“A legacy sustains not because of the great leader it had; but because of the institutions they left behind to ensure the continuity of their work“
– John D Rockefeller on Rockefeller Foundation
These words of one of the greatest business tycoons of the 20th century entrust how leadership and institution are co-related. The identity of an institution, the reason for its existence, its goals; are synchronous with the vision of its leader. Leaders provide that backbone to an organization, around which it grows, it blossoms into a bigger entity encompassing the dream of every individual working for the cause of the institution. They provide them with a vision, a need to achieve excellence and outgrow themselves into a better individual.
Though it is only an individual who could create their own destiny; it is leadership that provides them that necessary tutorship to be on the right path. And since human beings are social animals; we need to be part of such social institutions to achieve our desires and expectations. Leaders are those individuals who understand the general requirement of the members and provide them with visionary aims to achieve. They take the institution as well as its members forward. Hence leadership is at the core of the characterization of an institution.
There are a few fundamental characteristics that define an institution. And it is interesting to note that these institutions were defined around the vision of the leaders who led them:-
Bravery
The first quality is bravery. Every institution in its lifetime goes through hardship, times of disparity, dissolution, anarchy, and troubles. It is only an able and brave leader who could carry an institution through such troubled times and ensure its continuity. The Greek civilization, which we know for its intellectual and moral greatness today was at a threat of extinction at the hands of the Persian King Xerxes I. It was under the brave leadership of Leonidas I, who led a suicidal mission of 300 brave Spartan soldiers(along with 14,000 United Greek Army) against a 150,000 men strong army of Persians. This initiative of Leonidas I gave time to the Greek city-states to unite and fight against an unmatchable Persian army and successfully defeat them. He provided them with the moral will to achieve.
The bravery of Leonidas gave moral support to Greece to unite and stand firm as a successful civilization, a strong social institution. An action of one brave man, the path showed by one individual, united the society as a whole, which is also seen as a characteristic trait of Gandhi. India, as a free democratic state, is unimaginable without the leadership of Gandhi and his brave stance of non-violence.
Intellect
The second quality of an institution is its intellectual stronghold. Intelligentsia attracts human loyalty. Human beings have a character trait to follow a knowledgeable, learned leader. It gives leaders the moral integrity to command and demand respect. This was evident with King Ashoka and his administration.
People respected Ashoka, obeyed his principles of Dhamma, and followed his commandments as they perceived him to be a knowledgeable leader. This faith of the masses was translated to as faith in his governors, administrators who were in charge of his administrative institutions. These institutions were the first kind of experimentation in public administration in the ancient world.
The third quality that an institution looks for is an inspiration. When human beings come forward to create an institution, they have few aspirations of their own. They believe by being part of such a system, they could achieve their desires as well as ensure safety and continuity of their well being. Though every individual holds different aspirations from one another; the society or the institution through its leader gives all individuals certain common goals to achieve as a common interest for self-development. The leader inspires the individual, and in turn, inspires the institution to achieve a realistic dream.
This was evident in India after Independence in 1947. With a variety of individuals, with a variety of dreams, which they envisioned to achieve in a free India; they were unsure about the means to achieve it. It was Nehru, who through his Socialist dream, created institutions like the Public Sector Undertaking Companies, Planning Commission, Organisations like Non-Align Movement, etc. that gave us, Indians the means to achieve our fullest potential around the ambient of such institutions. His inspiration behind the establishment of such institutions led them to be a successful cornerstone in Indian development history and are still the central figure of the Indian growth story today.
The fourth quality is compassion. If an institution doesn’t show gratitude and benevolence towards its members, it is doomed to self destruct under the burden of revolt by its discontented members. This was evident with the modern catholic church which due to its archaic rules and observance was growing distant from the modern Christian masses. But Pope John Paul II introduced the qualities of humility, charity, and benevolence back into the Roman Catholic Church which led to its revival in the 21st century.
People began to hold their beliefs back in the organization as they saw a new leader of their faith in Pope John Paul II who held the moral values that they perceived to be the need of the hour. Hence compassion for fellow members is a must for the sustainability of an organization.
The trait that is most important to define the role of an institution is its vision. What is its need for an Institution? What does it inspire to achieve? What are its members working for, which is beyond their individual capabilities but possible through their collective capabilities? This is where the vision of the leader comes forward. The institution aims to achieve what the leader defines as its goal. An institution cannot function without the knowledge of what they are working for. This is what Steve Jobs gave to Apple Computers.
Though Apple had some of the best designers and engineers working for them; what Steve Jobs provided its employees was the vision to create a product, which in every design and aesthetic sense was beyond the human capabilities. His vision was called unachievable, unrealistic, non-scientific. But the employees of Apple Computers worked day in and out to achieve this dream and in the end, made it come true. They surpassed their own potentials. This where a visionary leader comes forward. They make the institution achieve an incomprehensible pursuit.
But the leaders could also possess negative qualities which can destroy credibility. Qualities like dishonesty and shady credentials can make society question the need and integrity of the institution. Such a question brings negative publicity to the institution whereby its years of hard work is destroyed by the actions of its leader.
This is evident with respect to FIFA, the International Federation of Football, where the allegations of corruption against its leader Sepp Blatter has made the world question the absolute need for such an organization. The other is Mr. R K Pachauri, the head of TERI, an environmental organization and a recipient of the Nobel Prize. The whole organization lost its credibility when its leader was involved in a sexual harassment case.
A good prince knows when to be aggressive and when to be kind to control his subjects
– Machiavelli in Prince
With context to India, the characteristics of the leader can be seen as the character of institutions. Qualities of self-help, cooperation, and upliftment of the depressed classes; were the main character of Verghese Kurien, the founder of Amul, which even after its founder’s death, is still on the path of social upliftment of village community as shown by its leader. Or it could be seen in the Tata Group; where its leaders had a set agenda like Jamshedji Tata wanted a self-sufficient India producing capital goods or JRD Tata’s focus on aviation, or Ratan Tata’s vision for Tata Group to be a world-class MNC.
These leaders gave their workers a target to achieve, at the same time, building credibility around the institution and its image. The best example of an Indian leadership story is that of ISRO, which was built around the vision of Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space Program, where he imparted the institution with qualities to achieve greatness under dire scarcity. Till today, ISRO is achieving missions at a fraction of cost compared to West, astounding the world in the process, thanks to the qualities imparted by its founding leader.
Hence, there is a moral requirement to have a central leadership figure within any form of institution. As mentioned by Plato in his theory of a ‘Philosopher Ruler‘, that the state or an institution requires an able leader to govern and direct the citizens, as human beings have a tendency to go towards anarchy under a selfish zeal to achieve personal interests.
In order to protect the fabric of the institution and to ensure its continuity, strong leadership is required as well as a continuity in leadership is required; where the leaders hold the values that define the institution and its character. But one must also remember that a too strong centralist leadership leads to dictatorship, tyranny, and dissent; hence a compassionate nature is required to be shown by a leader to lead an Institution.