Gandhi and his Leadership Styles

This article explores the cultural context in which Gandhi emerged as a leader, including his use of satyagraha and non-violent campaigns. It also discusses how his charismatic and transformative leadership impacted India.

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Gandhi and his Leadership Styles
Student’s Name
Institution
Date

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Introduction
Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in an orthodox Hindu family and belonged to a
caste of merchants (bathhouses). His father was the chief minister of the small principality of
Porbandar (the territory of the present state of Gujarat). After receiving a law degree in London,
Gandhi served as the legal counsel of an Indian firm in South Africa from 1893 to 1914, where
more than 100,000 Indians lived at that time. In Pretoria, he first declared himself as a political
leader. There, under his leadership, there were mass demonstrations of Indian migrants against
laws that discriminated against people on the basis of race. To achieve this goal, Gandhi used
tactics of pressure on the enemy without using violent means and called it satyagraha (lit.
"persistence in the truth"). His teacher and spiritual mentor, he considered Leo Tolstoy. Gandhi’s
leadership were shaped by many things, which include cultural, historical, political and personal
factors.
The cultural context in which Ghandi emerged as a leader
Gandhi has a rich history. Frequently the title of mahatma (big soul) is confused with his
first name. Mahatmas is called many saints of the Hindu tradition, to Gandhi it seems that this
title was given to him by Rabindranath Tagore who, in turn, had been called guru (teacher) by
Gandhi. His political enemies, however, said that he had called himself that way. In his
autobiography Gandhi says he does not consider himself worthy of such a title, however, the
truth is that he ended up abandoning his original name and signing "Mahatma Gandhi", which
indicates that, somehow, he ended up accepting the homage and, possibly, believing in the
greatness of his soul. He belonged to the caste of the banias , and was the son of the prime
minister of the small principality, a position that had become hereditary in the Gandhi family. It
happens that many Banyan families, because of their close ties to the British administration and

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because of their knowledge of finances, had stopped dealing with trade (the name Gandhi means
grocer or storekeeper) to devote themselves to public administration, to the service of the English
or of the principalities. Supposedly Gandhi was destined to pursue that career, but, at the age of
19, he decided to leave for England to study law. This decision implied a conflict with his family
and with his caste, who opposed the trip. The question reached the point that the leadership of
the caste decided to expel him, turning him into an outcast if he followed his purpose. Despite
this, Gandhi continued with his plans and settled in London to continue his studies. Then, when
it acquired renown, the caste revoked this decision, but one branch of the banias always refused
to readmit it into its bosom1.
Back in India with his law degree, Gandhi tried to establish himself in Bombay to
practice the profession. But there were many lawyers, Gandhi was not too dynamic, and the
break with his caste limited him greatly in his work possibilities. She also had to support her
family, since she had married at the age of 13 with Kasturbai, a girl of the same age, and by then
she had two children. Given this situation, Gandhi accepted a contract offered by an Indian
company based in Natal (South Africa), to go to work there2.
Gandhi spent 21 years in South Africa, with a brief interregnum in 1896-97 when he
traveled to India to bring his wife and children. During his African period, he had the opportunity
to suffer racial discrimination and deprivation of rights. In South Africa in general and in Natal
in particular, there was a significant number of Indians, most of whom arrived there as braceros
hired on the plantations. After his contract, Gandhi decided to stay there and start his political
action. In 1894 he founded the National Indian Congress of Natal, with himself as secretary
1 Deats, Richard L. Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Liberator: A Biography. Hyde Park, N.Y.:
New City Press, 2005.
2 Deats, Richard 67

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general. From there began a series of non-violent protests against the growing political
discrimination against the Indians, bringing to the press and the government numerous
expressions of grievances.
In that circumstance, beginning in 1906, Gandhi began a campaign, using for the first
time the concept of satyagraha. The campaign spread over time and suffered an increasingly
violent repression, with thousands of Indians imprisoned, including Gandhi himself on several
occasions. Finally, the new South African president Jan Smuts agreed to negotiate with Gandhi.
From these negotiations no lasting benefits emerged for the Indians of South Africa, but Gandhi
gained immense prestige, which transcended the framework in which, until then, he had
developed his actions.
In India itself, and even in Britain, began to talk about him and his methods of struggle.
With that new prestige preceding him, Gandhi returned to India in 1914. Upon his return, Gandhi
knew how to maneuver to obtain reconciliation with his caste. In fact, it was the large textile
industrial banias that financed Gandhi and his ashram. To a large extent this had to do with
Gandhi's initiative known as khadi, promoting manual spinning by the peasants. The return to
traditional spinning was not only an element that could be interpreted as a repudiation of British
textile imports, it was also a key piece for the support of the Indian textile industry, controlled by
the banias3.
Gandhi also did his best to have close relations with the British. In fact, at that time he,
like many other enlightened Indians, considered that British domination had been beneficial for
India, providing peace and progress. In the context of the First World War, Gandhi was placed in
3 Deats, Richard L. Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Liberator: A Biography. Hyde Park, N.Y.:
New City Press, 2005.

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the same position he had had during the Boer War: to support the Empire in difficulties, hoping
to obtain in return the recognition of full rights. Thus, he offered the viceroy his services as a
recruiter, and encouraged the Indians to enroll as volunteers in the British army. This, by the
way, did not favor his popularity, placing him on the periphery of the Indian nationalist
movement.
The question changed abruptly at the end of the war. Far from recognizing any right to
the subjects, in 1919 the government sanctioned the Rowlatt Act, which established, among other
things, imprisonment without trial for those accused of sedition. Gandhi called a satyagraha
movement against this legislation, which degenerated into violent incidents and ended with the
massive massacre of defenseless protesters in the city of Amritsar. The British imposed martial
law and Gandhi ended the protest, saying that he had committed "a big mistake like the
Himalayas", not seeing that the demonstrators were not able to carry out a non-violent protest.
But the issue served to put Gandhi at the center of the Indian political scene, a place where he
will remain until shortly before his death.
During the first half of the 20s, Gandhi strengthened his political power inside the
Congress. From then on, although formally he only presided over the Congress for a year, he
became the architect of the political strategy of the Congress. Even in those years when he was
living in an apparent retirement, refusing even to read the newspapers, he maintained an absolute
interference over the direction of the Congress. In this way, he managed to position himself as
the interlocutor par excellence when the British sought some kind of negotiation with the
nationalist movement.
Charismatic nature of Gandhi

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The best leadership theory that supports Gandhi’s approaches is charismatic leadership.
Who really possess personal charisma exhibit beliefs and values that attract their followers and
that are also emulated by them. Words such as competence, integrity, ethics, strength, passion or
trust are linked to the concept of charisma. This personal peculiarity has accompanied the great
leaders of history, turning ordinary people into super-bosses4. Charismatic leader exhibit beliefs
and values that attract their followers and that are also emulated by them. Gandhi exhibited
beliefs and values called satyagraha which enabled him achieve many goals. This beliefs and
values enabled him conduct several successful non-violent campaigns. Following his beliefs,
tens of thousands of like-minded Gandhi openly defied the law and resignedly resigned.
Satyagraha was the tool for the weak. Gandhi himself who refuses to ally with the
moderates in 1918, at the very moment when he is disavowed by extremists, including Annie
Besant and Tilak who questioned his method of satyagraha in which he saw a "weapon of the
weak". Nevertheless, it is to a more radical action that aspires young people and Nehru does not
fail to criticize the old generation, in particular Srinivas Sastri who ruffles it particularly . Those
who uses this style solemnly swore an oath not to give up the struggle until he was satisfied and
did not resort to violence. This is exactly what charismatic leader do. A charismatic leader
should consistently adhere to a given principle without changing even if death is the only option.
Gandhi uses tactics of non-violence. But it should be clarified that non-violence does not
imply the absence of violence: what is involved is that the adversary must not be hurt or
offended in any way, but the one who initiates the non-violent action must be willing to receive
any type of aggression. In fact, during the campaigns led by Gandhi many thousands of people
died as a result of the repression. Not long ago, in Argentina, a judge tried the leadership of the
4 den Dekker, Wim. Global Mindset and Cross-Cultural Behavior: Improving Leadership
Effectiveness. London: Palgrave MacMillan UK.

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now non-existent organization Montoneros, accusing her of sending her militants to death during
the offensive carried out in the midst of the military dictatorship. The judge's argument was that
they acted knowing that the defeat was safe, therefore sending them from abroad to fight in
Argentina was tantamount to assassinating them. Since for this judge the militants of Montoneros
were something like automatons moved by springs, who blindly followed their leaders without
ever using their heads. Now, if this fallacious criterion were valid Gandhi would be one of the
greatest criminals in history, since he never counted, before undertaking his campaigns, how
many would die in them. In addition, the montoneros militants had arms with which to defend
themselves, while the followers of Gandhi had to be arranged to receive on itself any violence,
without avoiding it nor to face it.
Gandhi carried out several very well-known fasting campaigns. During them he did not
eat any kind of food. They could be of a predetermined duration, as a form of protest against a
political disposition or situation, or also up to the achievement of a certain objective or "until
death". Gandhi had the wisdom not to do any fast "until death" in order for the British
government to reverse some decision. Of course, if he had fasted to the conservative
governments of Churchill, who considered him "a half-naked fakir" with whom his Majesty
should not deign to treat, he would surely have ended up starved to death, as was the most recent
case of the 20 IRA prisoners who went on a hunger strike against the government of Margaret
Tatcher.
In general, these fasts "until the death" of Gandhi were directed against leaders or
fractions of the nationalist movement that escaped their control or pretended to carry out their
own policies. One of the most prominent cases was when Dr. Ambedkar, leader of the
untouchables, got a separate electorate for these, as a way to prevent pariahs from being

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manipulated by the higher castes. Gandhi and Congress could not tolerate that and the Mahatma
began a fast "until death" in order for Dr. Ambedkar to renounce the separate electorate. The
quick consequence was that the leader of the untouchables became the most hated person in
India, responsible for the sufferings of Gandhi. Seeing the consequences that the situation could
have if the Mahatma died, Dr. Ambedkar had no choice but to compromise.
Transformative nature of Gandhi
Besides charismatic skills, Gandhi also displayed transformative leadership. Gandhi is a
person who was championing for better India. He wanted to change the repressive leadership to
transformative leadership. I believe Gandhi fits to be a transformative leader because all his
actions demonstrate that his goal was to change the India for the common good. The inspirers
and transformers are those centered in the heart, with a good use of emotional intelligence5. They
do not have many resources and lead by example. They are congruent, very aligned with what
they preach. They have the ability to modify the scale of values, attitudes and beliefs of
collaborators. They align the corporate objectives with the objectives of the team members. They
are very intuitive and have a great capacity to identify, develop and retain talent. They adapt the
objectives to the resources and potential of the collaborators. They promote self-esteem by
showing interest in the team and their needs They have discrepancies with the established and
desires to change it, they propose new alternatives with the ability to excite and convince their
collaborators. They generate a good working environment that favors self-motivation and
productivity. Transformational leaders pay attention to their followers in an individual and
personalized way, promoting their growth and development. They are stimulated both
5 Henson, Ramon. 2016. Successful Global Leadership: Frameworks for Cross-Cultural
Managers and Organizations. New York: Palgrave MacMillan US.

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intellectually and personally. In this leadership style, communication flows in all directions. All
members feel heard and valued6
In Gandhi we see that the postulates of Tolstoy's social reform are largely moderated. In
fact, he went on to state that "the rich should be the executors of the poor ... For Gandhi all social
reform should have the unanimous consent of those involved. Therefore, the rich had to be
persuaded to act as "executors" by redistributing some of their wealth. The only heir of any
importance that Gandhi had, Vinoba Bahve active until his death in 1982, tried to carry forward
these ideas. Vinoba traveled on foot through the villages of India and tried to convince the
landlords that it was in their interest to share their wealth. Sometimes it had some success, and
some zamindar owner of thousands of hectares gave four or five of them to the landless peasants.
That for Vinoba Bahve was a triumph,
In reality, Gandhi was supported economically in his activities by some of the greatest
magnates in India. People of their own caste, like the great textile entrepreneur Birla. The Birla
House of Dehli, built in all luxury by this great businessman, shows on its walls paintings that
present different scenes of the exemplary life of Gandhi. This tribute should not be missed if we
think that a good part of Birla's fortune was due to Gandhi's campaigns for Indian textiles.
With respect to the caste system, Gandhi did not question it at the religious level,
although he argued that it should not imply any discrimination either economically or socially.
Such a position is an obvious contradiction, and its sole purpose was to keep things as they were
and to gain the support of the Brahmin caste. This is evident in the case of the situation of the
untouchables. Gandhi called them Harijans (sons of God) and preached against their social and
6 Henson, Ramon. 2016. Successful Global Leadership: Frameworks for Cross-Cultural
Managers and Organizations. New York: Palgrave MacMillan US.

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economic discrimination, but he did not advocate any concrete measure that would serve to
remove them from the poverty morass in which they found themselves, or to prevent them from
being manipulated politically. He himself considered himself his best representative and
spokesman of his interests and fought hard the work of Dr. Ambedkar to organize and raise
awareness of the untouchables, since it was developed outside the framework of the Congress.
While Gandhi called them "sons of God" and told them to follow the Congress, Dr. Ambedkar
made them call themselves Dalits (oppressed) and organized themselves for their social
development.
Conclusion
From the analysis, it is apparent that Gandhi was a charismatic and transformative leader.
He had skills and attributes associated with modern transformative leaders. His charisma enabled
him achieved most of the transformation in India.

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References
Henson, Ramon. Successful Global Leadership: Frameworks for Cross-Cultural Managers and
Organizations. New York: Palgrave MacMillan US. 2016
den Dekker, Wim. Global Mindset and Cross-Cultural Behavior: Improving Leadership
Effectiveness. London: Palgrave MacMillan UK. 2016
Deats, Richard L. Mahatma Gandhi, Nonviolent Liberator: A Biography. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New
City Press, 2005.
Lelyveld, Joseph. Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 2011.