Any leader who is quickly and easily influenced by shifts in popular opinion will accomplish little Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take In

The leaders, be it in the field of politics, socialist reforms, freedom movements , art , business firm or other institutions, have always shaped and molded the course of history. In advocating social reforms,for example Kofia Anan raised his voice against apartheid and the discrimination against the blacks in South Africa. The "popular opinion",then, being the practising of slavery by the White people. He did not give in to the popular opinion but ,instead, went against it. Looking back into the past, we can see that most of the leaders have challenged the then accepted popular opinion and achieved huge reverence and renown for eradicating those practises. Like in India, during the freedom movements when everyone resorted to violence for attaining freedom from the oppresive British Rule, Mahatma Gandhi propagated the rarely used method of Non-Violence and Truth. This not only helped India attain Independence but also resulted in a government and constitution with truth and Non-violence as foundations. Similarly, Mao Zendong led to the establishment of Communism in China and so did Lenin when these were not the populist ideas. The leaders, in these cases, have achieved success by advocating against the populist methods.

Everytime when changes need to made , it always occur by going against the populist opinion and not along with it. The same can be extended to the field of business and manufacturing. What pandemonium will occur if the business men kept changing their policies with the flicker in market and did not rely on the potential of the strategies he has implemented? If the Governor of a Central Bank kept changing rates on the flicker in market prices or rise in inflation or recession without properly analyzing the cause. The key phrase here is "quickly and easily influenced". On not being influenced by the populist opinions, it doesn’t mean that the leader should be adamant on his stand come what may the circumstances. Since, leader being a human, is equally erring and fallible, he should not rule out the possibility that change in populist opinions might have come from a reliable and constant source and is not evanescent. Hence, the same demands a change in policies , ideas or strategy. Failing to recognize these changes might lead to resentment in public if it concerns social , political or economic stances or the employees in case of a business firm. Like for example, the native practices of the monarchs in middle-east were acceptable to people to a extent but when people demanded changes, the leaders, be it of Libya, Syria or Egypt, did not pay heed to it and this led to the Arab spring and huge loss to life and property. In firms and organisations, the same leads to strikes by labor unions and employees.

Succinctly, it is very true that the leader should not submit to the frequent change in populist opinions since the same will lead to confusion and will prevent the accomplishment of the set goals. Nevertheless, leaders should always analyse the cause and sources of such opinions to ensure efficacy.