There are thousands of books on leadership. Most talk about vision, courage, integrity, sacrifice and service. Ignore them.Here are ten lessons, easy and quick.
1. Spread fear.
Tell people their religion, community, culture, livelihood and future are under attack. Better still, convince them that the entire universe is conspiring against “Us.” Once people feel surrounded, they stop asking questions and start looking for a saviour.
2. Lie — With full confidence.
A lie spoken with confidence often travels faster than a truth spoken with caution. Speak a lie with so much confidence that even the “truth” starts doubting itself. Repeat it endlessly. Soon your followers will repeat it for you, defend it for you and attack anyone who questions it. No one is going to check the facts, so keep on lying. Lie to everyone, near and dear included.
3. Manufacture a narrative.
Facts are cumbersome. Narratives are neat, quick and easy to manufacture. Pick convenient facts, bury inconvenient ones, add outrage and emotion. Keep “Us” permanently innocent and “Them” permanently guilty. Anyone who disagrees? Brand him a traitor, agent, anti-national, sell-out or enemy.
4. Keep people uneducated, uninformed and dependent.
An uneducated society listens. An educated society questions. Questions are dangerous. So give people slogans, give them dharnas, give them fear, give them a false narrative, but not knowledge. Keep them deprived enough to need you and hopeful enough to keep waiting for you. Create the problem incognito and give solution like alms.
5. Oppose everything.
If the government builds a road, find a scam. Opens a university? Find a conspiracy. Announces a welfare scheme? Create doubt. Brings development? Question its motive. Never allow your opponent even accidental credit.
6. Never finish a debate.
Debate is dangerous because it may reach facts. If trapped, change the subject. Shout. Interrupt. Make a fresh allegation. Walk out. Run away if necessary. The objective is not to win the argument; it is to prevent the argument from concluding. Threat of dharna is easiest way.
7. First look like a leader.
White kurta-pyjama: compulsory. Flashy SUV: desirable. Keep a few permanent chamchas nearby to shout, Leader sahib —- Zindabad!!!. Importance must be displayed before it is earned.
8. Live on camera.
Post everything on Facebook. Meeting, wedding, condolence visit, tea, handshake, garland, especially over the dead. At social functions, if a camera is recording, locate every elderly person in sight and touch their knees or feet. Bend deeply. Make sure the cameraman gets the frame right. Politics has become theatre with better costumes and larger audiences. Film stars at least admit they are acting. Some politicians perform twenty-four hours a day. At times, Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan may have reason to worry. There should be Oscars for best actors amongst politicians too.
9. Bury your conscience (Zamreer) ten feet deep.
Golden rule: Leader and conscience are inversely proportional. Lower the conscience, better it is for becoming a good leader. Before political bosses, self-respect is to be left out of the room, like shoes or slippers. Bend when required. Flatter when useful. Fall at feet if the ticket demands it. Use ego on the juniors. Once you reach your goal, cut the old loyals, find new one. Old ones know your past and truth. So cut them out, find new ones. In other words, use, throw and forget.
So bury it 10 feet deep.
10. Never solve a useful problem.
A solved problem has no electoral value. Keep grievances alive, fears simmering and enemies permanently available. Every few years, revive the same issue, make the same speech and promise a new solution.
And remember: call all of this “service to the people.”
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