These bad leaders!

You know, as a kid, you tend to aim for becoming the top of the leadership ladder..in anything. AND, almost always, the driving factor for that ambition is this idea that 'once you become a leader, you can do as you please.' It actually does not need a philosopher to let you know that you are wrong in that assumption IF you actually become a leader. If not, and if you are particularly prone to being blind to other people's problems, you could continue to think that leaders have a plum life of doing whatever they want.

But philosophers are not content to just tell you what you would anyway know...that leaders have their own set of problems and limitations that keep them from doing as they please. No, they go further and set restrictive limits on the sort of character you need to possess to BE a good leader. (It is entirely a different thing as to whether YOUR leaders qualify as good leaders and you can debate that elsewhere.)

So, Tiru is unlikely to be left behind in this. He has this to say...

Ivaralum maanbirandha maanamum maanaa uvagaiyum yedham iraikku - Tirukkural

Stinginess in rewarding, overweening pride and over-indulgence in low pleasures disgrace a leader - Loose Translation

So, there ARE characteristics that a leader ought not to possess. When you are a leader, you do not actually DO everything with your own two hands. You GET things done. AND to those who actually DO those things it is you who needs to reward and acknowledge their contributions. To be stingy in giving those rewards ill-becomes the leader, according to Tiru. AND quite rightly so. IF you fail in the rewards, you may not get the same people to work with the same enthusiasm the next time around. Unless, of course, you could say 'Off with your head'...which would then mean everyone scrambles to hide their abilities and hopes to escape your notice.

This 'maanbu irandha maanam' is capable of various interpretations. A literal translation would be a 'virtue-dead pride' or, in other words, a pride that is devoid of virtue. Thus, you can interpret it in as many ways as you can interpret the word virtue. It IS virtuous to credit the responsible people who helped shape your own idea and implement it. It IS virtuous to show respect to those who are your superiors when it comes to the areas of their expertise. It is virtuous to respect your parents and your teachers. AND so on. IF you feel that your position makes you superior to all of them and, thus, obviates the need for you to respect any of them, you'll soon have no well-wishers left; only sycophants.

AND the last...history is replete with monarchs who lost everything and ruined their kingdoms because they spent their lives indulging in the proverbial 'wine, women and song'. Perhaps one may add gambling to that list. Tiru is not necessarily asking you to take vows of ascetism. Only moderation. There is a difference between having pleasures be a part of your life and letting your life revolve around your pleasures. It is the latter that Tiru says is not good for a leader. (OR, indeed, ANYONE I'd add.)

Anyone with these characteristics can easily be recognised for a bad leader. You do not look for a leader in the local bar, drinking off other people's  money and boasting about how he is holding up the universe, do you?