Who should be the next President of Sri Lanka?

Shanta Rajapaksha Yapa

Sri Lanka is reaching yet another decisive time as the battle in the political arena is getting heated up. More importantly the general public is expected to make a rational decision to select the leader for the future. Irrespective of the sources, their credibility and agenda behind the contributors the public is still confused with what appears in media.

Who really won the war or lead our security forces to eradicate brutal terrorism from Sri Lanka is important if the public is expected to select the war hero. Obviously the Presidential Election is not to select the war hero but to select the leader who can lead our nation to the future. A leader is expected to possess several traits or attributes to be successful. Let’s use one of the popular models quite often used in management to distinguish the two main candidates. This model known as the Big Five Factor Model is a comprehensive personality theory.

The five factor model covers many elementary personality theories as well as coincides with integrated research findings in psychology and human behaviour. Five dimensions or domains of personality as found through rigorous research are used in this model to define a person and how he or she interacts within a complex society. The five factors are Extroversion, Openness, Neuroticism, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness. This model is also described as CANOE as acronyms in the reverse order.

Extroversion explains the degree of interaction with people. In this context, a social worker is more an extrovert. A manager brought up within an establishment will be more towards an introvert. Extroverts will have more energy, enthusiasm and activities to be with people. Introverts may prefer spending time alone and would be disturbed when social interaction is high. An Extrovert is needed as the next leader and you may decide who is better.

Openness describes the degree of acceptance of novel things. A person, who is innovative, looking for challenges and who likes new experiences is high in openness whereas a person who prefers conventional or procedural things in an orderly manner is at the other extreme. Now it is up to you to decide who is more open in terms of local and international relations, new concepts, changing traditional things etc.

Neuroticism describes emotional instability. A person with a high rating in neuroticism would be emotionally reactive. Stress due to internal and external affairs can make such people highly vulnerable so as their organizations or communities they lead. They display negative emotional reactions and this drastically reduces their ability to think clearly and rationally. They tend to interpret ordinary situations as threatening with their suspicion in mind and as such they react with anger. On the contrary, a person who scores a low rating in neuroticism tends to be calm and less emotional. Despite the internal and external pressures acting on them or their organizations they tend to handle situations with a clear mind. With your own experience about the two candidates you may now judge the person with low neuroticism who is the ideal leader to drive our nation.

Agreeableness demonstrates a person’s tendency to be benevolent, empathetic and kind hearted with others. Being suspicious towards others or hostile will place a person on the other extreme of this dimension of the big five factor model. Who can tolerate situations, keep unity within the teams, and manage relations accommodating others yet without compromising the national objectives? He should be our next President.

Conscientiousness describes determination to achieve the needs with high degree of self-discipline. A person with a progressive path towards an achievement will have a higher score in this dimension and a person who makes instant or spontaneous decisions will be placed on a low score. The one with a high conscientiousness will be the more suitable person to be the next president.

The five factor model is the result of rigorous scientific research studies carried out by eminent scholars. It is empirically tested and is being used globally by individuals and leading firms in assessing and/or developing leaders.

All Sri Lankans have the responsibility of selecting the most appropriate leader who can take the country forward in the post war era, successfully facing the development challenges and mostly unfavourable international forces. The model discussed would help you to select rationally the most suitable candidate without being emotional or misled by thousands of claims and allegations already published and to be published in the coming few days.

(The writer is a visiting faculty member teaching business strategy and technology in graduate and postgraduate programs of 10 leading local and international universities. He does not represent any political party and the views expressed in the article do not represent any organizations he is dealing with. His email is [email protected])