Leadership is a subject that has been studied and discussed extensively. Yet, like the story of the blind men describing an elephant, it is a phenomenon that changes with one’s perspective, differs according to the aspect being considered, and has many dimensions. Almost everyone who attempts to define leadership offers a definition of their own. Leadership is approached as a set of traits on the one hand and evaluated in terms of outcomes on the other. In this article, we will examine an approach that has recently re-emerged in leadership studies, although it has existed in ancient wisdom for centuries and has been expressed in different ways across various traditions of belief and fields of knowledge.
Let us begin with our definition of leadership. In brief, we can define leadership as creating an impact and taking responsibility for the impact we create. According to this definition, because each of us has the power to influence, every one of us is a “LEADER.” Leadership is not the monopoly of a chosen few born with special talents. Through what we do and/or fail to do, each of us either contributes positively to the lives of those around us or, conversely, affects them negatively. This arises from the human capacity for choice and free will. Through our choices, we have the potential to become either the lowest of the low or the finest of creation (Surah At-Tin, 4–5). In this context, the human journey on earth is a journey of realizing our potential to become our finest selves. Along that journey, we remember as leaders those who perform beneficial deeds and in some way guide humanity. The contribution each of us makes is different and, at its core, unique to the individual. Human beings are created differently and do not possess equal opportunities. Each of us comes into the world to fulfill a different task.
From this perspective, we may also define leadership as discovering and revealing what lies within one’s essence and placing it at the service of humanity. This is a long and demanding journey. Why, then, would a person want to undertake such a difficult journey? Our first answer comes from philosophy and theology. The Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle said that the ultimate aim of the human being is happiness. Islamic philosophers and thinkers such as Al-Farabi, Avicenna, Ibn Miskawayh, and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi followed the same line, arguing that humanity’s principal aim is to seek happiness in both worlds. Ibn Miskawayh connects an individual’s purpose of existence with happiness and says that people will be happy as long as they strive to fulfill that purpose. It should be emphasized that the happiness meant here is not temporary pleasure, but an enduring state of the soul.
The second answer comes from psychology. Carl Gustav Jung, for example, argues that a person who does not undertake such a journey cannot experience the process of building the self or become a perfectly functioning whole—a state of individuation. The result is incompleteness, dysfunction, and ultimately unhappiness.
The final answer is the innate human drive to realize the potential to become one’s finest self. We may compare this to the natural impulse within every seed to grow, develop, and reveal what lies in its essence.
We will now consider what each individual needs and which virtues must be embodied on the journey toward making this unique contribution—fulfilling this task—and leaving a mark.
The Leadership Code
On the leader’s journey toward the wholeness described above, there is a magnificent code embedded in the human soul. This coding, or these latent powers, has been with us since the first human being. It is, in fact, a formula offering clues for completing our task on earth. We see that this formula has four dimensions. The number four has universal and mythological associations: the four directions, four seasons, and four blood groups, for example.
Following this line of thought, Moore states that the self has four structural forms corresponding to four energies of the human soul. Our central responsibility is to mature and balance them. When these energies are not used appropriately—when excess or deficiency arises—they become the greatest obstacles on the journey toward wholeness and have destructive consequences. These four energies are the same in both women and men, although women and men may differ in the way they reach the centered, integrated self. We can see these four energies in the forms below.
Across different religions, disciplines, and schools of philosophy, these four energies appear under different names. Here, by drawing on their similarities, we will explain the virtues that emerge when these four energies are used in balance, the opposing states—vices—that arise when they are not, and the purposes each energy serves. The general dimensions of human development are outlined below.
King/Queen
The king/queen archetype occupies the central role in development. “King” should be understood here as a metaphor. The archetype’s principal role is to establish balance and support the development of others. People in whom this archetype is undeveloped cannot be calm and composed; they have not formed a stable sense of self and do not hold a noble ideal for others.
When king/queen energy matures and reaches the point of moderation, it gives rise to the virtue of justice, which determines the balance among all powers. In his Akhlaq-i Nasiri, al-Tusi places this virtue at the center and says that its principal purpose is tawhid—unity. Unity therefore secures excellence, order, steadfastness, and continuity, whereas fragmentation leads to baseness, corruption, and destruction.
When this faculty of the self remains immature, its extremes of excess and deficiency appear as oppression and submission to oppression. Moore and Gillette describe these poles as the tyrant and the weakling.
Warrior
In both women and men, the warrior archetype represents aggression—anger—and the power to serve a purpose. Warrior energy includes discipline, protecting boundaries, dedication, courage, boldness, and commitment to a noble aim. When this energy is not used properly, it becomes impossible to take action, set out toward a purpose, or persevere through difficulty, and inertia emerges.
The mature form of warrior energy manifests as the virtue of courage. The king’s ability to establish justice for people depends on the warrior’s courage. The warrior is the king’s loyal servant and the one who carries out the task. Warrior energy arises from the volitional faculty of the soul and serves the purpose of goodness.
The misuse of warrior energy causes many of the problems we see today, ranging from passivity to every form of violence. The excess of courage is recklessness or aggression; its deficiency is cowardice. Recklessness may appear as needless brazenness, pushing oneself forward for selfish interests, hatred, and violence toward others. Cowardice involves avoiding what must be done and refusing to face danger in order to protect one’s boundaries. In psychological terms, the first state is sadism and the second masochism. A person who sees what must be done yet avoids doing it gradually loses self-respect and begins to hate themselves.
Magician
The magician archetype represents the developmental path of knowing, learning, and thinking correctly. This energy finds expression in the Prophet’s prayer, “Show me the true nature of things.” With maturity, mere information develops into wisdom, and through that wisdom we can bring health to both ourselves and society. Magician energy arises from the mind—the rational faculty of the soul—and serves humanity’s purpose of reaching truth. Within the virtue of wisdom, al-Tusi names such subordinate virtues as intelligence, quick understanding, clarity of mind, ease of learning, sound reasoning, retention, and recollection.
The excess of wisdom is cunning or deceit, and its deficiency is foolishness. Moore and Gillette call the excessive pole the manipulator and the deficient pole the denying innocent. Knowledge is power, and when it is misused it can cause enormous harm. In the second condition, the person avoids responsibility and pretends not to understand.
Lover
The lover archetype represents the instinctive line of development that includes desire, intimacy, joy, and attachment. Losing contact with this energy deprives us of the joy of life. A person with lover energy is fully in touch with their feelings and expresses them naturally rather than hiding or suppressing them. The lover archetype pursues beauty and arises in the faculty of the heart. Beauty may be defined as everything that delights the heart. According to Avicenna, civilization on earth and the continuation of generations are possible only through the activity of desire.
When the energy of desire is bounded and balanced, it gives rise to the virtue of temperance. The subordinate virtues associated with temperance include modesty, gentleness, peacefulness, good conduct, and generosity. Under generosity, al-Tusi lists open-handedness, altruism, forgiveness, humanity, nobility, helpfulness, benevolence, and self-sacrifice.
The excess of desire is indulgence in pleasure, while its deficiency is apathy. The first can lead to excessive passion or obsession; the second can result in depression.
Final Word
By accepting the responsibility offered to humanity and undertaking a duty on earth, the purpose of human existence is to remain sensitive to what is happening around us and make a positive contribution. In this sense, everyone assumes the role of stewardship on earth. No mature person living and breathing in this world has the right to say, “I do not want this responsibility,” and this responsibility can be fulfilled only by the individual themselves. This responsibility is, in fact, the human being’s task of “LEADERSHIP” on earth.
The nature of that leadership task is unique to the individual. Therefore, the role each person plays in society and the contribution each makes to their surroundings will differ. When every individual finds their place in society and makes the contribution they are capable of making, it becomes possible to achieve unity in diversity. A jigsaw puzzle is a useful analogy: when every piece is placed where it belongs, the picture is completed. Our first duty as human beings is therefore to discover what our own contribution will be.
A person can fulfill their leadership responsibility by maturing the king, warrior, magician, and lover archetypes and embodying the virtues of justice, wisdom, temperance, and courage that arise with them. This may well be the only way to create happy individuals, a happy city, and ultimately a happy world.
References
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