I am a subscriber of The Warrior of Light by Paulo Ceolho. Every month he sends us an article, sometimes I would just read it in a hurry, because the topic wouldn't be very appealing to me or that I was simply too busy to read it. Today however, I thought I'd give it a chance.
I found it amazing. I just have to share it with you. Here it is:
In Search Of The Perfect Leader
"A reader sends me a questionnaire in which he presents the profile of three world leaders who lived in the same period of history, and asks if it is possible to choose the best one using the following data:
Candidate A was associated with witchdoctors and often consulted astrologists. He had two mistresses. His wife was a Lesbian. He smoked a lot. He drank eight to ten martinis a day.
Candidate B never managed to hold down a job because of his arrogance. He slept the whole morning. He used opium at school, and was always considered a bad student. He drank a glass of brandy every morning.
Candidate C was decorated a hero. A vegetarian, he did not smoke. His discipline was exemplary. He occasionally drank a beer. He stayed with the same woman during his moments of glory and defeat.
And what was the answer?
A]
So what then is leadership? The encyclopedia defines it as an individual’s capacity to motivate others to seek the same objective. The bookstores are full of texts on this theme, and the leaders are normally portrayed in brilliant colors, with enviable qualities and supreme ideals. The leader is to society as the “master” is to spirituality. This, however, is not absolutely true (in either case).
Our big problem, especially in a world that is growing more and more fundamentalist, is not allowing people in prominent positions to commit human mistakes. We are always in search of the perfect ruler. We are always looking for a pastor to guide and help us find our way. The truth is that the great revolutions and the progress made by humanity were brought about by people just like us – the only difference being that they had the courage to make a key decision at a crucial moment.
A long time ago, in my unconscious, I changed the word “leader” for the expression “warrior of light”. What is a warrior of light?
Warriors of light keep the spark in their eyes.
They are in the world, are part of other people’s lives, and began their journey without a rucksack and sandals. They are often cowards. They don’t always act right.
Warriors of light suffer over useless things, have some petty attitudes, and at times feel they are incapable of growing. They frequently believe they are unworthy of any blessing or miracle.
Warriors of light are not always sure what they are doing here. Often they stay up all night thinking that their lives have no meaning.
Every warrior of light has felt the fear of joining in battle. Every warrior of light has once lost faith in the future.
Every warrior of light has once trodden a path that was not his. Every warrior of light has once felt that he was not a warrior of light. Every warrior of light has once failed in his spiritual obligations.
That is what makes him a warrior of light; because he has been through all this and has not lost the hope of becoming better than he was.
That is why they are warriors of light. Because they make mistakes. Because they wonder. Because they look for a reason – and they will certainly find one."
It's great because I always that that way. Be it when I thought of a world leader, or simply what makes a good person in life and specially when I think of the leading character in a novel, I'm a bookoholic but bear with me. I always thought that if a writer wants to make a good character, and by good I mean the nice and good person, he needs to show us no imperfection, because that way we won't accept it as the "good" person of the novel. Very shallow, I know. I have become to realize that I'm wrong when I think that way. It's the same with life, you can't be human without having imperfections. And sooner or later these imperfections will have to show. We demand too much of people, (or novels for that matter) so these are my ponderings. I don't know if they make sense though, but I can totally relate with this issue of the Warrior of Light.
1 comment:
That was one of the best pieces of writing on leadership I have come accross till date. I must completely agree with the opinion. I never could understand the hysteria surrounding the Monica Lewinsky affair for Bill Clinton. At the end of the day, the economy made progress under his leadership. As your rightly put, we should be reasonable in our expectations of other people :)
Post a Comment