Leadership is a Sacrifice

Leadership does not mean it's an opportunity to take people where you want to go; that’s tyranny, not leadership. Leadership essentially means that you are capable of creating the necessary atmosphere where people can go beyond the limitations that they have set for themselves. Leadership is not dominance, it is a certain sacrifice. Leadership is not a question of ruling somebody; it is a question of making somebody’s life. Any leader, if he doesn’t feel a deep sense of inclusion, if he does not experientially feel a certain sense of oneness and inclusiveness with the people around him, he cannot be a genuine leader. He can only manipulate situations for a little betterment or worse.

A non-religious spiritual process can play a phenomenal role in this. A spiritual process is about going deeper into life and not living on the surface of life. This is very essential for a leader because a leader faces constant challenges. Above all, it is most important that a leader is functioning at his optimal or highest level of potential. If you are experiencing tension, anxiety, stress or anger, your body, mind and emotions will not function properly. When you are peaceful and joyful everything functions well, this is an experiential fact. It is also a medical reality today. When this is a fact, it is extremely important that we provide our people with a leadership which is of a certain quality, people who are in a certain state within themselves so that they function at their optimal level. When I say leadership, it’s not just a question of the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister. Whatever sphere of leadership we are in, whether spiritual, political, economic or social leaders or even within the family, everybody is a leader in some capacity; it is only a question of scale. Whether you are managing and leading two people or one billion people, everybody is some kind of a leader.