Mapping Emotional Competencies of Mahatma Gandhi: A Biographical Analysis Approach

Introduction

Emotions are an inborn, unbidden, natural quality. They affect performance or decision making in our day to day life whether personal or professional. Emotions are as important to our daily activities as our body to life. Until and unless our inner self is working well, we will not be able to cope with things that we are facing in our external environment.

Emotional Intelligence is also viewed as a tool for achieving success in personal and professional life. People with high emotional intelligence have an awareness of their feelings and can make a balanc between reason and emotions which makes them good leaders and team players. The higher up one advances in an organization, the more important Emotional Intelligence becomes (Goleman et al., 2002).

Components of Emotional Intelligence (Goleman, 2004)

Self Awareness: Self-awareness is the ability to recognize a feeling as it happens, to accurately perform self-assessments and have self-confidence. It is the keystone of emotional intelligence.

Literature Review

Leadership and Gandhi

Maya M. Porter (1999) has attempted to highlight the Service orientation of Gandhi through his concept of trusteeship, which aims at larger social benefit rather than working towards a narrow economic objective such as profit, which made him a real leader.

Bhandarker and Singh (1999) have discussed about the crisis of Leadership due to the inappropriate parenting and emphasized on the need of Transformational Leaders. They elaborated Gandhi’s mode of self transformation through self motivation.

Ananta Kumar Giri (2004) have explored Gandhian ways of improvement of quality of life by creating a culture of self development and community building efforts on the basis of sharing and concern for others.

S.K. Chakraborty (2005) has highlighted the leadership lessons to be learnt from Mahatma Gandhi. These are:

Honesty as principle, not policy

Debashis Chatterjee (2006) has pointed out that Gandhi saw the unity of emotions and feelings as a basis of integration of a whole country. The article also explains the significance of Empathy and Self Reflection.

Bansal and Srivastava (2006) have reviewed the leadership style of Mahatma Gandhi and its relevance for contemporary managers. The article highlighted Gandhi’s Creative leadership, Empathy and Service orientation.

S. Sharma (2007) has described the five management principles from Gandhian thought. He emphasized on Leadership of the self which is the essence of self development philosophy articulated by Gandhi.

Sitansu Chakravarti (2009) have highlighted the leadership of Gandhi and explained that Gandhi wanted India to become Ram Rajya (the kingdom of God) where acts would always be nested in the virtues of non violence, care for others and restraint of one’s greed. So the need is to emphasize on greed management to build overall harmony.

Lakshmaiah Botla (2009) has evaluated the Gandhian leadership style in the light of various system thinkers. The article concentrates on the application of system thinking to the Indian Freedom movement to reveal the Gandhian Foresight while leading the people of India.

Bansal and Bajpai (2011) have highlighted values of Mahatma Gandhi and their applicability in management of contemporary organizations. They have discussed how his values of Truth, Service Orientation, Non-violence, Nurturance, Punctuality, Continuous Learning, Renunciation, Humility, Equanimity and Tolerance made him the leader of masses.

Objective and Methodology

In this article an attempt has been made to map emotional competencies of Mahatma Gandhi through biographical analysis of his life. Till now in the knowledge of authors all the studies related to mapping the emotional competencies of leaders have been done through one time administration of standardized instruments. Emotional Competence is a state which is subject to change over a period of time, influenced by life experiences. Besides, the authors feel that a real insight with respect to emotional competencies of a person can be gained by studying how he/she managed her emotions over a long period of time and how the decisions taken under the varying states impacted the person as well the people and environment around him/her. Biographical analysis approach will also bring to light the struggles, the failure and the triumphs of building various competencies. This article may be considered as a proposition by the authors to use biographical analysis approach to gain real insights into the emotional competencies of people.

For this study Qualitative research design using interpretive methodology through biographical analysis is used. For the analysis a broad genre of narrative writings including individual biographies, autobiography of M.K. Gandhi, articles and papers in magazines, newspapers and journals, books and other archival material have been used to gather an in-depth understanding of Mahatma Gandhi’s Emotional Competencies. The Emotional Competency Inventory (ECI) framework given by Daniel Goleman is used to map the emotional competencies of Mahatma Gandhi using biographical analysis approach.

Birth and Childhood

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses, to be self-aware, having the ability to handle setbacks as well as enjoying success with equal parts of joy and humility are essential elements of Emotional Awareness. ‘Confession of error is like a broom that sweeps away dirt and leaves the surface cleaner than before’ (Young India, 1922). We can know by Gandhi’s own confession that he was a fearful child.

Gandhi even admits to a childhood fear of darkness and an inability to sleep without a light on, in the room. He confesses, ‘Moreover I was a coward. I used to be haunted by the fear of thieves, ghosts and serpents. I did not dare to stir out of doors at night.’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 19) Gandhi was a fearful child but from his mid twenties he chose to progress rather than regress. He explored, experimented and learned from his mistakes.

Gandhi, born in a Vaishnav ² family, where meat eating was considered to be very wrong, somehow started eating meat as his friend forced him by telling that he would become strong like Englishmen who ruled India at that time. But, he knew that his parents would be deeply shocked by his deed.

He further says ‘I knew I was lying and lying to my mother’. He realized that though it was essential to eat meat yet deceiving and lying to one’s father and mother is worse than not eating meat. He then communicated his decision to his friend and never again went back to eating meat.

These different situations of Gandhi’s life depict that how well he was aware of his emotions.

‘Truth is as hard as adamant and tender as a blossom’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 137). From childhood Gandhi realized the significance of trustworthiness and this was reinforced during the later stages of his life. As a young child Gandhi had seen the play Harishchandra ³ , which had a profound impact on his heart. For Gandhi, trustworthiness was a fundamental component, he believed deeply in the statement made by the ancient seers and sages of India: ‘Satyamave Jayate’, which means ‘Truth alone Triumphs.’ All actions of Mahatma Gandhi were guided by the spirit of Truth.

Gandhi had the commitment to the values of integrity, transparency and honesty. He made a conscious choice to live his life guided by these values. In his autobiography Gandhi held nothing back. He wrote of his shortcomings, his struggles and even of his mistakes, he did not worry at all in admitting such mistakes and faults.

Gandhi learnt at a very young age the power of honesty and self control. When Gandhi was in the first year of the high school, he had a spelling test; one of the words was ‘kettle’. Gandhi miss-spelt it, the teacher tried to prompt him, but Gandhi did not copy the spelling from the neighbour’s slate. He says ‘I never could learn the art of copying’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 6). Self regulation matters a lot for leaders. All people who are in control of their feelings and impulses—that is, people who are reasonable—are able to create an environment of trust and fairness.

The ability to manage time is absolutely critical to the success of the roles of manager and leader. There is an old saying: ‘Wasting time is sinful’, time is the most precious asset. If used correctly, it is like money in the bank. One must spend it under strict self-discipline. Gandhi himself was very particular and conscientious about time. In his childhood, rather than being late for school he would eat the food of the previous day if breakfast was not ready.

From a very young age Gandhi demonstrated empathy towards others. He loved to serve his sick father, When his father was bedridden he would rush back from school to nurse him. The seeds of urge to serve others were sowed in him in his childhood, which emerged as one of the strong component of Empathy instilled in him.

England’s Stay (1888–1891)

Gandhi was very shy by nature. On his way to England he used to hide himself in the cabin of the ship the whole day, he didn’t even had the meals at the table but always had them in the cabin. Gandhi met a person named Sjt. Mazumdar during his journey and was encouraged by him to associate with English passengers and to talk to them freely. ‘But nothing could make me conquer my shyness’ said he, as he was aware about his emotions (Gandhi, 1927, p. 40).

Gandhi had a good appetite. But being shy, during his stay with a family in England, he dared not ask for more than was put before him.

While travelling to England, he was told that it was very cold there one cannot possibly live without eating meat and having liquor. He refused to take either of it and said that, ‘I have promised my mother not to touch meat, and therefore I cannot think of taking it. If it will be found impossible to get without it, I will far rather go back to India than eat meat in order to remain there’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 40). It shows Gandhi’s ability of self control. Through this ability he kept his emotions in check and fulfilled the vow given to his mother before coming to England.

Gandhi went to London, at the tender age of 18, to study law. He realized that zeal to adopt the western life style proved to be an expensive proposition and through careful introspection he realized the importance of self restraint. He then decided to reduce his expenses by half and rented a single room, bought a stove and started cooking his own breakfast. This economic restraint not only helped him in economizing, but also brought greater harmony to his mind. He walked for half an hour to reach office and saved fares. This also gave him a habit of long walks that kept him free from illness throughout his stay in England.

He turned his mistakes into learning opportunities. Self regulation and self-awareness of his own strengths and weaknesses helped him to get the trust of others and increased his integrity and reliability which enhanced his leadership effectiveness at the later stage.

While others saw a world of limitations and obstacles, Gandhi due to his optimism saw a world of possibilities. During his stay in England Gandhi continually used to think of his home and country, as everything was strange, the people, their ways and the food. He writes ‘My mother’s love always haunted me, at night the tears would stream down my cheeks. England I could not bear, but to return to India was not to be thought of’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 42). Despite all the difficulties Gandhi was firm enough in his decisions to finish the three years there. This was the Self Motivation in Gandhi which led him to achieve success.

Gandhi experienced joy in helping and being of service to others. He stated, ‘Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in the spirit of joy’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 161).

Struggling for Opportunities in India (1891–1893)

Gandhi sailed for India, two days later arriving to the news that his mother had died: ‘My grief was even greater than over my father’s death...But I remember that I did not give myself up to any wild expression of grief’ (Gandhi, 1927), as now Gandhi became stronger in controlling his self.

When Gandhi was dealing with the first case he was not proficient enough at that time and was not able to handle it, he said, ‘I stood up, but my heart sank into my boots’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 88). He sat down and told the agent that he could not conduct the case and the agent can have the fee back from him. He went from the court, not knowing whether his client won or lost the case. He further said, ‘I was ashamed of myself and decided not to take any more cases until I had courage enough to conduct them’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 88). Due to his conscientiousness, he took the responsibility of his own performance and did not go to court again, until he went to South Africa. Gandhi wrote, ‘To err even grievously, is human. But it is human only if there is determination to mend the error and not to repeat it. The error will be forgotten if the promise is fully redeemed’ (Harijan, 1937). He believed, it’s okay to admit your weakness, to make mistakes and most importantly, to learn from them. Gandhi was very optimistic, he said ‘My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet’ (Harijan, 1940).

At this time, Gandhi was approached by a South African law firm to instruct their counsel on a big case. He agreed to take the case, as he had become familiar with travelling abroad and living overseas. However, he found it difficult to leave his wife and children in India, ‘This time I only felt the pang of parting with my wife’. (Gandhi, 1927) As he also understood his wife’s feelings and the difficulties she was facing in managing things alone.

Gandhi in South Africa: Touching New Heights (1893–1901)

Gandhi believed in self-respect. He had once said ‘They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.’

On one of his business trip from Durban to Pretoria in train he was asked to move to lower class from the first class seat on account of being a ‘coloured’ man. He insisted to travel at the same seat, but was denied. At the end he was pushed out. In that dark cold night Gandhi thought and thought again. He recalls,

I began to think of my duty. Should I fight for my rights or go back to India, or should I go on to Pretoria without minding the insults, and return to India after finishing the case? It would be cowardice to run back to India without fulfilling my obligation. The hardship to which I was subjected was superficial, only a symptom of the deep disease of color prejudice. I should try, if possible, to root out the disease and suffer hardships in the process. Redress for wrongs I should seek only to the extent that would be necessary for the removal of the color prejudice. (Gandhi, 1927, p. 104)

Gandhi made up his mind to fight back and not be a coward. This was a turning point of his life which released him from the bond of fear and gave him strength and confidence; his active non-violence began from that date. He was able to take these steps due to the awareness of his emotions and the sense of self-respect.

The Emotional Competency of Empathy was very strong in Gandhi throughout his life for every needy person. In South Africa he volunteered to give his service at a local hospital as a helper to the doctor. He also volunteered to serve the people during the black plague in Johannesburg. During Boer ⁴ and Zulu ⁵ wars, he formed the ambulance corps and helped the wounded to carry them back from the battle field, risking his life at the front; he even helped many laborers who were illiterate and indentured, without any fees. ‘This orientation to serve others was so deeply rooted in him that it became a passion for him and when he returned to India, he was ever ready to take up the cause of poor and to provide service and was so engrossed that serving and caring became the central theme of his life’. (Kumaraswamy, 2006, p. 98)

For his exemplary work he was awarded a medal by the British government. He said, ‘I had made the religion of service my own, as I felt that God could be realized only through service. And service for me was the service of India, because it came to me without my seeking, because I had an aptitude for it’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 146).

Gandhi organized the Indian community in a better way. He got in close touch with the indentured Indians and tried to build bonds between them. There came a greater awakening amongst them and the feeling that Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Tamils ⁶ , Gujratis ⁶ and Sindhis ⁶ were all Indians and children of the same motherland. At that time the white men’s attitude also changed positively towards Indians. This shows Gandhi’s ability of leveraging diversity.

Gandhi said,

My hesitancy in speech, which was once an annoyance, is now a pleasure. Its greatest benefit has been that it has taught me the economy of words. I have naturally formed the habit of restraining my thoughts. And I can now give myself a certificate that a thoughtless word hardly ever escaped my tongue or pen. (Gandhi, 1927)

Initially his shyness prevented him from speaking in public; later on it made him thoughtful and economical when he spoke. And this man, who was not able to speak in front of few people, later addressed thousands of Indians and led them towards Independence.

He was driven by self motivation, which is a kind of will power that helped him to overcome all difficulties.

A Tryst with Nation: Exploring Realities (1901–1902)

After returning from South Africa, Gandhi travelled across the length and breadth of the country to observe the real conditions of the Indian people. His objectives was to first connect with the masses, know them better and then launch the campaign for independence, he was committed to achieve his objective and adopted the lifestyle of those whom he was expected to lead. ‘Gandhi adopted wearing a minimal clothing of Khadi ⁷ and restricted his diet to only five articles of food a day, this all was done because of his urge to understand and correlate himself with millions of Indians’ (Bansal and Srivastava, 2006).

‘The success of mass movement led by Gandhi shows again the importance and power of Grassroots level contacts to sustain leadership’ (Pratap, 2009, p. 26). He had an empathetic interaction with common man and also made himself a sensitive receptor of their suffering and distress. For long lasting Leadership it is necessary to understand the problems of common man by keeping oneself in their places.

South Africa: Birth of Satyagraha ⁸ (1902–1914)

In December 1902, Gandhi returned to South Africa on the request of the Indian community. As Joseph Chamberlin, the colonial secretary was arriving from London on a visit to Natal and the Natal congress wanted Gandhi to present their case to him.

Gandhi was a good communicator; he always listened openly to all and sent convincing messages. Gandhi realized the need of print media for better communication and so he undertook the responsibility and initiated the publication of many daily, weekly and monthly publications in four languages, that is, English, Hindi, Guajarati and Tamil. Gandhi launched the weekly paper named Indian Opinion in 1904 in Africa which was published in all four languages in which he himself wrote editorials and special articles.

He wrote in his autobiography, ‘I cannot recall a word in those articles set down without thought or deliberation, or a word of conscious exaggeration, or anything merely to please. Indeed the journal became for me training in self restraint’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 263).

For Gandhi, to know oneself is not only to reflect and comprehend, but also to shape and create. He believed that we all have a mixture of good and bad in us. He stated, ‘Is there not plenty of evil in us, there is enough in me and I always see there is a difference of degree of awareness towards it’ (Kumar, 2007, p. 106). So the awareness is the key which makes the difference.

Mahatma Gandhi was one of the great empathizers of human history. He too had an encounter with a leper, who came to his door when he was living in South Africa. As he recounts in his autobiography: ‘I had not the heart to dismiss him with a meal. So I offered him shelter, dressed his wounds, and began to look after him’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 186).

Gandhi wanted ‘Sarvodaya’ ⁹ (upliftment of all)—no division between the majority and the minority. To end this division he set on a non-violent movement based on Satyagraha to expose the evils of racial discrimination (apartheid). His idea was to conquer hatred by love. Gandhi’s invention of the concept of Satyagraha was the distinct act of his innovation and creative leadership.

This lasted for eight years and in the last phase of the struggle in 1913 hundreds of Indians, went to jail and suffered all sorts of hardships. It caught a worldwide attention and proved a bad publicity for British Government. His tireless efforts, achievement drive and commitment bore fruit and he succeeded in his mission to liberate people against apartheid. His social skills facilitated him to interact and connect with the society at large and lead the mass movements to bring change.

Fight for India’s Freedom: Might vs. Right (1915–1948)

Gandhi wanted to fight for the rights of Indians. Gandhi asserted, ‘There is only one course open to me, to die but not to submit to the law. Even if the unlikely happened and everyone else flinched, leaving me to face the music alone, I am confident that I will never violate my pledge’ (Fischer, 1957, p. 95).

‘Gandhi talked about the practice of Aparigraha or non-hoarding which encourages people to think of other people’s needs to place a limit on their own, to treat planetary resources with respect and frugality and to end habits of profiteering and consumer greed’ (Jain, 2008, p. 133). Gandhi established the Sabarmati Ashram, where he lived from 1917 to 1930.

Gandhi was a change catalyst; he had the ability to foresee change and to implement them effectively. Education is the only instrument that can bring about qualitative change in human attitude and human conduct. Keeping this objective in view Mahatma Gandhi introduced basic education in order to bring changes in the pattern of colonialist educational system. He emphasized not only on theoretical but also practical aspect so both the physique and intellect of a man could be developed.

He started his public life with the orientation to serve the cause of indigo farmers in Champaran (district in Bihar) where farmers were supposed to grow indigo on 3/20th of their land and surrender the entire indigo harvest as rent. After the discovery of artificial indigo in Germany this system became irrelevant, but the English land lords demanded compensation for releasing the poor farmers from this agreement and ill treated them. Gandhi reached Champaran and conducted an enquiry into the matter. He was arrested and a large crowd descended on the court. Seeing the public reaction, the government agreed to let him conduct his inquiry. He did so in the most transparent manner and the result of his action was that the indigo farming system which had been in practice for more than a century was finally abolished. In fact throughout his life Gandhi served the common man by propagating Khadi, fighting against untouchability and trying to make Indian villages self sufficient.

Mahatma Gandhi led a labour strike at Ahmedabad in 1918, as the mill owners promised to give the workers plague bonus equivalent to 80 per cent of wages in some places to stop labour from fleeing away from plague affected area. But when the plague was over, employers wanted to discontinue the bonus for which the workers resisted. Gandhi made a close study of the facts, the cost of living and came to the conclusion that 35 per cent was the minimum amount which they deserved and must fight for it. Gandhi advised arbitration but when this was rejected by mill owners, he advised the workers to go on strike. The workers took a pledge ‘to remain firm, no matter how long the strike continued and to earn bread, during the strike, by any other honest work’ (Gandhi, 1927, p. 392).

Due to his adherence to truth all his life, he gained the trust of his people. He said, ‘My experience teaches me that truth can never be propagated by violence’ (MIB, 1966).

Gandhi went on a long march for twenty four days, across 200 hundred miles to the coast to gather salt from the shore in defiance to the government’s monopoly on its collection. Salt was the powerful symbol for a Satyagraha campaign against British injustice. Dandi march was a great act of his leadership blended with truth and transparency. Gandhi knew he had to create an event to make an impact and so he took his followers on a march that encouraged the imagination of the time. He was the best team builder and had a total understanding of the human psychology and used it along with his public relation skills.

Gandhi considered time as very important; he regulated his own self and managed time properly. He wrote:

We go on cherishing dreams of the many things we would do, if and when we have the time. The time we get is just the quarter of an hour or half hour or just a few minutes. Then we say to ourselves, “well, it does not matter, there isn’t enough time now.” Thus we go on dreaming and the golden opportunities slip away. (MIB, 1969, pp. 386–387)

Even on the last day of his life, when he was late for the prayer meeting held every evening at Birla house Delhi, he said, ‘I am late by ten minutes. I hate being late’ (Fischer, 1957, p. 12).

As a person, Gandhi was simple but he demonstrated strong leadership traits. Because of his emotional awareness, self assessment, motivation and confidence he was able to overcome his weak areas and to develop the skills and ability to lead the nation. His interpersonal and social skills played a great role to give India’s freedom struggle a new vision. Values and ethics combined with Emotional Intelligence was what made him a distinct leader…. The ‘Mahatma’.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1

From Gandhi’s childhood to opportunities in India his Self Awareness was medium as he was lacking in Self confidence.

Conclusion

Gandhi introspected and managed himself consciously; he was a balanced and self aware individual. Gandhi’s life exhibits various instances and traits of a true leader. It also implies that values are the base of solid foundation of a leader’s personality. It emphasizes selfless service and sacrifice as effective concepts, which help in elevation of self-reliance from an individual to a collective norm. Power of self awareness, regulation and motivation cannot be ignored. Proper empathic engagement helps one to understand and anticipate the behaviour of another. Gandhi always tried to understand others first, this helped him to win the heart of millions. Gandhism calls for a thorough change, for a complete transformation of man’s thinking and way of life, social as well as individual. Gandhi practiced what he preached at every possible level. As leaders we need to ask ourselves to what extent do we lead by example? Gandhi’s relevance in today’s time is much more as people are educated, ambitious, aware of their rights and expressive. Hence, leaders can effectively lead only if they have their content right, but also right approach and vision for themselves and for others and the will to achieve their goals. So there is a need to develop the Emotional competency, as an emotionally competent person will have the ability of winning the respect and heart of people which is more important for today’s leaders because if people trust you, success will follow.