Mr. Francis Sequeira, Working with Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust
Is Leadership just a show of some skill-sets ? There
are some common areas between leadership and ‘guruship’. It is not enough a leader being a person of character
and competence, who is unable to influence others similarly to bring out the
best in others. All the expertise and experience of the leader will be useless
unless exploited by others for specific purpose, to achieve specific targets
within a specific timeframe.
A Leader is a Guru, who builds the character and
competence of others and makes them confident to work wonders, bringing out
their best. A great leader literally induces hope and confidence in others and technically
guides them to make more out of little, for the common good of the society or service
to mankind, as a result of which the leader is bound to make spiritual,
psychological, social and financial gains.
Today leadership institutions are training make-believe
leaders, having selfish motives - craving for higher grades and incessant
increments, looking out for certificates from reputed institutions, who
treat their juniors like remote-controlled puppets, dancing to their tunes, keeping
them at their beck and call, on the painful threat of sacking them or
demotions.
The corporate leaders are like vote-crazy politicians
who are out for grabs, by playing with the feelings and emotions of the gullible
people, who are burning in the emotional fire of fears, frustrations and fury,
unable to make their two ends meet.
MLM (multi-level marketing) leaders and insurance
agents play upon the fears and anxieties of the future, while generating desire
for prosperity or security. This motivates some people having innate, insatiable
desires or having obsessive day-dreams of becoming rich, infatuated with luxury
and urge to travel around the world. Leadership can be looked upon as a steam
engine, dragging dozens of coaches on the tracks to its destination. A good
leader is considered to be one who is able to motivate the juniors to run a lot
many extra miles beyond expectations and climb the high peaks of success. As
you sow, so shall you reap. Leaders sow the seeds of success in the minds of
their members, who show results.
The management wants their organisation to move
ahead at full speed to overtake and surprise competitors; the organisation
moves ahead fiercely while the runners get run out one by one, as we see in the
reality TV shows, week after week. Ultimately an individual is just a
cog-in-the-wheel. The one or two who survive the crazy competition are the
winners. The basic common purpose of corporate leadership is making profits. The
corporate generals are money-spinners who become crorepatis, while their
juniors are pacified with pats, praises and peanuts. Similarly, the politicians
become crorepatis, while the poor people
struggle to survive inflation. Ultimately money talks and the leaders walk the talk. If our politicians were to be
men of character and competencies, there would have very few potholes and no
corruption.
I present below the seven “R”s which spell out inner
factors of leadership, without which corporate leaders put on various masks of position,
performance, power,
THE
SEVEN ‘R’s OF LEADERSHIP
R1 Rational Thinking
Leadership
hinges on taking right decisions at the right time which realistically lead to
successful achievements. This calls for rational critical thinking. It is
necessary to be creative, but building castles in the air makes no sense.
Leaders have to face the harsh ground realities, challenge or change with time,
to realise well-defined, envisioned goals. It is of no consequence envisioning
the Moon. Dream goals become sour grapes, when people fail to realise their
dreams. Leaders have to see the possibilities in the maze of impossibilities,
find a way to success, which will make dreams come true to some or large
extent. Under the influence of the mass media, many youth dream fantastic dreams,
to pacify their excited egos and please their pampered pride, but are caught in
the web of addictions, which success eludes them.
The
human value is based on values. Rational thinking clears out irrational fears
and brings out the guts to face worrying situations, full of uncertainties.
Rational
thinking is the basis of all virtues and values. Great spiritual leaders of this world were
great rational thinkers, based on the wisdom they gained through constant
mind training to patiently think rationally under all circumstances. Hence,
even during trying times, they stood the test of time by standing up for what
is RIGHT and even died for the Truth. This commitment to virtue even during bad
times, made them shining examples of virtue and aroused many others to follow in
their footsteps, even if they had to suffer and die like them. Great leaders stick to their guns, especially
when they are right. They stand for what is right and even die for what is
right.
Today
leaders stand for selfish gains and are willing to stoop to any lows-which is
the root of corruption. Today money values have gained more weightage than
human values, rules and regulations. Money is making all the difference in everyone’s
private and professional life.
R2 Resourceful Resolute Will Power
Will
power is actually self-motivation. A great dancer is not only a person who has learned the steps, but a
person burning with a desire to become a dancer-with a passion for dancing. A
great musician has a great passion for music. The will is charged by ideas
reinforced by emotions-which defines one’s ego-ideal i.e. inner self-image of
oneself (ambitions, attitudes, attributes, abilities, aims, aptitudes,
achievements). Ambitions invigorates the mind to aim high and higher aims
beckons the individual to have far-sight into the future and dream about the
possibilities and impending opportunities to be seized JUST IN TIME.
Opportunities come like comets and do not care for anyone. Those who seize them
by doing the right things at the right time are the winners ! All the rest have to serve the winners and
win their favours in order to derive the benefits flowing therefrom. These are
the trained leaders who put all the masks of leadership, impress the bosses and
intimidate their juniors, taking advantage of their grades, which they have got
but gratifying the elated egos of their bosses. Their juniors try to cling to
their jobs by shining their shoes and dancing to their tunes to get a GOOD
remark from them in their annual appraisals.
The
negative emotions shackle the feeble-minded, anxiety-ridden youth, who are
bound to mediocrity. However, the positive emotions jack up hope in the minds
of the leaders, who look ahead with a mind-set full of positive expectations and
hence beget good ideas/hunches about how to make things happen, despite no-matter-what.
Great leaders were charged with a strong will to achieve their cherished goals,
which motivated others to do the same. Will
is boosted by belief, especially self-belief. Belief leads to
success-orientation, which in turn leads to possibility thinking which in turn
leads to making right decisions at the right time, which in turn leads to doing
the right things at the right time-which in turn leads to success in achieving
cherished goals.
The
school toppers are mostly those who have a passion for studies and a burning
desire to succeed. The others go for classes to somehow get good percentages,
so that they can find admission in reputed colleges. The average ones are not
able to secure admissions in reputed colleges and have to go for career
oriented training or pass privately.
Human
will can be manipulated through enticements and by the generation of fears and
anxieties. Uncertainties bog down and difficult situations put pressure on the
will-power and many succumb to presence of the past and absence of mind in the present
along with future worries. This leads to frustration, especially when
others succeed in life, which in turns becomes a lava of fury in the unconscious
mind. This manifests in the form of either suicidal tendencies (addictions) or
criminal tendencies (fault-finding, labelling, abusing, put downs, domestic violence
and even crime).
Are
our corporate leaders burning with a desire to do something usefully great or
are they just playing second fiddle to please their bosses and to ensure their
jobs and promotions? Will manipulated by sops is only temporary and lacks
passion. People who work only for money or gains, lack passion and work only
because they have no other choice.
Leaders
have the drive and they have a strong urge to drive.
The
strong conviction of the leader boosts the morale of the juniors. Will charged
with a strong purpose motivates everyone to strive to achieve. Work becomes
worship when a person loves the job and finds joy in it. Many have resigned
from their posts in big organisations and have joined small outfits, mainly
because they found more joy in taking the lead rather than taking orders. They
proved their worth by conscientiously doing the right things and the right time
in the right way and were then elevated to higher positions. Both the bosses
and the leaders found joy besides the concomitant monetary gains flowing
therefrom.
Positive
thinking is bound to generate positive, practical ideas. Human Will excited by positive
ideas generates positive emotions. Leaders exciting their group members with
positive ideas find surprising results they did not even expect from juniors.
Leaders are necessary where there has to be innovation, constant change and
spectacular results.
R3 Relationship building
Today
relationship building is seen as a monetary function. Relations are built by
throwing cash or promising a paradise. These are ‘pro-relationships’.
It is possible to woo a prostitute only by showing the colour of money or
promising a rose garden. Many personal and corporate relationships are hinged
on the pleasure of gains and perks. Politicians struggle to establish
relationships with people to bag their votes. Much depends on how strong is the
relationship which will lead to victory during the polls.
Many
make a mockery of relationship by playing with the feelings and emotions of the
people as done by the poster politicians. These are the ‘con-relationships’ where crooks try to win the hearts of the
people they want to cheat.
Relationship
building is seen as a hand-shake, based on mutual gains and benefits. All
relationships are based on gains, which may be monetary, physical or emotional.
Films
and books have made relationship a song and dance drama along with some
dog-fights. This mass media influence has
prompted live-in relationships, based on ‘I love you’ principle, which in turn is based on
binding factors, which define the relationship in thoughts, words and deeds,
which satisfy the life-partners’ mind, body and soul. Relationship is a
romance. Romance is a relationship based on a feeling of love and affection,
but is many a times mistaken for a longing for sex or companionship. Romance is
the art of being lovable and loving someone special. People who feel lonely
seek romantic relationships to pacify their embarrassed egos, find some sexual
excitement and bask in the temporary sense of joy. Leadership is a relationship
which today is based on making gains for mutual good and also feeling the joy
and excitement of success.
Similarly
people who are in dire need of power and money seek relationships for making gains,
by harnessing the skills and experience of people who know the tricks of the
trade.
A
great leader builds relationship to achieve certain purpose which may not bring
any joy or happiness. Mother Theresa built relationships with her sisters, who
were charged with the aim of serving the poor selflessly. Spiritual leaders
built relationships with monks and followers who did not follow them for any
worldly gains, but were even willing to suffer and die for being one with God
Almighty.
Relationships
based on gains are destined to fail. Relationships based on specific purpose
stand the test of time.
Relationship
based on personal charms and personality binders may last a little longer.
Character cements the relationship with strong binders such as trust, integrity
and values. Emotions also reinforce the relationships with excitement, passion,
love and affection.
Leadership
relation is based on admiration (of value based on talents and competencies and
values based on honesty, empathy, praise and justice) in the minds of the group
members. The juniors hold their leaders in high esteem and respect them. This
extols the leader’s image all over.
R4 Role playing
One
married one has to play the role of husband/wife, father/mother, instil
confidence in their children and lead them toward success in their lives with
hope and focus on their goal viz. higher education, self-esteem, character
development and competencies required by modernised industry and hi-tech services. Leadership is a
specific role which calls for soft skills and relevant, required special skills
in one’s specific field. To ride a horse
one has to be in the saddle with self-control. A teacher has to play the role
of a wise person. A teacher cannot behave like a kid. A spiritual leader has to
play the role of a pious person-whether make-believe or genuine. Role-playing
builds the image of a leader in the eyes of the group members/followers. Leadership
is not just for getting some work done. It is a very narrow-mind outlook of
leadership. Leadership spans the entire life parameters of the leader and the
juniors. Leader is not just a mukadam,
or a gang-leader, trying to get some work done from the mates within a given
timeframe. The election results have shown that leadership does not get crystallized
in the minds of the people by making a show of character and competencies,
which explains only one citizen candidate winning at Colaba, in the entire city,
out of 227 wards. A leader has to win hearts and become an idol in the minds of
the juniors, which takes time and proper, concerted efforts. It is wrong to believe that any
leader can be trained overnight. It is like making a mockery of
leadership.
People
become parents once they are married and they face the harsh realities of life. Slowly their
fears and anxieties give way to confidence and they are able to look after
their children confidently. Immaturity hinders parenting. Some anxious parents
tend to become over-protective, or abusive or submissive, which ruins the
future of the children, directly or indirectly, as they imbibe their anxiety.
A
leader must be a guru, guide and a gainsayer, instilling confidence, hope and
possibility thinking, thus motivating the members to bring out their best and
freeing their minds from their domestic dungeons of past anxieties.
Once
a person is put in a leadership position, the person will try to rise to the
occasion, depending up the maturity and confidence level. A person unable to
stand on one’s own feet cannot lead others. One blind man cannot lead another.
Playing
a leadership role calls for powerful positive thinking and confidence to stand
tall in the crowd. The followers look up at their leader and are impressed,
which motivates them to follow the leader, despite all the negativity in their minds, which is shackling them to mediocrity
and passivity. This overcomes procrastination, excusivitis and to-do-tomorrow
hang-ups. Leadership starts today itself by taking the first initiative toward
the goal. There is no looking back, no second thoughts and no idle intentions. Action
begins today itself and the time STARTS JUST NOW !!!
Action
begins with a positive forethought which forms the Vision of the dream goals to
be pursued indefatigably. The decision to dare do the needful to make dream come
true, drags the leader to define a Mission, to realise what one is determined
to achieve. These are the self-help, self-made, self-confident, self-propelled
leaders with self-esteem.
R5 Realistic Vision
A
blind man can walk even on the railway platforms. This is because of a vision,
developed by the blind man only on feeling the surroundings. Similarly, the
future is not clearly visible and one has to have a feel of the future, this is
Vision.
The
Moon vision of J.F.Kennedy, past US President, was not based on idle wishful
thinking, but was based on practical technology available to make man walk on
the Moon.
The
vision of Late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani was not an idle day dream, but a solid
vision with a concrete mission, viz. making high-quality yarn through the PTA
(Therapthalic acid method) rather than the costlier DMT (dimethyl Trichloride
method). This led to the establishment of Reliance Industries, which became a
giant conglomerate.
A
vision of future needs a proper analysis
of the past, positive assessment of the present which gives the gut feel to
look at the future with the hope for the best.
Vision
seeks to look at the possibilities in the fog of impossibilities. Vision looks
beyond the horizon of the present and the mirage of the future. When one looks
at the future and finds the possibilities of achieving success, the leader gets
self-motivated and motivates others accordingly. Vision is contagious and can infect others
who come in touch with the influential visionary, who can impress others. MLM
leaders belong to this category of excited leaders. They have seen the wealth
in store for them in the near future and are able to convince others also about
the same. In fact, the wealth flows in from the pockets of the others, who also
stand to gain in the long run.
R6 Result-oriented Mission
It
is rightly said desires are like winged horses, who do not have their feet on
the ground. These dreams arouse Gen Y to
go wild. Some strive to prove their worth through talents and skills. Some
strive to prove their worth by starting small enterprises. Some strive to prove
their worth through socialising. Dreams do not precipitate into a vision, as it
happened in the mind of Shri Dhirubhai Ambani and many others. Dreams only
excite emotions which fuel Gen Y to face the stiff competition with others and
impress people especially their employers about their performance (doing
certain routine jobs requiring some skills with smartness.
Many
visionaries are not missionaries. What is the use if an artist has envisioned a
beautiful painting but does not paint it. The masterpiece will never see the
light of the day. A painter has developed the skills and competencies to paint
his painting over the years. A composer immediately writes down a new chord
which strikes in his or her mind. Then puts life, soul and flesh in it with the
help of the song-writer, resulting in a new hit song. A clear vision of what one is out to achieve
in life inspires one to find out ways and means to make things happen, which naturally
calls for the relevant skills and competencies. Vision is knowing what to do
and Mission is planning how to do it. It is only when the Vision got converted
into a Mission, Neil Armstrong was able to walk on the Moon.
A
missionary can be likened to a mountaineer, who challenges the peaks,
notwithstanding all the dangers along the way. It requires lot of guts to face
the reality and to achieve one’s goals. Leaders chart out a practical
step-by-step plan to achieve targets, the sum of which realises the bigger
goals, which in turn makes dreams come true. Success comes to those who
challenge failures. Those who rise above the fear of losses make big gains. A
few who challenge the impossibilities finally make the light bulb, as Thomas
Edison did, after multiple failures. For the common man everything is
impossible and hence cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. Those who
cannot see success are living in the darkness of the past and their dreams are
night-dreams which do not see the light of the day.
Leaders
are missionaries who will never rest till they succeed in their envisioned
mission. There are a few corporate leaders of this ilk, the rest are trained
hypocrites.
R7 Responsible Risk taking
One knows the cramps the first time
one got behind the steering wheel to drive a car. It requires some guts to
start driving a car. The confidence develops with some practice and finally one
can confidently drive the car even in the most congested streets and highways.
When one walks on the road one is
taking a calculated risk. When a driver is driving the driver is taking lot of
calculated risks on the road. When you ride a bike there is always a risk
looming large, because there are potholes on the road besides other rash
drivers. We have to be very careful while travelling in the trains and even
buses. There is always a risk of falling and suffering serious injuries. Risks
surround us in every walks of our life in this world. There is a risk in
eating, drinking and indulgences. What we eat can cause diabetes, heart
ailments, liver and kidney problems, etc. The losers remain losers because they never
take risks. The winners become winners because they are ready to take all the
risks of losses and failures. Life is full of uncertainties so also the
markets. A successful product selling like hot cakes today becomes junk as time
passes by. New technologies change preferences and economic compulsions change
technologies. Economic ups and downs are inevitable, nobody can stop the
storms.
No one can throw caution to the winds
when one is walking on ice or walking on a tightrope. Risk taking actually
means avoiding the risks as far as possible. Taking risks while climbing a
steep slope is taking every step with great caution in order to avoid slipping
and falling down.
Sir Edmund Hillary would never have
conquered Mount Everest without taking the risks of the dangers to life. Neil
Armstrong would never have walked on the Moon had he not taken the risk of
travelling into space, where there is no oxygen.
Alexander the Great took a great risk
to become great by challenging the Kings in power during his times. Chhatrapati
Shivaji took careful risks while
challenging the might of the Mughals. Stock market adventurers have to take
smart risks to avoid losing monies and become broke.
Entrepreneurs have to take smart risks
to make gains inspite of all the uncertainties and avoid losses, which will
make their organisation sick.
There is a thin line dividing risk
taking and suicide. Jumping into the well is suicide. Risk taking actually
means keeping a close watch on untoward likelihoods without giving up hope and
still hoping for the best………………
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