Topic: Leadership and politics
1. Do you think people are born to be leaders? Why/ Why not?
Answer: No, I don’t really like to think that people are born to be leaders. Rather, leaders are made by the circumstances one lives in as well as the people one likes to identify with. Of course, it takes some special skills and “abilities”, which may or may not be inherited, to become leaders, but one has to work really hard to master those ‘skills and abilities’. However, just mastering those skills and abilities are not enough either as one would also need to put those skills and abilities to proper use in order to overcome the right challenges at the right times to be considered as “leaders”.
2. Can leadership skills be taught?Why/ Why not?
Answer: Yes, I do think that “leadership” skills, just like any other skills, can be taught and learned because “leaders” are not a different bred of people, nor they are “born” as leaders. However, the difference between the “prospective” leaders and the others is that the prospective leaders make a huge stride and are motivated to climb the ladder of success in order to help others and lead in an organization where everybody else fails. Of course, some people have some natural leadership skills and qualities, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that others can’t achieve them with hard work and dedication.
3. Why are elected politicians often so unpopular?
Answer: Well, I can provide at least “trillions” of reasons for which many elected politicians are often so unpopular. But, I will mention here only a few of them to save the so-called politicians some “embarrassments” except, of course, they just have no “shame”. Oops! It looks like I’ve just mentioned one of the reasons! Anyway, to continue, politicians are often so unpopular because they have some “unparallel” abilities to “lie” to their teeth as long as they are “awake”. Finally, they are often so despised because they are “financially corrupted”, and they can go to any length in order to oppress the poor and silence their “critiques”. They often fail to fulfil the promises they themselves make to ordinary citizens and amass wealth in unfair ways. Once elected, these politicians forget their responsibilities and exercise power for their own benefits while ignoring the wellbeing of the mass people.
4. What should a leader do to remain popular?
Answer: Remaining popular for a leader is a very tricky business because the very reasons, for which they are popular at a certain point of time, can make them unpopular at other times also. But, generally speaking, a leader has to understand the ‘pulse’ of his or her supporters most of the time. He also has to be honest about how he chooses to fight for the causes of his support base. Besides, a leader has to make sure that he doesn’t earn his livings by corruption or by “flexing” his muscle in order to remain popular. Finally, a politician has to work really hard to deliver on his promises in order to remain popular.
5. Do you think unelected heads of state are a good idea? Why/ Why not?
Answer: Honestly speaking, I really think that it is a great idea to put unelected officials as the heads of the states as long as there is solid transparency in accountability. The election in these days can be rigged easily, and, as a result, it is very possible that the real “winners” or elected officials are not exactly getting the chances to hold the office. However, it wouldn’t really be so bad itself if not so much money and time were invested in holding these elections. Besides, in some “developing” countries, we also witness a lot of violence during the election times which can actually divide an entire nation.
6. In your opinion what qualities a political leader should have?
Answer: In order to be a good political leader, a person has to have some common qualities which may include patience, fairness, commitment, and good educational qualification to understand the different situation dynamics, and the ability to arouse the public passion in a positive way. Besides, a political leader should also have the quality to connect with his supporters on a grass root level so that he is able to know about what makes his supporters happy and what makes them unhappy. Finally, he also has to be honest and dedicated to the causes of bringing solutions to the problems, not only for his supporters but also for those people who don’t support him.
