By Sangeeth Varghese
01/09/2009
India is turning around. Our economy boasts of one of the highest rates of growth in the world. Our incomes are growing, cities are flourishing. Yet, we need to differentiate ourselves in ways other than just cost competency, before we can hope to consolidate India’s leadership. Cost competent services give us fleeting glory, but the obscurity which follows would be forever. We would all have a rude awakening, if the nation returns to business as usual. To worsen things we are also left with a quagmire of problems to deal with. We are entrenched in corruption and poverty. Our roads are infested with potholes; our public transport systems don't work. Our urban systems are breaking down and there are hardly any rural systems to talk about. Our position cannot be more precarious than this.
But how do we go on to build on our current position to move in to a better long-term position of competency? A good place to start might be learning from the lessons of those nations that have gone before us - nations like Greece, Europe and the US, who have at some point of time occupied global dominance and leadership. How did they reach that position and what did they do differently from other nations to deserve such a position of prominence?
As we examined these nations, as part of a research programme at the London School of Economics, we found that they devoted a major part of their efforts toward building institutions which support leaders and encourage leadership in various realms. These nations focused on taking risks and innovating during early stages of their growth itself.
In all the annals of the ancient world, few stories are more gripping than that of the Hellenistic Age. Between the conquests of Alexander the Great and the rise of Rome, Greek culture became the heart of a world-historical civilization whose intellectual, spiritual, and artistic influence endures to this day. In just 10 years, a young prince – Alexander - supported by his army of military, political, economic and intellectual leaders from the small, hill kingdom of Macedon trekked thousands of miles across some of the most dangerous regions of the world, founding Greek cities all over, so that their language and culture was not merely spread but was deeply embedded within the cultures of the region.
Another good example is the period between 18th and 19th centuries when Western Europe - Britain, France, Portugal and Spain – which controlled much of the world’s finance, commerce, military power, and intellectual life, extended its power over many peoples of the world. They achieved their domination by sending their people to settle, their armies to conquer, their leaders to administer or their merchants to trade in the most unknown parts of the world. They encouraged progress in scientific, and economic realms, which helped them to create efficient state structures, providing the strength for the European expansion and domination.
The 20th century United States rallied behind another leadership vision – ‘The American dream’. Beyond just financial security and material comfort, it also implied a dream of fame, exceeding social, ethnic, or class boundaries. Every American could dream confidently of earning a billion dollars or becoming the next Bill Gates. There was nothing stopping them, if they were willing to work hard and persevere. This served as a powerful incentive for entrepreneurship and risk taking, not only for the natives, but also for millions of migrant workers; be it the impoverished western Europeans escaping the potato famines in Ireland or south Asians dreaming of better lives and opportunities. The dream of a better and prosperous tomorrow supported by adequate economic and political institutions helped in attracting and drawing out the hidden potential of its citizens, creating several entrepreneurs and leaders in the process.
We could endlessly debate about the pros and cons of these nations and their supremacy. But the point still remains that they were able to focus their efforts on building a legacy which sprawled beyond mere cost competency – towards the creation of institutions of change and of a whole national ecosystem that supported and nurtured large-scale changes and ideas.
John Kotter, the world-renowned expert on leadership at the Harvard Business School says about this, “Without enough leadership from enough people in existing organizations, they become too sluggish and uncreative to flourish in a world of change and globalization. Without enough entrepreneurial leadership to create and build smaller organizations, an economy like India can’t keep producing enough jobs to make it function well (and to keep a democracy stable). Leadership is not the only necessity for progress, but without enough, scarce resources are not sufficiently leveraged, economic growth cannot be sustained over long periods of time, and democratic institutions remain fragile - always vulnerable to tyranny and corruption.”
To move to the next level, we should focus on creating more leaders, innovators and entrepreneurs who can bring in multi-fold value as opposed to merely low-cost advantages. We should empower every citizen and every employee to create positive changes, big and small, in business, social and political spaces. The first step towards this is to stop making the excuse that we are not the leaders, but politicians, bureaucrats and CEOs are. Because there is a leader in each one of us; itching to get involved in the nation building process. And discovering that takes just a decision. Nothing else. You need not be born in a powerful family or attend a great institution, or even adorn an important position to be a leader. Great leaders, many of whom who have changed fortunes of nations, did not possess anything that made them born leaders – no birthrights, no pedigree and no extraordinary attributes. And this includes the father of our nation – Mahatma Gandhi, who as a young man was below average academically and professionally. Yet, he decided to lead. He decided to build this nation.
Till now we all have been limiting our potential thinking that leaders are different. We have been indifferent to nation building thinking that leaders are extraordinary. But at some point of time all great leaders, be it Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela or George Washington, were all ordinary individuals. They took a decision to wriggle out of their comfort zones. They took a decision to challenge themselves and the world around. They took a decision to look beyond themselves, to make a difference to the lives of millions of people around. And that is exactly what is required from each one of us right now.
At the dawn of this era, we cannot afford to restrict leadership just to the top positions. It is time for us to come out of our cosy homes, cocoons and comfort zones to tackle and solve our nation’s problems. It is time for us to nudge each other to remind that it is not up to ‘them’, but up to us. It is up to us to build India as a nation of leaders – where everyone is a leader, where every one is a hero, where everyone is celebrated.
Probably our real tryst with destiny is just round the corner. Let us embrace it boldly. Let us together build a nation, which is built on the values of leadership, risk taking and change management.
The author is a globally recognized leadership thinker, a Forbes columnist and the founder of LeadCap (www.leadcap.org), a movement with a vision to build India as a nation of leaders.
