The Dictator's mugshot
I met a dictator once. Manuel Noriega. The military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989. I thought he was a nice guy.
The year was 1985 and the occasion was a Soka Gakkai World Peace Culture Festival. 20,000 Buddhists, mainly from the US and Japan (all Soka Gakkai Buddhists) descended on Waikiki, Hawaii the week of July 4th. We had a parade down Kalakaua Avenue with 13,000 people carrying American flags and we presented a petition to the city of Honolulu with 250,000 signatures calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, both of which, if memory serves, ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records. And we had a musical extravaganza at the Waikiki Shell Amphitheater to boot.
The day after the festival my job was to drive a vanload of people out to the airport to give two attendees, the Mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley, and the aforementioned dictator, Gen. Noriega, a grand send-off. I think there were about fifteen of us. I let everyone out and then it took me forever to find a parking place, so I missed saying goodbye to the Mayor, but I got there in time for Noriega. Now, the extent of this historic meeting was me standing in a line waiting for him to pass by to shake hands and then waving goodbye as he departed for the plane. Although this brief observation is not much to go on, especially in that setting, but to me he came off as a rather low-key person. And a friendly sort. Plus, he had no entourage, that I saw. I had the impression he was traveling by himself and I thought that told a story.
Anyway, I always felt he got a raw deal, especially since the US put him into power and probably got him started dealing in drugs in the first place. We have a bad habit of doing stuff like that. The invasion of Panama in 1989, when Noriega was captured and detained as a prisoner of war, had very little to do with him and everything to do with neutralizing the Panamanian Defense Forces so no one would get any cute ideas when Panama assumed command of the Canal.
So, speaking of dictators . . . Yesterday was a disappointing day for the people of Egypt, and for all those who support them with hearts and minds. Apparently, Mubarak is a proud and arrogant man, but not a very wise one. He has spoken several times of his 62 years of service, and yet, future generations will remember only these days when the Egyptian people asked him to leave and he refused, unable or unwilling to read the writing on the wall.
Expanding on a famous Chinese proverb, Winston Churchill once said, “Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the tigers are getting hungry.” (The ancient proverb is about how it is hard to dismount when one is riding a tiger.)
Lao Tzu, the "Old Master"
Lao Tzu was a Chinese philosopher whose teachings have generated numerous proverbs, many of which have become part of our Western lexicon. Actually, no one is sure there was a Lao Tzu, but the book attributed to him, Tao Te Ching, is one of the oldest books still in existence.
Many today look to this book for guidance on life and how to be a leader. There are countless seminars and courses, as well as quite a few books devoted to distilling thoughts and lessons from the Tao Te Ching on the subject of leadership. One of these books (“The Tao of Leadership”) proudly proclaims that many Fortune 500 corporations, including IBM, Mitsubishi, and Prudential, use it as a management/leadership training text.
Now, you don’t need me to tell you that Hosni Mubarak could use some good advice on leadership. In light of his appallingly bad example as a leader, I thought it would be interesting and timely to present the following:
Lao Tzu’s Principles for Leadership
The best leaders are those whose presence is barely known by others.
Leaders value their words highly and use them sparingly.
Because a leader has faith in others, then others have faith in his or her leadership.
When a leader’s work is done, others will say: we did it ourselves.
Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.
To lead people, walk beside them.
Love people and lead without cunning or manipulation.
The ancient leaders who followed the Tao did not give people elaborate strategies, but held to a simple practice. It is hard to lead while trying to be clever. Too much cleverness undermines the people’s harmony. Those who lead without such strategies bring benefit to all.
By being lower, rivers and seas are able to receive the homage and tribute of all the valley streams, thus they rule over them all. Therefore, it is a wise leader, wishing to be above the people, who by his words puts himself below them, and, wishing to be before them, follows them.
Leaders go first by putting themselves last. It is from their selflessness that they are able to fulfill themselves.
It is good to empower people, so that no one is wasted.
The best leaders are effective because they do not try to seize power. They are effective because they are not conceited, proud or arrogant.
The wise keep their word and do not pressure others.
