Self-Discipline: The Making of an Exemplary Leader

Abstract

Leadership is the art of putting others frst and giving of oneself to a cause greater than one’s own progress or proft. In order to become a ft instrument of “giving of self to others,” one must frst undergo a process of complete self-purifcation and self-transformation following strict self-discipline. Self-discipline involves three related aspects of self-control—the ability to resist temptation, the ability to tolerate delay of gratifcation, and the imposing of strict standards of accomplishment upon oneself. Essentially, it entails the conservation of energy so that it can be rechannelized in harnessing self-awareness. Such self-discipline became the hallmark of Gandhi’s pedagogy of transformation of character and he achieved it through various practices such as prayer, vows, fasting, and confession. In his own words: “The call to lead India did not come to me in the nature of a sudden realization. I prepared for it by fasting and self-discipline.”¹