"...The great rivers and seas are kings of all mountain streams
Because they skillfully stay below them.
That is why they can be their kings.
Therefore, in order to be the superior of the people,
One must, in the use of words, place himself below them.
And in order to be ahead of the people,
One must, in one’s own person, follow them..."
(Tao Te Ching, 66)
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To become a leader, is not to lead in front of others, but to make other's lead in front of you. To guide, and not to authorize; to push, and not to be pushed; to support, and not to be supported, -That's the true leader! True leaders do not force or coerce someone to be/do something or what, this is because for them, they must not carry out control to another's life; they are not to make another as the best, but they are to see the other as already the best.
Well, as what Erasmus, a Dutch scholar, would say: "No man can be a good ruler, unless he has been first ruled by those he is about to rule to".
If one does so otherwise, he/she is not a leader, but rather a manager; an authoritarian manager. There is actually a saying about the comparison of the two: The Leader and the Manager. "The manager administers, the leader innovates. The manager maintains, the leader develops. The manager relies on systems, the leader relies on people. The manager counts on controls, the leader counts on trust. And lastly, the manager does things right, the leader does the right thing".
Such leadership then is the Way of Tao, to lead without actually 'leading'; to steer without actually taking control. Somehow, it can be interpreted like the action through wu-wei (non-action), but here in leadership, it is to become the head; the pilot of things through non-direction/command. To become an authority, without being authoritarian.
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