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Leader makes the difference



“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things,” said Management guru, Peter Drucker.  Many institutions as well as nations have gone down the tunnel of damnation merely due to lack of good leadership, though their management was good. 

Doing things right is not a guarantee that one is doing the right things.  When the Jews wanted to stone the adulteress to death, they were doing things right.  When Jesus told them, “Let him who has not sinned cast the first stone,” he was doing the right thing.  [John 8:1-11]

The Hindu newspaper today [22 Oct] carries a review of Maya Tudor’s book, The Promise of Power: The Origins of Democracy in India and Autocracy in Pakistan. 

Both India and Pakistan had the same origins: a British colony.  Yet India became a democracy that empowered the people and Pakistan became a theocracy which enervated its citizens.   Why did it happen?

The answer lies in the difference between the Congress Party and the Muslim League and their leaders.  This is what I gathered from the review.  The leaders of the Congress Party had the vision of a country which upheld the growth and development of all its citizens, while the Muslim League “was driven only by its anti-Hindu rhetoric and the Pied Piper charisma of Jinnah.”

The leader makes all the difference, in short.  Jinnah was not a leader, he was a manager.  He contrived schemes to keep himself in power.  He was not even a theist though he founded a theistic nation.  Gandhi was a firm religious believer though he sought to build up a secular nation.  Gandhi was a visionary, a leader and not just a manager.

Gandhi’s vision has not been quite successful in the hands of those who implemented it eventually.  Sadly, India did not have very many good leaders.  We mostly had contriving managers.


Comments

  1. Power Blog! I liked the last line.

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    1. Thanks. The theory applies to insitutions as well :)

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  2. "Gandhi’s vision has not been quite successful in the hands of those who implemented it eventually", correct!! 'The Baburi masjid demolition' case and the recent idea of The Congess to distribute candy of 'quota for Muslims within the existing OBC quota' proves this. How insane!!!

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    1. Neoliberal politics, Namrata, is all about self-aggrandisement. "In MY welfare and prosperity alone lies my happiness" is the pledge they take every morning. They don't even know who Gandhi was!

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  3. Curious about the book sir, but why does it sound so pro-congress!

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    1. Since I haven't read the book, I can't really give you an answer, Ragini. But probably the book isn't pro-Congress at all. What has Gandhi got to do with today's Congress?

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  4. Extending the same logic, Abul Kalam Azad - a practicing Muslim chose to stay and educate a secular country and S P Mukherji an agnostic who rarely went to the temple started the Jan Sangh. There is nothing personal about religion in India, it is a political identity.
    I would rather suggest that an administrator who combines the virtues of both a leader and a manager would be able to float India's boat.

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    1. You are right here, Sid. India today needs a person who can combine managerial skills with leadership qualities.

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  5. It is quite interesting to note how the tables have turned and though Pak. remains as it was, India has also managed to get behind them in line. How very curious!

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    1. Yes, Brendan, India has done worse in certain areas like poverty eradication, hunger index, and corruption. But we are democratic, you see. The poverty, illiteracy, hunger and corruption are all OUR own, not the dictator's!

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