TO LEAD IS TO SERVE - 08-0739

TO LEAD IS TO SERVE

Every respectable position in society comes with an increased level of pressure. This is especially so since the media makes a point to scrutinize those that hold leadership positions. When it comes to national politics, the spy glasses are wider due to the public’s involvement and their incessant need to check whether their leaders are making good on their promises as they vowed to in their manifestos. Why shouldn’t they? After all, the vote into office was solely cast in faith that change and good will come of those they put in power and that good leaders keep their promises.

So what is a good leader? The question boggles many a mind due to its weighty nature and scarcity of exemplary individuals who fit the profile. Few icons of great leadership have had a chance to stand on the Kenyan national stage long enough to leave a lasting impact and those who have had their lives cut short through ailments or assassination such as the late Tom Mboya or the late Wangari Maathai.

Lao Tzu, a Chinese Taoist philosopher and author of ‘The Book of the Way’ is quoted as having said, “To lead the people, walk behind them.” He goes on further to add that a leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, such that the people say, “We did it ourselves.” A concept that has long permeated the political scene and corporate leadership platforms is that of leadership as service as the mark of a good leader. This is whereby, rather than stand ahead of the masses and bellow orders at his followers; a leader should instead walk side by side with the people and mobilize them to assist him in meeting their needs. Therefore, a servant leader helps his people meet their goals rather than task others to accomplish responsibilities for him. In essence, he cannot do it all himself.

One such leader that comes to mind as I had mentioned before is the late Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai. Even before the media and the world shed light on her work and put her up on a pedestal, she fervently pursued her life goal to preserve the environment and to mobilize other women to plant trees to ensure that the world remained green, pure and unpolluted through their organization The Greenbelt Movement. After securing a position in the NARC government and later gaining worldwide recognition by winning a Nobel Peace prize, she remained humble and used her fame and popularity to sensitize many to be environmental stewards. Through it all, she remained true to her cause.

Many use their leadership positions as a way to see through their vested interests rather than to benefit the people by being corrupt or failing in their duties. I find it interesting how quickly leaders sometimes forget where they came from and who they should be grateful for where they are today. It is true that power tends to corrupt the purest and noblest of characters causing them to dwell on themselves rather than the people he leads. A servant leader therefore has to fight against this to fulfill his vow to his people to cause change and better their lives. Henry A. Kissinger said it best: “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.”

In Kenya however, the bulk of the leadership cake tends to automatically go to those who hitch free rides into the corridors of power by being affiliated with political dynasties  such as the Kenyattas, Odingas, and Mois just to name a few. In contrast, people who display great leadership qualities are accorded some degree of respect but are never taken as seriously as their dynastic counterparts. The notion behind this is that due to the politician’s association with a former great leader, they too must therefore have great leadership traits in them when in most cases, this is not so.

Unfortunately, Kenyans still uphold political archetypes that proved successful in the past when yet times have changed. For far too long have we let incompetent people masquerading as leaders take the reigns of power to steer their families into obscene levels of exponential wealth as their people languish in poverty. There are honourable men and women such as Esther Passaris doing great things for the country that fail to get the acclaim and opportunity to extend their great works to a national scale because we are myopic in our definition of a good leader. We are the ones to blame. If we do not change our attitudes then we shall continue to cry foul every time a leader abuses his office and forgets us. Let us not forget: there is power in the ballot.

(800 words)