The role of leaders in fostering unity

Change has been called a law of life, and human societies since the dawn of time have sought to manage the environment, contain the elements, and improve their living conditions progressively. Over the ages, various governance models – whether religious or secular – have evolved and been developed to effectively manage change in human societies.

Because, wherever human beings aggregate, they have to be organized or governed in the right way to achieve the optimum desired results and outcomes of managing change in those communities, societies, political groupings or organizations, and nations at large.

Change is constant: It must happen at any rate. However, it is the processes and systems employed to obtain the optimum results and outcomes in the context of change that is of the essence; and these processes and systems, and how they are deployed, dwell in the domain of leadership.

In almost all scenarios of effecting positive change in human societies, “Leadership is cause, everything else is effect”, has become the defining principle. This principle suggests that in effecting meaningful change, everything falls or rises with leadership; and this presupposes not just any kind of leadership, but effective or quality leadership. This presupposition is illustrated by a Zimbabwean proverb that has it that, “An army of sheep led by a lion, will defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.”

This famous proverb means more than may appear at face value. First, it suggests that the leader – as represented by the lion in this case – must be bold, fearless, and strong, for that is what the lion, by nature, is. Thus, to win our individual and collective “battles”, that is, achieve our personal and corporate objectives, our leaders at all levels must be bold, fearless, and strong.

Yet such boldness, fearlessness, and strength must not be exercised for the parochial and personal interests of the leader in question, but in the greater interest of the larger group. A popular saying has it, “The fewer, the merrier.” However, in the realm of achieving change in the communal or larger setting, the principle would be, “The more, the merrier.” More hands will make the work easier.

Secondly, the leader as the lion leading the sheep to victory, suggests that he must – and should – be able to mobilize the followers as one uniform entity, since in the proverb, a flock of sheep indicates a group with similar characteristics.

Uniformity in characteristics may not be realistic in a usual situation, as human institutions are made up of individuals with different gifts, talents, skills, and viewpoints. But it is the mark of a leader worth his salt to mobilize all members of the group and draw on their respective individual strengths while de-emphasizing to near insignificance, their weaknesses.

A great leader must be able to inspire faith in a common vision, purpose, and unity to achieve the objectives of the group. For as the age-old saying has it, and as is illustrated by the strength of a group of broomsticks bound together, “Unity is strength.” And the responsibility for achieving that lies with the leader. For, as the hip American expression says, “The buck stops with me (i.e. the leader).