Leadership in the name of justice

Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
My View - The Sun Daily
September 28, 2016

THE recent demise of a prominent Muslim scholar in the US is a sad episode coming close to that of his predecessor not too long ago.

Taken together both incidents remind one of a hadith – the saying of the Prophet as narrated by `Abdullah bin `Amr: "I heard the Messenger saying, 'God does not take away the knowledge, by taking it away from (the hearts of) the people, but takes it away by the death of the learned men.

When none of them (the learned men) remains, then people will take (or appoint) ignorant persons as their leaders, who, when consulted will issue judgment without knowledge.

The result, they will go astray and will lead the people astray.'

Reading this alongside what contemporary experts like James S. Rosebush who authored Why Great Leaders are in Short Supply, published in the Harvard Business Review (March 30, 2012), the sense of acuteness cannot be denied.

He claimed that leaders today are inundated by an "increasing perception of incompetence, greed, and frivolity at the expense of the governed, the taxed, and the managed".

This, however, is by no means isolated in explaining why the world, nations and institutions are in the state they are currently in.

In a 2015 Survey on Global Agenda, a "startling 86% of respondents" agree that there is a leadership crisis in the world, which is listed as one of the 10 trends revealed at the World Economic Forum. Allegedly, the international community has "failed to address any major global issue in recent years ranging from the failure of the global economy to that of violence".

It is said that governments have grown, "their mechanisms have been plagued by decades of factional alignment, dynasty and deep corruption".

Dishonest leadership is becoming a serious problem writes Shiza Shahid, who asserts that to win back confidence the survey respondents identified several virtues including a global interdisciplinary perspective; a prioritisation of social justice and well-being over financial growth; empathy; courage; and morality.

It is not surprising therefore that James MacGregor Burns (1918-2014), in his seminal book entitled Leadership published almost 40 years ago, suggested that the best leaders are those who inspire others to come together for the achievement of a higher purpose. He reckoned that "leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality".

Perhaps for the first time, it brings into sharp focus the dynamics of influence between intrinsic values and moral leadership that transcends short-term goals and focuses on long-term ones aligned to higher order (ethical) needs.

Burns further asserts: "Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere techniques."

This seems to mirror the overall state of leadership today, where mere techniques of exchanging services for material gain (notably, money or votes) have been made the "set of practices" that is devoid of wisdom to "satisfy higher needs, and to engage the full person of the followers' authentic needs".

To paraphrase Burns, it is not just the issue of morality but more so to raise the profile of ethics and integrity as an important aspect of moral leadership. In this context, the influential al-Ghazãlì in the Nasihat or words of advice to the Seljuk ruler, said: "If a king (as a leader) is upright; his officials will be upright, but if he is dishonest, negligent, and comfort-seeking, the officers implementing his policies will soon become slothful and corrupt."

In short what is critical now is a "reorientation" of leadership to one that is organic to the indigenous global culture and wisdom that constitute the most fundamental of human (intangible) values based on universal ethics and morality. This forms the principal virtues that are able to nurture a rightly balanced person who is then poised to be a leader predisposed towards "justice" as the final hallmark, namely, to – first of all – hold oneself accountable, inwardly, before holding others to account, outwardly.

For starters, three main points are worthy of considerations: first, seek to understand in-depth the "meaning" and higher "purpose" of leadership that is relevant to the context of the community and organisation.

Second, listen to the "self" in an effort to establish "justice" founded on sound relationships not only between the various partners, leaders and followers, but also equally vital between the leader and his/herself, before "justice" can be meaningfully understood and delivered.

Lastly, create opportunities for a "balanced leadership" that nurtures an intrinsic (values focused) dimension that is well-balanced within the leader. This will lay the foundation of an ecosystem for complete and unconditional trust so that everyone can demonstrate their moral leadership in the name of "justice".