Deng Xiaoping: Pragmatic leader who transformed China

Leadership is the art of getting results through people. Effective leaders wield their tools with skill, producing exceptional outcomes. Others stagger from point to point, being busy with lots of activities while making no progress. Occasionally, though, history blesses us with truly remarkable individuals, embodying the essence of transformative leadership. Deng Xiaoping, the architect of modern China, is one such person.

The years before Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power were marked by turmoil. China was crippled by the chaotic legacy of Mao Zedong’s policies. The Great Leap Forward, an ambitious attempt at rapid industrialisation, resulted in one of the worst man-made disasters in history as millions died. This was followed by the Cultural Revolution, a decade of political purges and societal collapse. That was the time when the Gang of Four – led by Mao’s wife – was running rampant: Intellectuals were silenced, industries stagnated, and China found itself economically backward, diplomatically isolated, and socially fractured. As Mao’s body lay in state in 1976, the question was: which path would China choose?

Many in China clung to the disastrous policies that had led to the country’s downfall. This sentiment was echoed by Hua Guofeng, Mao’s successor, who espoused the now infamous “Two Whatevers” doctrine: unquestioning adherence to Mao’s words and instructions. However, thanks to Deng Xiaoping, China avoided that historical catastrophe.

Deng was born in Sichuan province in 1904. He was a capable student, and when he was 16, he was one of the few students from Sichuan sent to France on a work-study programme. His experience in France made him realise how backward China was—but the gruelling hours he spent working in factories highlighted to him the plight of the capitalist economy workers, which pushed him to embrace Marxism. He later went to the Soviet Union for military training and returned to China as a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) where he steadily rose to become one of Mao’s trusted lieutenants, holding key leadership positions.

Deng was a highly experienced politician when he came to power in 1978. He knew how China worked: he had been with Mao in the trenches fighting against Chiang Kai-Shek nationalist forces, he enthusiastically enforced Mao’s policies, he saw the disastrous consequences, and he survived two political purges. Just a decade earlier, his son was pushed out of a window at Peking University by Communist extremists, resulting in injuries that left him permanently paralysed from the waist down. Deng had had ample time to observe how things were and came to a ground-shifting conclusion: rigid observance of ideology doesn’t work.

Deng had become a pragmatist.

If we are to explain the leadership innovation that brought about the Chinese transformation in one word, that word is pragmatism. Pragmatism is the ability to adapt to what works rather than what conforms to theory or ideology. It is the art of navigating complex realities, and making decisions based on results rather than dogma. Pragmatism allows leaders to recognise that progress is often made by compromise, adjusting to circumstances, and seizing opportunities as they arise.

Pragmatism requires courage—the courage to abandon past policies, admit failures and shift gears when necessary. Deng Xiaoping exemplified this when he famously declared that it doesn’t matter whether a cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice. Deng focused on policies that would improve the lives of his people and restore China’s global standing. As a result, he unleashed the creative forces of a people stifled by decades of failed ideological experiments.

Deng Xiaoping’s leadership was defined by bold, pragmatic reforms that transformed China. His rural reforms allowed farmers to manage their own land, significantly increasing agricultural productivity. His mixed economy policy enabled China to balance state control with private enterprise to drive growth. His Open Door Policy brought FDIs, thus integrating China into the global economy. His reforms pushed for greater efficiency and autonomy of the state-owned enterprises, turning them into the global brands that they are today. All these initiatives and many more demonstrated Deng’s focus on results, the leadership quality that reshaped China into a global economic force.

If we are to apply Deng’s pragmatism to Tanzania, it becomes clear that our current approach is unsustainable. We cannot run the country by prioritising politics over economic realities all the time. We cannot continue our hold on to power without delivering tangible results. We cannot remain apathetic about inefficient state-owned enterprises as if nothing can be done about them. Similarly, we cannot keep stifling innovation and entrepreneurship with bureaucracy and corruption, and we cannot have two-thirds of Tanzanians trapped in a regressive agricultural sector. That isn’t practical. Such an approach is simply inviting trouble.

Pragmatism is leadership free from dogma. Our dogmas may not be ideological, but whatever is holding us back from using the best tools available to solve the problems at hand, we need to have the courage and the sensibility to change course. Deng Xiaoping’s pragmatism saved China from repeating the mistakes of its past and propelled it into unprecedented growth. There is no reason why we shouldn’t have the same experience.