Following the Romanian news and giving attention to what is happening around me, I try to identify a few causes of the many inconveniences in Romanian society. Maybe some people could say “don’t think too much” or as our Transylvanian poet George Cosbuc wrote in his poem called “Fulger’s dead” - “don’t search for these reasons/because understanding them only makes you mad”. But in my opinion, it isn’t a crazy thing to try to understand what is happening with your country, in your society and consequently what is happening in your life. So, continuing my investigations, I discovered that there is a lack of leadership in almost all areas, from politics to the economy, from the media to business.

Having the determination to understand the roots of this situation I set few core questions and I try to identify potential answers. Why, here in Romania after more than 20 years from the dropping of the Communist regime, the leadership is quasi- nonexistent?

One potential answer could be that at the level of the Romanian society, there isn’t a clear difference between leadership and management. At the same time, due to our history, in many Romanians' mentality the leader is seen as a tough dictator or as a warm father figure.

For the confusion between leader and manager, one cause of the misunderstanding could be the communist years, when so called collective administration was carried out by the conducting role of the Communist Party. In fact, all economical, financial and administrative decisions were taken by the party and the directors/administrators of the state owned enterprises only put in practice the Party directives. In such situations we see not only a weak leadership in economy, but we could also think that the directors were a type of managers and the general committees of the workers were similar to the company boards of directors. Due to the characteristics of the totalitarian regime, the only accepted leader was the head of party and the state. The dictator leader and/or father figure leader are two very common icons in our history, from Vlad the Impaler, who is often invoked as the archetypal strong leader who could solve our present problems, to President Iliescu who was seen by many Romanians as a good and understanding father of our nation. These are two paradigms that our society doesn’t seem able to escape.

What do we need to do?

Maybe to be aware of the huge changes of our global world and to look more carefully at what is happening around us in Europe and in the World. We, Romanians, should take into account that we are part of a constantly changing global society and try to adapt to it.

How should we adapt?

A very effective way to adapt is to seek and to have the determination to obtain the leadership abilities required, namely the proper knowledge, skills and attitudes. The determination should be based on an awareness of the professionalization of the leadership.

The knowledge is easy to gain by learning about what leadership means, what are the similarities and the gaps between the leader and the manager, which are the main leadership principles.

As in any other activity field, the skills are obtained through understanding, accepting and practicing what we have learned. At a social level, we should be aware that some of the “golden laws” of leadership are difficult to implement in our society because of history, traditions, personal experiences, and above all, our mentalities.

For instance, a real leader should understand that leadership develops daily, not in a day, that the daily work for our personal development is a MUST. Our leaders should only know, understand, accept and put in practice what British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli wrote: “To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.” “One secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”

So, by being aware of our ignorance and of our daily need for personal development, we could gain day by day our leadership expertise. We should be cautious of pride when it leads to arrogance and remember that Rome wasn't built in a day or that, according to the Bible, it took God a whole week to make the world!

Another “golden law” of leadership says that a leader is somebody who is able to change course when necessary and to overcome any problems related to change. A very common problem in Romania is a lack of vision, strategy and tactics. Leader don’t see alternative scenarios and/or don’t know how to manage exceptional situations. Above all, they aren’t aware that the will and ability to effect change is a must for leadership.

A leader should understand the human side of leadership and that human relationships essential to success. The leader should be aware of the fact that people are interested in his/her human qualities and that the members of any team usually buy into the leader, not his/her vision.

From this idea arises the Law of trust, which is necessary in leadership as well as in daily life. Usually people only follow leaders in whom they trust, and this trust's main sources are the leader’s human qualities and his/her professionalism. Often this means: vision, strategy, tactics, having priorities (another “golden law”), conflict management, change management. At the same time the trust law is a good fundamental for a fair business and honest relations between the leader and his/her team and between the members of the team.

In many cases in Romania, people think they are true leaders, but are really only managers. They believe that they must be tough and imperious and listened to. This way of being only demonstrates the weakness of the so called leader, who will never the gain trust of his/her team, who will never delegate responsibilities (another important law for a proper leadership) and who, in many cases, lacks basic leadership skills. Toughness is a characteristic of many formal leaders, who often consider it as the main quality of their leadership. Very often it has the opposite effect to that which is desired. People donot really listen, they are only afraid and they try to find another job as soon as possible. The leader’s toughness is, in Romanian society, a frequent cause of high staff turnovers, which cause instability in the company/party/organization and reduce performance.

Last but not least, leaders must know when they should drop out, choosing the right moment and being content by they have left behind. So, leaders must give up at the right moment (the law of sacrifice), happy with their legacy (the law of legacy). Giving up at the right moment content with what has been built and with the way well prepared for a follower is so rare in Romania that, in my opinion, it will take many years to be put into practice, if it ever happens at all. Staying in a leadership position forever is a symptom of the apotheosis practiced by many Romanian leaders, who believe they are impossible to replace.

Is Romanian society able to accept and to put into practice these few golden laws of leadership?

In fact, this question concerns attitude, but solving it needs knowledge, skills and, above all, the right set of values at a social level. Do we have them? My answer is no, but this is another story.

What are the consequences of the lack of leadership in Romania society?

1. Absence of vision, strategy and proper tactics at the social, the public, entrepreneurial and political level

2. The promotion of false “values” in many public entities, economic and political positions.

3. A wrong perception of how a leader should be

4. Absence of a real school of leadership

5. Absence of professional leaders.

In this general context, are there any positive signs?

There are a few signs of professional leadership in private enterprise and the media, but the danger is at a social level, where the lack of professional leadership in the public authorities and in politics can have damaging results on the entire society.

By Mariana Ganea, Guest Writer 

(phoot source: sxc.hu)