VISIONARY LEADERSHIP

Vision, Communication, Empowerment, and Discipline

Louay Safi

Leadership is, arguably, the most important and complex act in human life. Leadership is often perceived as a position of power and authority endowed on particular individuals by organizations and governments.

While power and authority are obvious manifestations of the act of leadership, leadership involves much more than the exercise of power and authority. To lead is essentially to move ahead of others; to guide and to show the way; and to be willing to withstand friction, resistance, and uncertainty, often experienced by those who move ahead of others and advance into higher grounds and uncharted territories.

Leadership is, evidently, one of the most elusive concepts and is exceedingly difficult to pin down, as it continues to manifest itself in individuals who possess different qualities and styles. This has given rise to the contingency theory of leadership. According to this theory, leadership hinges more on the circumstances surrounding the act of leaders, rather than any specific set of traits or skills, or particular leadership styles. Simply put, contingency theory argues that it is the circumstance in which people find themselves is make particular traits or styles more effective than others. Hence, what might be considered useful traits or styles under certain circumstance may turn out to be unhelpful under another.

Contingency theory of leadership underscore an important fact, which we will highlight further below: traits and styles do not by themselves give rise to leadership unless they are bought to bear on the challenges and difficulties facing a particular group of people. Traits, qualities, and styles are, nonetheless, important aspects of understanding leadership, and have, therefore, always constitute, since time immemorial, the key to examining the act of leadership.

Abu Ja’far al Mansur, the founder of the ‘Abbasid state, posed, for one, the leadership question to some of his confidants:

Who is the hawk of Quraysh? They replied: The Commander of the Faithful (Amir al Mu’minin) who established the reign, quieted upheavals, and extinguished ordeals. He said: You have not answered my question. They said: Is it Mu‘awiyah? He said: No. They said: Is it ‘Abd al Malik bin Marwan? He said: No. They said: Who else, O Commander of the Faithful? He said: ‘Abd al Rahman bin Mu’awiyah, who escaped by his cunning the spearheads of the lances and the blades of the swords, traveling the desert, and sailing the seas, until he entered an alien territory. [There] he organized cities, mobilized armies, and reestablished his reign after it was completely lost, by good management and strong resolve. Mu‘awiyah rose to his stature through the support of ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, whose backing allowed him to overcome difficulties; ‘Abd al malik, because of previous appointment; and the Commander of the Faithful through the struggle of his kin and the solidarity of his partisans. But ‘Abd al Rahman did it alone, with the support of none other than his own judgment, depending on no one but his own resolve. (Ibn al Athir, 5:182)

Identifying leadership and determining its qualities and contributions to collective life is an ancient concern of people. Abu Ja’far al Mansur, an eminent Muslim leader in his own right, raised the question in a yet practical way. By asking his companions to identify the “hawk of Quraysh,” he was asking them to name the foremost leader of a leading Arab tribe. For the desert Arabs, the hawk was an exotic animal and a superior bird known for its sharp vision, precision, and swiftness.

Similarly, the Quraysh was a leading tribe and a tribe of leaders both before and after the advent of Islam. The names suggested by al Mansur’s companions, as well as the one he proposed, are those of the founders of three powerful Islamic states: Mu’awiyah (the founder of t

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