The fundamentals of good leadership is to present yourself with a positive and confident body language, be it limited to mere visual optics, but every public opportunity one needs to be on-top of his game and each photograph taken should portray confidence combined with the subtleties of a good tailored suit, well groomed hair and even if need be a dash of good makeup. All these subtle tactics present the leader well, even if its only for sake of mere pictures
Sadly, every time the people of Pakistan have seen their Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in public and specifically on the global stage, quite shockingly he has come forth with a weak and a defeatist body language, slouched shoulders, fumbling words, mindlessly gazing into thin air, oft caught with a worried & tense frown, very rarely even a smile? The subtle message coming through the camera lens is of a stressed out leader, leading a failed state. Granted I may have a bias against him, but I still do remain a Pakistani and he represents my country on the global stage.
Sparing a few scattered “good-PR” shots, most images that end up being circulated, even by the media houses (Dawn, Tribune, SamaaTV), reflect the mindset of an uninspiring leader, if that alone was the problem it may have been ok, but when he goes to speak, then again the potential for a possible inspirational magic dissipates into thin air, for example a few months back during his joint press conference with the US President Obama at the White House, he as seen to be shuffling ragged pieces of paper, honestly there is no harm in carrying notes, but at this global stage the stakes for visual optics are high and a genuine leaders rises up to the occasion, others flounder in search of glory, and the Pakistani Prime Minister did a massive belly flop, in search of glory.