Pamurba Wirama as Javanese Leadership

The fundamental leadership has a paradigm significantly approach, especially in a traditional Javanese culture. Javanese leadership is the way they motivate their
people who work or follow them, and this sets the tone for most other aspects of what they do.

Leaders do not have subordinates - at least not when they are leading. Many organizational leaders do have subordinates, but only because they are also managers. But when they want to lead, they have to give up formal authoritarian control, because to lead is to have followers, and following is always a voluntary activity.

Telling people what to do does not inspire them to follow you. You have to appeal to them, showing how following them will lead to their heart's desire. They must want to follow you enough to stop what they are doing and perhaps walk into danger and situations that they would not normally consider risking.

Leaders with a stronger charisma find it easier to attract people to their cause. As a part of their persuasion they typically promise transformational benefits, such that their followers will not just receive extrinsic rewards but will somehow become better people.

In that manner, Javanese has a specific tradition. They put their way to lead by practising in a music traditional that called Karawitan – such an orchestra - that played with gamelan. In different manner with other orchestra who need a leader – usually called ‘dirigent’ – Karawitan no need a specific dirigent. They lead their rhythm, by special instruments that called ‘kendang’. If they want their music dynamic, so kendanger will hit the instrument in a faster rhytmic or slower; to do so if they want hard or soft music by hit hardly or softly too.

"Gamelan gets its name from the low Javanese word 'gamel', which means a type of hammer, like a blacksmith's hammer. The name 'gamelan' refers to the method of playing the instruments - by striking them - as they are almost entirely percussion." (Lindsay, J. (1979). Javanese Gamelan. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.9) "The bronze gamelan instruments are made from a mixture of copper and tin; three parts tin to ten parts copper." (Lindsay,1979, p.19)

Whatever kendanger hit it’s instrument, other instruments likes bonang, kempul and saron, will followed with. Although many times I am watching karawitan, many times too I am amaze with surprise. How comes they makes as such beautiful harmony ?

As a Javanese we know that answer, kendang as a harmonize leader called in javanese language as PAMURBA WIRAMA. That means someone who has power to lead the rhythm so everyone in these orchestra has the same contribution in making the best harmony. Look... !, inspite of the same instrument kempul and ‘kempul’ have a different time to played. So, such other instruments, bonang (barung) and bonang (panerus), even in the same place and position (so such the same manner to play on), they played togetherness but not in the same time to play/hit.

If kendanger analoog with a javanese leader. A special manner takes by these orchestra. A leader stayed in the middle of other player. He stayed not in front of others and sloping by his finger, asking other to do his command. No...!!! He leads by playing his instrument. He leads ‘with others’ not only ‘by others’. It is the essentials of javanese leadership.

By my experience more than 32 years working in Pegadaian. Those specific trend in Javanese leadership should be combined with a high grade of knowledge aimly present a condition like this :

What do you think ? How about that red reports ? The essential subject as we knows in leadership management should be “change”, but in javanese leadership just 'stability'. So do in conflict subject, it should be “uses” but in javanese leadership just only 'avoids'. Are those sides our weaknesses or by permissif, strengthness ?

The moral story is, be a good Javanese Leader by knowing your black area ...!!!