India, Feb. 15 -- Leadership today is louder than ever - yet trust has never been lower. Across the world, political power is more visible, more luxurious and more influential than at any point in history, yet citizens feel increasingly betrayed, manipulated and ignored. The uncomfortable truth is this: we are not suffering from a lack of leaders. We are suffering from a lack of ethical ones. Modern leadership has become selectively ethical. Right is right only when convenient. Wrong is ignored when profitable. Power is no longer a responsibility - it is a weapon. Loyalty is bought. Media is controlled or silenced. Truth is twisted. Public wealth is wasted extravagantly while millions struggle for basic dignity. Leaders speak endlessly about the poor while becoming the richest in society. Laws are broken by the very people who created them. They lie openly. They contradict themselves shamelessly. They spread misinformation without consequence. They encourage division and even violence to secure control. Promises are forgotten. Failures are never owned. Apologies do not exist. This is leadership today - heartless, insecure, revenge-driven, and obsessed with survival. And here is the brutal reality: no one trusts them. People may tolerate leaders, fear them, or vote for them - but trust is gone. Respect is gone. Moral authority is gone. Leaders are criticised, mocked, protested, and often hated. And yet they do not care. Because modern leadership no longer depends on trust. It depends on control. What makes this crisis even more dangerous is the glitter surrounding unethical power. Today's leaders live in luxury, command attention, and enjoy protection and privilege. To young people watching, leadership looks rewarding - not for service, but for dominance. When unethical behaviour leads to wealth, influence, and comfort, society sends a clear message: character is optional. Cruelty works. Manipulation pays. And that is how broken leadership reproduces itself. Corporations cannot pretend to be innocent observers. Many quietly benefit from weak accountability and unethical systems while publicly complaining about instability. When profit is placed above principles, business leadership becomes a mirror of political corruption. Silence is not neutrality. It is complicity. Education stands at the centre of this crisis. If leadership is taught only as influence, strategy, negotiation, and winning - without embedding ethics, empathy, and accountability - institutions are not creating leaders. They are training sophisticated manipulators. Power without conscience destroys. Success without integrity is failure. Competence without character is dangerous. So what must change? Young people must stop idolising power. Visibility is not value. Wealth is not wisdom. Control is not leadership. Question who you admire. Refuse to follow those who lie, divide, and exploit. Corporate leaders must lead beyond profit. Refuse unethical shortcuts. Speak when systems are abused. Build cultures that reward honesty over ruthless results. Educators must redefine success. Teach moral courage as strongly as strategic skill. Reward character as much as competence. And society must change what it applauds. Stop glorifying wealth gained without integrity. Stop excusing cruelty as strength. Stop tolerating corruption as normal. The truth is simple: we do not get the leaders we hope for. We get the leaders we reward. If we continue rewarding greed, manipulation, and domination, that is exactly what will rule the future. But if we reward courage, service, honesty, and humanity - leadership will change. There is one saving grace in all of this: history is brutally honest. The reign of unethical leadership is usually loud, wealthy, and dramatic - but rarely lasting. It burns fast, collapses hard, and is remembered for damage. Ethical leadership, on the other hand, is often quieter, slower, and less glamorous - but it endures. Power built on fear fades. Power built on integrity lasts. Both types of leaders leave a legacy. One leaves wealth, trauma, division, and distrust. The other leaves institutions stronger, people safer, and societies better than they were found. Positions are temporary. Impact is permanent. Every leader - political, corporate, educational, or social - eventually becomes history. The only real question is this: Will you be remembered for what you controlled - or for what you improved? Leadership is not about how high you rise. It is about what remains after you leave. And that, ultimately, is a choice....