Parables, metaphors, allegories and figures of speech – they all help in making a point. As a writer I have always found it convenient to find a cover in the form of an allegory, a parable, a metaphor or a figure of speech. I am also very fond of drawing richly from history-both recent and past. Like, for today I am thinking of going as far back as Homer.
My subject is leadership.
And two questions that are coming up in my mind in this context are:
Why is individual leadership given preference over collective participation?
Why do uninterrupted success and unshared power lead to a steady decline of rational thinking on the part of leadership when the proven lesson of history is that power and success are inadequate substitutes for wisdom and caution?
Let me first define here what I mean by collective leadership.
It is in this context that I am reaching as far back as Homer who chronicled history of the Trojan War, in which Team Leadership played a vital role.
Though the Greeks were led in their quest for retribution against Troy by the powerful King Agamemnon, their victory would not have been possible without Achilles, the famed mighty warrior; Odysseus, the illustrious wily tactician; and Nestor, the acknowledged wise elder.
Each had a crucial, distinct role to play in the Greek high command.
Achilles rallied the troops in the heat of battle. Odysseus provided sound strategic advice during and between engagements. Nestor was a source of cool-headed counsel and diplomacy, mediating between the titanic egos of Agamemnon and Achilles. No one of them could have played all the varied roles necessary to guide the enterprise to victory. Collectively they prevailed, and won their place in history.
Not much has changed in the rules that govern the mathematics of leadership. Not denying the importance of the central figure or the ultimate leader, it is in the nature of success to have many husbands. Not too many of course. Nor such weaklings whose job is to bow and ‘stay bowed’ in the presence of the king.
The problem with us is that we do have an Agamemnon (perhaps many) but no Achilles no Nestor, and no Odysseus!
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