attempt at grasping at immortality. They are intensely conscious that change is inevitable, that life goes on and that the worst thing they can do for the country or company that they lead, is to anchor it so strongly in its present form that this flow of change becomes impossible.
Consequently, wise leaders aren’t unduly concerned about whether their name, reputation or influence will be remembered, protected and cherished – they focus instead on making this influence highly relevant and healthy to their current circumstances. Wise leaders can’t be bothered with their so-called “place in history” – they focus instead on ensuring that their present decisions are sound, wise and just. Wise leaders don’t agonize over the fact that when their country’s or company’s history gets written one day, their name might not appear in bold print – they focus instead on laying the foundations for future growth and development.
Uninhibited by the hesitancies and caution that their egos produce, wise leaders take one day as it comes. They formulate sound visions and strategies, solve problems judiciously, take wise decisions and embrace new ideas. They focus on what they have been called upon to lead and when the time comes for giving up some of the ideas, plans or structures that they have fought so hard and for so long to erect and maintain, they do not hesitate and do so graciously.
In essence, wise leaders know that life is nothing but transient – they have no illusions, no ambitions, no resistances. They take one day at a time – and at night, they never experience the slightest problem sleeping.
C’est la grâce que je vous souhaite, Monsieur le Premier Ministre.
Prof Eric Charoux eric.charoux@dcdm.intnet.mu
