What are the keys to authentic political leadership?

What are the keys to authentic political leadership?

Do our candidates for president of the government have political leadership? What guides political leaders today? The common good? Ethics? Their ambitions? What are the true motivations of politicians to contribute to making the best decisions or their need to perpetuate themselves in the seats of power as their only professional outlet? Is it essentially the inspiration or mobilization of followers? Is the leader a defender of values?

Keys to authentic political leadership

But the reality is that we have had four elections in four years, have the candidates as leaders failed? Politics is the only profession for which it is not considered necessary to have any training. They may be right, but it is no less true that the person who claims to be a leader in the political arena must display an indispensable quality, political leadership.

All these questions we have asked our professor of the official master in people management and management. The fundamental characteristic of political leaders is that when they are elected, they acquire power. “Legitimate power to manage the resources of society. Our resources. In addition to making decisions that will affect society as a whole”.

What are the true motivations of politicians?

Contribute to making the best decisions or their need to perpetuate themselves in the seats of power as their only professional outlet?

In this period, we have seen mistrust, personal attacks, and blockades on all sides, alliances. They are created but then broken, city councils distributed: half of the legislature for me and the second half for you. This is a competition for power and not an attempt to do the best for the country.

For this reason, and psychologically speaking, from the behaviors shown by our political candidates, “a motivation for achievement cannot be inferred, but rather a motivation for power. Just the opposite of a true leader. An authentic leader has to know how to give in, facilitate positions, transmit positive emotions and sacrifice their interests and desires if that is good for the group (in our case, the country)…. Have we seen any of this in this period? I’m afraid not: the emotions and feelings that our candidates convey are anger and mistrust.

From the psychological perspective

One of the explanatory models of political leadership that would best fit the ideas of a good political leader is that of servant leadership. According to our teacher, this model, which has shown positive effects on organizations, “Emphasizes the desire of servant leaders, in this case, political leaders, to serve the growth of the community, sacrificing their own interests if necessary.”

Extrapolating this model to the political sphere, political leaders “Should prioritize the needs, development, and interests of society and future generations, over their own.”

Specifically, Nelson Mandela is a clear example of political leaders who knew how to exercise power and influence the lives of millions of people. After years in prison, he fought for a cause, managed to conquer power, and knew how to work on the concerns that inspired his struggles. But he did not come to power to improvise. In fact, he retired when his people still wanted him.

With so many interests involved, “politics is currently a great show and a great business, where political campaigns are planned and designed very well as if it were a product launch.”

Political leaders are important, but behind, as we have indicated, many professionals support them. Opinion, image, marketing consultants … In the world of politics and approaching elections, it is increasingly important to manage social networks well and that requires professionals to do so.

What mark should a political leader leave?

To answer this question, we could think of gestures that benefit us all: the development of laws that respect and promote human and workers’ rights, a clean environment, peace agreements, gestures of reconciliation between opposing peoples, true support for research and entrepreneurs, improvement of the quality of life, acts of service to society, reduction of inequalities and also economic growth of course, but not at the cost of the above.

When asked whether a political leader is born or made? It is done and it is learned. Leadership is not a static trait or characteristic that resides solely in the leader. Still, it is a process that takes place over time, in which the leader, the citizens, and the situation in which they are involved are interactively involved. Leadership emerges.

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Everett Vasquez