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Gandhi Leadership Qualities

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Submitted By danpisauro
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Being the Change: Leadership Qualities that Transformed a Nation Abstract
This study is an analysis of the essential leadership styles utilized by Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle to gain Indian independence from Great Britain. While his time in South Africa undoubtedly effected Gandhi’s decisions in India, this paper focuses primarily on the “Gandhian” era of India from 1915 to his death in 1948. This analysis does not progress chronologically throughout Gandhi’s life, rather, I examine several different events through the scope of his many different leadership qualities. Being the Change: Leadership Qualities that Transformed a Nation Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, lived from 1869 to 1948, and is better known as Mahatma meaning high-souled, or Bapu in India, which means Father. Gandhi is well known throughout history for leading India to independence through non-violent means. He is often regarded as one of the greatest leaders of all time, and the high esteem in which Gandhi is regarded is pretty much universally accepted throughout the world. What I’m interested in here, however, is determining what specific leadership skills Gandhi mastered in order to achieve not only independence from a harsh, oppressive superpower, but also, the salvation of his followers. That is the issue that I will explore in this glimpse into the life of possibly, the greatest leader the world has ever known. By looking at some specific events, I will show how Gandhi employed both servant, and transformational leadership styles, and also, how he was a remarkable visionary.
In order to comprehend Gandhi’s accomplishments, it is first necessary to understand the type of place India was prior to his rise as a leader. The British took direct control of India in 1858, which marked the beginning of what is referred to as the British Raj. (Kaul, 2011) British rule over India was

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