Albus Dumbledore – An Old Cranky Wizard or An Epitome of Leadership?

Can leadership be learnt only from historic heroes and past idols? Is it possible to learn lessons from some of our favourite characters that lie enshrined in folklore and our playful memories. Harry Potter, the boy wizard has been a rage for the better part of the last decade and the frenzy has only amplified by Hollywood’s take on him.

Anticipating the release of the seventh Harry Potter movie, I spent much of the last year rereading all seven volumes of the series which gave me a new perspective on the novels and provided some interesting insights including the leadership skills of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

So what made headmaster Dumbledore such an exemplary leader? The first and most important lesson I learnt was trust. The key to good leadership is to earn people's trust —which generally means trusting them first. That is something that Dumbledore does consistently.

Consider his treatment of Hagrid, Hogwarts' giant gamekeeper, whom Dumbledore hired after he was expelled from the school for something he didn't do. But Dumbledore never lost faith in Hagrid, ultimately appointing him to the faculty. Even more noteworthy was Dumbledore's trust in Snape, the potions master whom nearly everyone else suspects of being in league with the dark wizard, Lord Voldemort. Once again, Dumbledore never wavers. When others confront him with what they consider evidence of Snape's treachery, the headmaster always has the same answer: "I trust Severus Snape." Not only does he trust them but is ready to back them to the fullest as proven by numerous incidents (standing rock like behind Hagrid despite his numerous faux-pas as a first time professor).

It's worth noting that Dumbledore is right to trust both Hagrid and Snape, and that, in the end, his faith in them is repaid many times over. Like any good leader he knows whom he can trust, and isn't afraid to bestow that trust.

Dumbledore also does the one thing the faculty members’ value perhaps even more than administrative support: He leaves them alone and allows them to do their jobs. In other words he's not a micromanager. In fact, for long passages he disappears from the narrative altogether, while Professors Snape, McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick carry on unsupervised with the important business of teaching students. This emphasises his confidence not just in the abilities of his colleagues but his own judgement too. It's also the hallmark of great leaders everywhere, who hire the best people they can, put them in positions to be successful, and then get out of their way.

While he generally leaves the business of education up to the faculty, Dumbledore, like all good leaders, does not shy away from making tough decisions when necessary. It is he who decides that the school should remain open even after four students are petrified by a basilisk (snake). Dumbledore also allows Harry to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, despite the fact that he doesn't meet the age requirement and the knowledge that Harry's inclusion will anger the other schools involved in the competition.

It hardly needs to be said that those decisions, like most of Dumbledore's, turn out to be the right ones.

In real life, not every decision a leader makes ends up saving the world. Some might even be wrong. But great leaders have the courage to make those risky decisions.

Of course, even Dumbledore is wrong sometimes and he isn't afraid to acknowledge it. In The Half-Blood Prince he tells Harry, "I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being —forgive me —rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly huger." Later he apologizes to Harry directly for holding back information in an attempt to protect him.

This is an important lesson which disproves that being in charge means never having to say sorry. A good leader must frequently admit to being in the wrong.

Finally, my favourite quality about Dumbledore (perhaps the rarest of qualities in a leader) is his eternal good humour and civility. There are numerous occasions in the novels where Dumbledore remains unflappable, smiling despite staring disaster in the face.

--By Shivam Sopori