THIRUKURAL 382 : ON LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Thirukkural on   LEADERSHIP 

During  the time of Thiruvalluvar , the kings were the rulers (leaders). Today the Chief Executive of a country (President of US, PM of UK, PM of India, etc ) is the leader of the government.
 A leader of a corporate company is termed  CEO, MD, President, Chairman, etc.

In fact the leadership is not a position, it is the responsibility of directing successfully an organisation towards the fixed goals. A potential leader has the critical responsibility of doing right things and making others to do those things right.
A leader should do right things.
Make others to do the right things.

With all precise planning, if there is no dynamic leadership, any organisation will fall. There is no universal definition for a good leadership, the task of any leader depends very much on arising situations..

Thiruvalluvar had identified some basic qualifications for a good king which is very much applicable in the modern context to the top leaders. Kural 382 says a king should have courage, generosity, knowledge, zeal and alertness (alertness added in the kural 383)

A leader should be courageous. During the tough times, he has to make solid decisions, he cannot be soft peddling, he has to handle the situation bravely. He needs moral and physical courage to face the unexpected failures. In those days kings met enemies face to face in war fields, to-day it is the mental battle in making crucial decisions. Bravery is a must, whether it is 

for physical or mental deed.

A leader should be generous or considerate towards his subordinates, it should be kept in mind , if right persons are not rewarded at appropriate time, they will become demoralized. A leader should handle the work related worries  of workers  with care and  concern. A leader should be generous while sanctioning compensations and merciful while granting remissions.

A leader should be knowledgeable, he should be intelligent enough to weigh the pros and cons of issues by using the reasoning, reflection and foresight.  He should come out with corrective measures to resolve the issues.

A leader should have power to motivate others, in case of most critical time, he has to motivate himself by using auto suggestions. He should not expect his subordinates to motivate him in critical times.

A leader should be always alert, it is an inevitable ingredient in an effective leadership .Mental alertness and physical vitality will help to plug certain organisational loop holes.

For a successful leader as qualifications , the modern management uses words like determination, decisiveness, optimism, confident, commitment, vision, aggression, etc, etc . But Thiruvalluvar had accommodated all these micro qualities in a broad sense.

Essence of  Kural 382:

" Courage, generosity, knowledge (wisdom), motivation (Zeal) are the four essential elements of a successful leader (King)"
In the kural 383 Alertness is added totally five .

அஞ்சாமை ஈகை அறிவூக்கம் இந்நான்கும்
எஞ்சாமை வேந்தற் கியல்பு. ( 382)

தூங்காமை கல்வி துணிவுடைமை அம்மூன்றும்
நீங்கா நிலனாள் பவற்கு. ( 383)

அஞ்சாமை = Courage,  ஈகை = generosity,   அறிவு = Knowledge,  ஊக்கம் = motivation.

தூங்காமை = Alertness