{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1801668,
        "msgid": "before-pks-legislators-sudirman-said-outlines-three-pillars-of-leadership-as-antithesis-to-godfather-1781344235",
        "date": "2026-06-13 16:00:00",
        "title": "Before PKS Legislators, Sudirman Said Outlines Three Pillars of Leadership as Antithesis to 'Godfather'",
        "author": "indrastuti",
        "source": "MEDIA_INDONESIA",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Politics",
        "summary": "Sudirman Said has urged Indonesian officials to abandon the cult of personality in governance, warning that reliance on a 'godfather' figure leads to institutional decay. He proposed a three-pillar leadership model based on institutional, collective, and intrinsic values. Governance expert Yanuar Nugroho also criticised recentralisation trends, calling for stronger regional autonomy to safeguard the state system.",
        "content": "<p>Rector of Universitas Harkat Negeri (UHN), Sudirman Said, has called\non state administrators and politicians to anticipate a governance\ncrisis by ceasing to worship the personification of power. He stressed\nthe importance of returning the compass of leadership to the strength of\nvalues and institutional reinforcement for the nation\u2019s future. Sudirman\nencapsulated his appeal in a philosophical message: \u2018do not lean on a\ngodfather, lean on God\u2019. He clarified that the term godfather does not\nrefer to a cartel boss in films, but rather a character of power that is\ncentralised and cultishly focused on a single mortal figure. Reflecting\non world history, great names who held absolute power in their eras,\nsuch as Pablo Escobar, Al Capone, Don Corleone, and Adolf Hitler,\neventually faded and collapsed. \u2018Godfathers fade, while good order\npersists. Therefore, our loyalty should be to eternal values, not to\nmortal figures,\u2019 Sudirman said during a Technical Guidance event for PKS\nRegional Legislators from across Kalimantan in Jakarta. According to\nSudirman, this symptom of power personification is strengthening because\nthe national political space is increasingly impoverished of long-term\nideas. Citing economist Dambisa Moyo\u2019s book Edge of Chaos, he\nhighlighted the phenomenon of mediocracy, where politicians are busier\nwinning electoral contests than nurturing the long-term health of their\ncountry. \u2018In a space poor in long-term ideas, figures replace systems,\nand personal loyalty displaces public accountability,\u2019 he stated.\nSudirman also presented an ethical ladder of state behaviour adopted\nfrom Paul Webley\u2019s theory, ranging from the lowest level of amoral to\nthe highest ethical level where policy stands firmly on humanitarian\nvalues. He assessed that the majority of today\u2019s rulers are trapped and\nstalled at the legalistic floor, whereas true leadership demands\nadherence to fundamental values of goodness. \u2018Spirituality is salt, not\nlipstick. It is invisible, but felt. A spiritual leader works in\nsilence, not staging piety,\u2019 Sudirman said. As an antithesis to the\ngodfather leadership style, Sudirman offered a three-pillar leadership\nmodel: institutional (not populist), collective (not personal), and\nintrinsic (not nominal). Governance observer Yanuar Nugroho echoed this\nview, assessing that the personification of power has a domino effect on\nthe deterioration of state governance, marked by strengthening conflicts\nof interest among state officials. Yanuar specifically criticised a\nsymptom of recentralisation, the tendency to pull strategic control back\nto the central government, which he argued contradicts the spirit of\nregional autonomy fought for since the reform era. \u2018The symptom of\nrecentralisation, centralising control in the central government, must\nbe stopped because it opposes the principles of regional autonomy.\nIndonesia is too large to be forced into centralised management,\u2019 Yanuar\nasserted. He urged governors, regents, mayors, and regional legislative\nmembers to close ranks to safeguard the authority of autonomy, arguing\nthat power distributed across regional institutions is the strongest\nfortress to prevent the state system from being easily hijacked by the\ninterests of a single figure.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/before-pks-legislators-sudirman-said-outlines-three-pillars-of-leadership-as-antithesis-to-godfather-1781344235",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}