With the heavy impact that leaders and politicians have on our everyday life, one is forced to ask the question; what makes a politician a good leader, as well? We analyzed numerous factors that leaders and politicians have. We generated traits that differentiate leaders and politicians from each other.
1. Leaders actually care about the welfare of the people.
Leaders take decisions to further the prosperity of their followers. They take steps to ensure that the masses are taken care of and well-provided for. Their own agenda always a secondary priority and is aligned with the wellbeing of the people.
Politicians just work to achieve the goals of their own political party.
Politicians indulge into tactics to move the agenda of their political parties further. Furthermore, they would not hesitate to damage the wellbeing of the people if that’s what it takes. Seems like history is rife with examples where whole civilization were ruined owing to the agendas of the ruling parties.
2. Leaders allocate budgets on long-term projects that would make society better.
Leaders don’t care about whether the projects that they implement will add to their personal growth or not. They care more about sustainable development, even if they’re not in office when the projects matures.
Politicians spend money on projects that would cater to their personal goals.
For politicians, the projects that they initiate are always ways to boost their popularity or provide business to industrial and commercial bodies that they hold stakes in. Whether the project is actually useful for the community is the last thing on their agendas.
3. Leaders curb bureaucracies and keep a strict watch over them.
Bureaucrats can make or ruin a society. Leaders are very well aware of this fact and they put into place mechanisms that keep a constant and stringent watch over the bureaucrats to prevent them from exploiting the system and the masses. They ensure that the bureaucracy helps the community grow and prosper.
Politicians nurture bureaucracies and use them to further their own goals.
Politicians are more concerned with the fact that the bureaucracy can help them exploit the masses and they use this factor to its utmost potential. Giving the bureaucracy unjust benefits and protection, they garner support amongst the immoral and the corrupt.
4. Leaders will take responsibility for own mistakes.
When you have so much responsibility, you’re allowed a few mistakes. The important thing is that you take responsibility for them and try your best to rectify them. That is exactly what leaders do. When they realize that they’ve made an error in judgement, they don’t shy away from admitting it and taking steps to remedy the situation.
Politicians always play the blame game.
Everybody who follows current affairs will know how prevalent this practice is. Politicians will never take responsibility for their errors. They will always blame other factors or the previous government. They always create fabrications that would pin the blame on something else.
5. Leaders always take past mistakes into perspective
They say history is the greatest teacher. Leaders analyze past events and the failed policies and practices of others and make sure that the mistakes and not repeated. They communicate to their followers how the steps that they’re taking are different from the past and how they would be beneficial for the entire community.
Politicians remain stubborn and repeat mistakes.
Politicians rarely spend time researching the best possible route to take for the prosperity of society. They rely on weathered, underhanded ways to keep doing things that would benefit their party, repeating the same mistakes that have damaged the community for so long. Hence, they shun innovation and stick to the old, decrepit ways of doing things.