Help men, but do not pauperise them of their energy, lead and instruct men, but see that their initiative and originality remain intact; take others into thyself, but give them in return the full godhead of their nature. He who can do this is the leader and the guru.

– Sri Aurobindo

The mantra of old leadership is Enforcement by Law. The mantra of new leadership is Unfoldment through Liberty or in the striking phrase of Tom Peters, “Liberation Management”. The main challenge of new leadership is to create an environment which leads to a free and harmonious unfoldment of human potential in the consciousness of the individual and the group and an equally free and harmonious self-expression of this unfolding human potential in the outer life of the group.

The values of old leadership are authority, hierarchy, command and control, fear of punishment, lure of reward, rules and regulation, rigid dogma or ideology, order of uniformity, rational analysis. The values of new leadership are living example, empowerment, intuition, vision, empathy, understanding, purpose, values, non-dogmatic flexibility, integrating diversity. The old leader is bent on managing others, but the new leader is anchored in self-management. The old leader is satisfied with the routine and efficiency of statuesque. The new leader has to embrace change and foster creativity, innovation, evolution and spiritual growth.

The new leader will perceive the truth of spiritual evolution of consciousness and the need for spiritual progress. He understands that only in the intuitive knowledge of the spiritual consciousness of unity where he can feel his oneness with all existence, he can unify and harmonise the interests, claims and realities of life with the higher values and ideals of the mind and spirit. So, the new leader strives consciously to attain this spiritual consciousness and intuitive knowledge through an inner discipline.

In the segment of life he leads, he will felicitate this higher evolution of consciousness within his sphere of influence. The eminent scientist and evolutionary thinker, Teil-hard-de-chardin coined the world “Evolutor.” He said, the divine is the Evolutor which means He makes the world evolve towards higher orders of life. The New Leader will be such an evolutor and a human representative of the Divine Evolutor.