Main Mahendra banana chahta hoon.
On the 15th of August 2005, about a couple of months after I had passed out of Gokuldham High School, I was called back to school to hoist the national flag. Needless to say, I regard it as one of the proudest moments of my life. My school has a fairly large open area, about the size of two basketball courts. The Independence Day ceremony was held there. A host of dignitaries took to the podium while the students (about 400 of them) were sitting in neatly maintained files on the ground – a large part of which was brown soil while a small patch was covered with cement. White was the flavour of the day. Students, teachers and the non-teaching staff were all dressed in impeccable whites.
Dark clouds were hovering menacingly since morning, and every second person mumbled a silent prayer, trying to delay the advent of any rains. The programme started on time, with groups of students performing gracefully as ever.
(I’ve been to two schools in my life – Pragnya Bodhini High School and Gokuldham High School. One commonality was that both schools were ‘entrenched in culture’, so as to say. I did a lot of culturally significant, socially relevant activities while in these schools. And it made me happy at the end of the day. I never expected any reward. It was just a way of life. Over the last six years, the scenario has changed so badly, that at times, I feel like weeping in a corner)
The prayers were not working, and the weather got more menacing with every passing moment. Within half an hour or so, the heavens opened and it started pouring. Students ran helter-skelter. Some took refuge under trees, some went into the basement. The drizzle stooped within minutes, but it had done a lot of damage. There were puddles of water on the cement. The brown soil had become filthy and gooey. All students came out to the open area and stood looking at each other, waiting for someone to take some initiative. The mumurs got stronger. There was unease in the air. Neither the students nor the teaching staff wanted to soil their whites and were reluctant to sit in the mud. Our principal, Mrs. Usha Raina, then did something spectacular which still remains fresh in my mind. She caught a whiff of what was happening around her. In no time, she came down from the podium and plonked herself on the ground - brown slimy dirty patches of mud all over her pristine white sari. After a couple of gasps and shrieks, all the teaching staff and students had gotten back to their positions on the ground and the rest of the programme concluded as planned.
The above for me is the most definitive description of leadership.
I was wondering about ways to define leadership. Say, what makes a good leader? Write five qualities of a leader -
a. Inspiring
b. Forward Thinking
c. Motivating
d…… yada yada
Half way through this method of defining leadership, I realized that one can’t really define leadership. It’s like goodwill or love. Very intangible. Can’t be captured in words. And it’s also very under-rated. When mutual funds/institutions invest in foreign equities, all they see (apart from a certain market cap threshold) is the quality of the senior leadership. Investors who put their faith and money in sound leaderships like Infosys, Unilever, Tata Group, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints have reaped tremendous rewards over the years.
I honestly believe that India has a huge leadership deficit. Not just at the Centre or at the political level, but even in local bodies and communities. And there is a worrying leadership deficit especially in our GenI – impatient, irresponsible and infidel. Although I’ve not done enough to explore different aspects of student life, I still maintain that I’ve really felt sad at the lack of “student leadership” around me for the last six years. More disappointing has been the complete leadership failure of non-students around me – educators, mentors, relatives et cetera. Leadership is not about the number of committees you’ve headed in your life. If it makes you feel any better or worse, I’ve headed none. Leadership is about making a difference.
Can you be taught leadership in college? Can there be a course on “how to lead”? I don’t know. But some colleges and their students have always exhibited better leadership qualities. Perhaps it’s in the air out there. Perhaps it’s in their DNA. Perhaps it’s just a result of focused effort. So, about a week ago, when I was given a chance to join Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) for their MBA course, what I immediately told myself was, “Dude! Its XLRI! The cradle of leadership!”.
To put it in cricketing parlance, if the famed IITs are known for producing Sachin Tendulkars, XLRI gives the world its Mahendra Singh Dhonis. The world identifies with a good leader. Although Dhoni’s batting average might not be amongst the world’s best, there is no questioning his brand equity or the respect he commands from his peers. And a lot of it has got to do with exemplary leadership – Winning captain of the T20 World Cup, Winning Captain of the 2011 World Cup, Captain of the top Test playing Nation – perhaps the best leader Indian cricket has ever had.
Leadership has always been a huge turn on for me. I used to get goosebumps when Leander Paes led India in Davis Cup ties or when Patrick Vieira led out Arsenal or when Steven Gerrard inspired his Liverpool troops. I secretly dreamt of “playing under” such a leader.
If I do end up joining XLRI in a month’s time, it’ll never be about the big money or the big ticket. It’ll be more about understanding, appreciating and imbibing leadership – a quality that is very scarce these days. And as we all know, scarcity creates value! And what better place to put an end to this leadership deficit of six years other than “The Cradle of Leadership” which incidentally happens to be in Mahendra’s home state. Perhaps he’ll be able to teach me a few things during my vacations 
Tagged as: gokuldham high school · leadership
I’m fairly certain, that come the right kind of environment and your kind of people, you’ll do a half decent job at leading.
Though “playing under” a good leader, has a completely different impact on its own. Something that takes people years to build. I’m sure XLRI, again an institute which seems to be ‘entrenched in culture’, will help you get there quicker than otherwise.
Its something about the fresh TATA air, they say.
I do not believe institutes create leaders(None of our current or past leaders belong to any of these high profile Institutes). Institutes just groom people who love to take initiatives.
Leadership cant be taught, its not even inborn, its just about self-realization. Anyone can be a leader. The urge to take initiatives and the restlessness you feel to manage the chaos infront of you, gives birth to leaders.
Also, committees/organisations are a medium to bring about change. You might have chosen a different medium to make a difference. But i think, the only number which matters is the number of times you have taken up the job yourself and the no. of times you have shrugged it off saying who will dirty one’s hands
These institutes will bless you with a strong network of highly qualified individuals.They will offer you plenty of opportunites to become leaders, but its totally upto you to take the initiative to become one.
All the best in your quest to find peace in life. May you find it at XLRI.
And we always thought that you were of the Sachin Tendulkar kind. Perhaps Sachin wants to have a shot at being captain.
Agree with Hrishi on a lot he said.
The lack of leaders you find around is perhaps because leaders are supposed be a rare species in itself. Unaware of the extent of rarity you observe though.
The country has great thinkers. One of the more greater species in the world but what prevents them from being called leaders are that they do not qualify as ‘Doers’ which is a very important aspect to good leadership. The ‘Doers’ that we have barely encourage productive thinking in them.
The blokes who make them a part of various committees and fail to make any difference to the events around qualify as the ‘Doers without thinking’ batch of leaders which is dominantly the case with the country too.
I am trying to figure out what makes the thinkers from ‘doing’.
My take on the ‘Good-institute-producing-good-leadership’ is that having souls that can stimulate thinking and hone your productive skills contribute to a good leader. Now this set of people could perhaps be found in a family, in a housing society, your library club, quizzing club or (and not only) institutes, which ensure through supremely competitive exams, that they get (at least) the most intellectually credible souls in the country. You remove these souls from the college and make them a part of some club that gathers weekly, then you perhaps do not need the institute to make you a person with credible leadership skills.
While leadership cannot be created, I can safely and surely say that it can be destroyed. A hostile ambiance does much worse than a favorable one does good.
That said,I totally relate with the last six years you speak about. I participated in so many activities while in school it almost made me believe I was ready for the big bad world,but the lack of that fervor seems abysmal now.
Hope you find the place to fill the void. And look for the leader within and let it grow. XLRI or not, you will be what you are meant to be! I have never believed that institutes change people,it always works the other way round.
^^/^^^^
I wouldn’t say much, for if I did, I’d end up writing as much as the post itself. But it’s a bit surprising that you are absolving institutions of their duty to build leadership amongst its students. If students like us, accept that the institute has no role in instilling leadership, it just makes it easy for the institutes and their petty schemes.
You got to be blunt. Certain institutes have their ethos and credos in the right place. More so than other institutes. Certain institutes take it upon them to instill leadership qualities in students. They don’t have to, but they do. Some institutes give you fish (job) at the end of the course. That too they give you sardines and try telling you it’s caviar. While few places teach you to fish for the rest of your life.
And leadership can definitely be taught. One can’t be taught to lead a country or a company. Institutions can definitely teach you to lead a group of two, or four. Nuclear families in India are in search of leaders. Husbands can’t lead. Wives don’t trust their man’s leadership. Vice-versa. All hell breaks loose. A lot has to do with the fact that schools where people are getting ‘educated’ have not given any sort of leadership, any kind of thought.
Says Arif Kachra, professor of Strategy at Richard Ivey School of Business, Canada: “At Ivey we don’t think about placement in the traditional sense. We prepare our students to have life-long career management skills; which they need to place themselves not only in their first job, but for future jobs as well. It is important to make students accountable for their own success. We help student finesse their skills in leadership, communication, presentation, personal branding and in dealing with ambiguity.”
This is not at all about thinkers/doers. A man can be a great leader even without a day of schooling. Even without attending drama/quiz/robotics/consulting clubs. A man can be whatever he wants. It’s about schools and institutes playing a more focused and active role in making leaders out of students, who fortunately or unfortunately, decide to go to these places.
I rest my case.
I don’t remember that particular incident from school, surprisingly. So many years out of school, and I am yet to find anyone who is even half as amazing as Usha Raina. They don’t make them like her anymore
Brilliant post, as usual.
Superb post! Also. heartiest congratulations for the XLRI call.
I totally agree to your point of view. Leadership cannot be taught. Either one has to be a born leader, or should one cultivate leadership. MS Dhoni is the epitome.
In my opinion, what a leader needs is to be is a mind-reader.One needs to go deep in to other’s mind and actually understand the inner atmosphere of the team-mate and the leader mastering this quality will surely control the situations of upheaval in the team.
Well, I too agree with what hrishi says…Leadership is about self realization…Given a chance where it is in your hands to take charge and you do so, you find a leader right then and there…The example you gave was brilliant..Sigh, I wish I knew such teachers here too…
Anyway, institutes can imbibe those values in you, give you all opportunities to be a leader but finally, you have to be ready to accept so and believe in yourself which I think is most important to be a leader…And if taking responsibility naturally comes to you, nothing like it.
Good Leader= Focus + Fearlessness……everything else will shape up automatically.
If a Pandurang Institute of Management in Navi Mumbai had the same set of ethos and credos, it would in all certainty be futile. Good students will do good anywhere. Even better if they have good people around.
so imbibed any leadership skills so far?!
Bhaiya, I’m Divyansh, a student of your father. I like your blog very much and needless to say, you have expressed your ideas in a fully conspicuous manner. Your article on Gokuldham High School has left a charisma in the excelling school itself. Please post more articles to let me know more about your great imagination!