The book “The Leadership Challenge” by Kouzes and Posner is one of the deepest and meaningful studies on the topic of leadership. The book is a result of continuous research over a period of 25 years. Kouzes and Posner have introduced a new set of leadership guidelines, based upon more than thirty years of research, in their book first published in 2010, The Truth About Leadership. In their new volume, Kouzes and Posner set out to provide 10 universal truths of leadership. The authors posit that while the context of leadership has changed since their research began, those behaviors and habits that are successful have not. They proposed a collection of fundamental principles that inform and support the practices of leadership. The authors said that this book is different from their previous works for three reasons: this is a bolder book, making claims about leadership practices based upon all of their research; this research and data is all newer than when they wrote their original book; and these truths are universal because they are global and cross-generational.
We mention these works because they typify the best in modern empirical research in the field of leadership. The leadership ideas, concepts, laws, practices and models proposed in these books are supported by reliable empirical data which is global and covers various levels of leadership from project leaders to CEOs and also various environments of leadership from schools, communities, sports, businesses and government. Although the example cases mentioned are numerous, can we find a single person in history that exemplifies all these leadership truths and principles as proposed by these well researched modern theories of leadership?
We started to look at the primary characteristic of leadership that the two researchers studied from the responses of more than one and a half million individuals across the six continents. Among the questions they asked from the 1.5 million respondents was “What are the characteristics you like to see in the leader that you follow willingly?” The first results of the study appeared in 1998 and the research continued until today across the six continents. Since the first tabulation of the results, the primary preferred characteristic of leadership has not changed. In the second edition of their book, Credibility published in 2010, the authors highlighted that “Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership” (p. 15).
In this book, the two authors clarified the meaning of credibility through various examples and anecdotes but concluded that,
“Of all the attributes of credibility, however, one is unquestionably of greatest importance. The dimension of honesty accounts for more of the variance in believability than all other factors combined. Being seen as someone who can be trusted, who has high integrity, and who is honest and truthful is essential to being believed” (p. 18).
Credibility then is about truthfulness and honesty.
This conclusion is a pleasant surprise since the expression “truthfulness and honesty” relates to something sacred to us Muslims. We have been taught from our childhood that truthfulness (الصدق) and honesty (الأمانة) are two characteristics that are considered mandatory for all Messengers of Allah (SWT). In fact our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was called As-Sadiq Al-Amin even before he was appointed a Prophet and a Messenger. Even the disbelievers in Mecca acknowledged him (SAW) likewise and called him (SAW) by this salutation. Truthfulness and honesty are two primary characteristics binding on anyone who leads others without force. When the leader exemplifies these two characteristics people will trust him and truly follow him.
On mount Safa nearby Kaabah in Mecca, an event occurred which ascertained that truthfulness (الصدق) makes people trust the leader and willing to follow him. Narrated Ibnu Abbas: When the verse: “And warn your tribe of near-kindred”, was revealed, the Prophet ascended the Safa (mountain) and started calling, “O Bani Fihr! O Bani ‘Adi!”, addressing the various tribes of Quraish till they were assembled. Those who could not come themselves, sent their messengers to see what was there. Abu Lahab and other people from Quraish came and the Prophet then said, “Suppose I told you that there is an (enemy) cavalry in the valley intending to attack you, would you believe me?” They said, “Yes, for we have not found you telling anything other than the truth.” He then said, “I am a warner to you in face of a terrific punishment.” Abu Lahab said (to the Prophet) “May your hands perish all this day. Is it for this purpose you have gathered us?” Then it was revealed: “Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he! His wealth and his children will not profit him ...” [Al-Quran, 111:1-5]
During the night of Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) migration to Medina (Hijrah), another event happened which ascertained that honesty (الأمانة) is a primary characteristic of the leader who seeks to bring about change among his followers and the environment they are in. In the night of his (SAW) Hijrah, the Prophet (SAW) left his cousin ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (RA) to sleep on his bed and made him stay in Mecca for a while. All of us expect that this act was only to distract and deceive the Quraish. Actually another major purpose was also for ‘Ali to return the things that the various people of Quraish entrusted upon the Prophet (SAW) to keep. It was indeed strange that they opposed him (SAW) and wanted to even kill him, but when they wanted to entrust their belongings for safe keeping, they could not find anyone else more truthful and honest than Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
Truthfulness and honesty are the moral foundations of leadership. Many Western scholars of leadership promote this concept. Kouzes and Posner conclude that truthfulness and honesty are the foundations of credibility and “Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership”. In history, only the messengers of Allah (SWT) embody these two traits. Our Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the seal and leader of the prophets and messengers, was the pristine example of truthfulness and honesty.
If Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is the best example of credibility from the conceptual point of view, did he also exemplify the various practical meanings of credibility and the other laws and practices of leadership that emanate from credibility as articulated by modern research? Our future postings are part of a humble effort to map the various laws, principles and roles of modern leadership theories with examples from the history and biography of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). We used the 10 universal truths of leadership by Kouzes and Posner as a sample recent work on modern leadership theory. Based on our readings on other modern leadership theories, this work is a fair representation of the other models. We will state the universal truths in sequence and then append examples from the history and biography of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) that relate to each universal truth. These examples are taken from the various books of Seerah and Hadith that we have referenced.
Azman Hussin
LeadUS