We all have it in us to become transformational leaders, if only we decide to look within ourselves and find a sense of purpose that we can transmit to the people we touch
Rajesh Sinha, Founder, Fulcrum, (left, first pic) with a happy teamOne of the best books I have read which influenced in many ways the style of leadership I adopted through twenty-six years of leading public listed companies APTECH and Zensar was one of Tom Peters’ publications “Crazy Times call for Crazy organizations.” In this Peters espouses the cause of non-traditional methods of motivating people and getting ordinary folk to do extra-ordinary things. The thousands of associates and business partners we had in these two organizations will agree that the vision communities which powered new ideas and the multiple initiatives supported by worthy organizations like Pragati of Pune and Manford of Delhi enabled many unconventional approaches to be taken and outstanding people and business results to be achieved.
Today we are seeing a world which is even more crazy than what was probably experienced in the last thirty years. Look at just three leaders and their acts in the last few weeks. On the corporate front the threatened tweet by Tesla CEO, Elon Musk to take his company private and escape the probing questions of industry analysts led to the not unexpected reprimand, an edict to appoint an independent Chairman and a twenty million dollar fine and the next few chapters of this story will surely reveal many more interesting conflicts generated by some of today’s poster boys of the corporate world.
The actions of Saudi Arabia’s leadership and their alleged masterminding of the brutal conflict in Yemen as well as the murder of journalist Khashoggi in Istanbul have shown the brutal nature of revenge and retribution in some parts of the world and one can only hope that we are not seeing a return to the times of barbarian leadership. And finally, the most unexpected success story of our times President Trump who today presides over a rampaging US economy and has time and again dispelled the notion that diplomacy and extreme tact is needed to assume the mantle of leadership of the free world and arguably the most powerful elected position in the world. His recent trade wars with China, the surprising engagement of North Korea and most recently the threatened withdrawal from the nuclear treaty with Russia have been unprecedented in their significance and likely future impact.
Today we are seeing a world which is even more crazy than what was probably experienced in the last thirty years
As the world watches to see how the future will unfold – in the USA, Russia, China, Korea and of course the UK with BREXIT and India with the coming elections, we as well-meaning and responsible corporate citizens need to do our bit to keep a steadying hand on the wheel that guides our organizations and societies. Already in India we have enough fissures caused by multiple divides and in our country as well as the world there are challenges to equity, amongst races, castes, communities and people of color that have simmered for long beneath the surface and now threaten to erupt due to multiple provocations. As corporate chiefs responsible for morale and performance of our teams, it would be good to consider an interesting exercise Arun Wakhlu of Pragati engaged the Zensar teams with a few years ago - a companywide initiative called Jugnu. Jugnu as the name signifies, recognizes the fire that lights up the soul of every human being and appreciates that the highest performance and morale prevails in organizations where organization imperatives are integrated with the personal aspirations of every individual. A series of interventions enabled us to get a large number of new entrants as well as experienced managers to feel truly connected with the organization, an exercise which can be truly rewarding and also build a generation of new leaders for any organization.
The same logic of carrying people along and enabling them to achieve their full potential is what we practice today in the Skills Lighthouses of Pune City Connect. With the motto of “no dream left behind” experienced facilitators first work with youth from the slums to build a sense of agency where people who have suppressed their aspirations for years find expression for their desires and are able to take responsibility for their skilling and eventual livelihood options. The important philosophy we practice at the lighthouses and digital empowerment centers is also that while necessary skills in any chosen area will be imparted, equally important will be to inculcate a spirit of learning to learn on their own and also a desire to be responsibly citizens of community, city and country.
We all have it in us to become transformational leaders, if only we decide to look within ourselves and find a sense of purpose that we can transmit to the people we touch. One person I have met in 2018 who does this naturally is Rajesh Sinha, India born US entrepreneur who has built an excellent digital company, Fulcrum Worldwide and recently joined the Board of Pune City Connect. Rajesh epitomizes a valuable style of leadership that seeks out the “jugnu” in each person, enables them to work to their potential and build success through their projects – for clients or communities. May his tribe increase!
Ganesh Natarajan
