Leadership and Values in Language Education - Al Akhawayn ...

94Proceedings of the 27 th MATE Annual ConferenceEvery morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastestlion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it mustrun faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether youare a lion or a gazelle- when the sun comes up, you’d better be running (cited inDaff, 1999:168).As we can see from this short passage, the use of the terms “gazelle” and “lion”goes beyond the literal meaning to convey the idea of hard work, a non-stop race.The image is so striking that it makes the listener deeply involved and willing tounderstand the metaphorical use of the language. The gazelle seems to representthe weak (the workers) and the lion stands for the strong (the boss). The shortpassage above shows that it is a matter of life or death if one of these two animalsdoes not run fast (starve/killed). The act of “running” means competition andsacrifice to maximize production in the workplace. In this way, the leader makeshis language powerful and inspiring, which helps him communicate his messageeffectively while gaining the admiration and respect of his followers. In fact, it isoften the case that the audience go beyond the verbal interaction while listening toa leader. They pay more attention to his appearance and other features as thefollowing paragraph reveals.5. Symbols and informal communicationIt is undeniable that leaders are watched, and their appearance, behaviour, actionsand attitudes are symbolic to others. Symbols are a powerful tool forcommunicating what is important. Therefore, leaders are aware of what theysignal to others in addition to verbal messages. Indeed, nonverbal communication,i.e., messages transmitted through action and behaviour accounts for over one halfof the entire message received in a personal encounter. People interpret Leaderactions as symbols, just as they attach meaning to words. Leaders use their actionsto symbolize their vision and their commitment to it. They draw attention tospecific values and ideas, as used to be the case with Martin Luther King when hewas defending the rights of black Americans in the sixties, or Nelson Mandelawhen he was fighting apartheid in South Africa. What makes the leader’s speechmore influential is when he resorts to informal communication. This strategy ofinformality narrows down the gap between the speaker and listeners. It isimportant not only because it is symbolic of leader vision, but also because it hasgreat impact on participants. Some Moroccan political leaders resort to itconsciously or unconsciously, but it is their right to use all strategies to gain theattention of the audience, to influence the members of the listeners and push themto act in the direction one is driving at.