Power through Deception

Image Courtesy: storgram.com

“Man Vs. Wild” host bear Grylls set his foot in India for an adventure into the wild with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The episode broke worldwide viewership records by clocking a whopping 3.6 billion impressions in a two-weeks run time that made it the world’s most-trending televised event.

The promo of the episode was so frequently televised across the Discovery network that it was impossible to not remember the telecast day and time of the episode. Being an ardent fan of the wild, I looked forward to this adventure filmed in Corbett National Park, the oldest national park in India established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal Tiger. I prefer commentary based wildlife shows or documentaries over self-proclaimed “survivalist” exaggerating jeopardy for the sake of drama on television. But the temptation of seeing “the most important man in India” set out on an adventure in a jungle surrounded by tigers was too intriguing to pass.

Disappointed is a polite way of saying that it was a tasteless episode as well as embarrassing to see my Prime Minister live up to his image of a megalomaniac. He was anything but inspiring, charismatic or credible. At various points in the episode, he seemed insufferable, due to his inability to respond intelligently or spew out scripted philosophies that were so unnecessary and fake. Which brings me to the crux of this long preamble.

As power grows, so does insecurity.

Paranoia replaces confidence. Need for claiming monopoly at whatever cost. A combination of great power and a deep sense of insecurity does not bode well for the institution or organization lead by this mentality.

There are many common traits of an insecure leader. But I will list the few that are relevant to my TV viewing experience:

• My way or the highway: It’s all about them. They don’t care about anything except justifying their means to the end that they desire. The episode in question reeks of a monstrous propaganda stunt, that’s all.

• Pretending not to understand others: Responding appropriately requires good listening skills. The lack of it stems from being self-consumed with one’s own ideas to the point of ignoring or devaluing any response. That is exactly how I felt about the interaction between the host and guest on Man vs. Wild. Grylls’s regular attempt to have a conversation with his guest was met abruptly and out of context almost every time.

• Use the cover of other people: It’s a technique to deflect focus from one’s personal ambitions or desires and pin it on something or someone else. Refer to the statement, “my country decided I needed to do this job”, the perfect example to convey altruism. But to the discerning viewer, it is anything but that.

• Walkless Talk: Talking indignantly and frequently about what “should” be done even though he/she does very little of it. It just seems like they are because they talk about it so much. Never mind that this is a leader allegedly involved in the carnage in Gujarat in 2002. This is Modi the sage and nature lover who reminds us, as Grylls hands him a spear fashioned out of bark and virility, that his beliefs don’t allow him to kill.

• Bravado or grandiose: People bragging about their lifestyle may very well be doing so to convince themselves that they are truly great. It’s no coincidence that the PM tells Grylls that it’s his first holiday in 18 years or how he has never felt fear or how in his mind he is “above all this”, this referring to his impoverished childhood, his teens spent learning from yogis in the Himalayas or his 13 years as chief minister of Gujarat.

Many leaders do not realize how deeply their insecurities play into their leadership style. But they are often embarrassingly obvious to others. A quote by Orson Scott Card is a befitting summary.

“Money only buys illusion of power. Real power is the force of will – will strong enough that others bend to it for its own sake, and follow it willingly. Power that is won through deception will evaporate under the hot light of truth.”