University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

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and the Third Reich’s ruin. Mahatma Gandhi’s self-image and external image
matched well all through his life because he lived as he preached: he followed the
non-violence (ahimsa) principle even in the most critical situations, swore always to
tell the truth, lived modestly and remained a vegetarian. In this way he gained trust,
respect and influence. This resulted in independent India, and, although violent
bursts could not be prevented during the country’s division into India and Pakistan,
present-day India is the world’s largest democracy and most of its inhabitants are
living modestly with hardly any harmful impact on the environment.
How the gap between self-image and external image is bridged forms a part of the
solution to finding a responsible leadership identity. This often involves a review of
one’s time perspective.
Time Perspective
When an individual, organization or society reconsiders its time perspective, the
following questions should be answered: Can you distinguish immediate gratification
from long-term goals? Have you learned to balance between jumping at opportunities
as soon as they are presented and working steadily and patiently towards a long-term
goal? While many of us react on ad hoc impulses and have to bear the consequences,
wise people, organizations and societies can see years and even decades into the
future.
Mahatma Gandhi adopted a long-term approach to making a difference. He, as a
lawyer, started his work for independent India in 1915 by empowering farmers and
villagers to improve their living conditions and to stand up to the exploitation by
British authorities. His grass-root peaceful resistance strategies made him famous all
over India and the leader of Indian National Congress in 1921. Gandhi was
imprisoned for 1922-24 for organizing a massive civil disobedience campaign
(Gandhi 1940). He continued encouraging and preparing Indians for independence
by campaigns such as the Salt March in 1930 and Quit India Movement during the
Second World War. He was arrested again in 1942 and held in custody for two years
(Gandhi 1956). In 1947 India gained independence and its Muslim-majority areas
formed Pakistan. Gandhi strictly opposed the partition of the country into India and
Pakistan because of the violence it would cause, and launched a fast to advocate his
point of view, but in vain. Yet his 30-year long campaign to give India to the Indians
shows how a genuinely responsible leader’s patient, altruistic work towards a goal
can bring remarkable outcomes.
Adolf Hitler also had a long-term plan: he wanted to create an all-powerful Third
Reich with him as the Dictator. The humiliations suffered in the First World War
made Germans susceptible to his grandiose dream. He was an excellent orator and
dramatic performer, which earned him a Chancellorship in 1933. Like most
psychopaths, he fooled reasonable citizens and world leaders alike to believe that he
had good motives, but the reality of his egoistic goals was gradually revealed from
his actions – too late, though, to prevent the Holocaust, Second World War and loss
of over 70 millions lives. By 1942 the Allies had gained the upper hand, and in 1945,
at the end of the war, Hitler committed suicide instead of taking responsibility for his
actions.